Morgan Plays. And How.
1/23/2018 3:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By: Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - Would Juwan Morgan play?
Why, yes. Yes, he would. Thanks for asking.
The salient question for Indiana's host Hoosiers heading into Monday's matchup with Maryland was whether scoring and rebounding leader Morgan was available.
Morgan had turned his left ankle during the first half Friday night at Michigan State and missed the balance of that game, the final 22 minutes. He didn't practice over the weekend. He was indeed injured.
But he still spent his Monday evening severely injuring Maryland's chances of winning.
While delivering a game-high 25 points – including the biggest bucket of the game – five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two shot-blocks, Morgan epitomized the toughness new Indiana coach Archie Miller is intent on breeding in Bloomington.
This really is no surprise.
This is the same dude who played through a chronically separating shoulder his freshman season – an injury as painful as it was frustrating.
The stoic Morgan admitted he was hurting Saturday, in the wake of the injury at Michigan State.
"The first day I was in a lot of pain," Morgan said post-game Monday. "I didn't think I was going to be able to play."
But Morgan had more than desire and fortitude on his side. He had head athletic trainer Tim Garl, currently in his 37th season keeping Hoosiers healthier.
"(Juwan) wasn't going to be able to play the rest of the Michigan State game – they took the second half and really just treated him," Miller recalled. "He started treatment right away.
"Obviously Tim does an amazing job. But Juwan was detailed. I thought he showed improvement on Saturday, didn't practice … and figuring that full other round of treatments today, that we would know by game time.
"And Juwan said he felt pretty good. So, obviously, he played like it."
Morgan felt that was the least he could do. Really.
"It hurt not being in practice because the guys were going hard in practice," Morgan said, "so it was the least I could do, going out tonight and giving it my all."
The least he could do was a whole heck of a lot, as it turned out. Including supplying 12 of Indiana's final 16 points.
When a 9-0 Maryland surge had the Terps up 62-57 with 4:54 to play, Morgan responded with five straight points of his own, capped by a conventional 3-point play off a Devonte Green steal with 4:13 left. That forged the last of 11 ties in a game that also featured 11 lead-changes.
After Zach McRoberts kept an offensive rebound alive, Robert Johnson scored for the last lead change, as IU took a 62-62 edge with 3:15 left.
But the Hoosier lead was a precarious 67-66 when Josh Newkirk, recently reinserted into the game after sitting with foul trouble, was fouled at the 0:38.7 mark.
Newkirk missed the first free throw. His second attempt looked like it might go in, then didn't. Then …
"I thought it was about to roll in and I jumped before it came out," Morgan recalled. "And then by the time I came back down it was coming off.
"I knew I had enough time to get off the ground before -- I think it was No. 10 (Maryland's Darryl Morsell) who was blocking me out, and I just reached over him and got it and it was wide open."
That's a somewhat mundane description. Offensive rebounds off missed free throws aren't easy to get. But Morgan soared over a couple of Terps to snag the ball, then converted the hoop that really put Maryland in a tough and ultimately fatal position heading into the game's waning seconds..
"He played great for us tonight, on defense, offense -- that big rebound towards the end after the missed free throw was huge for us," McRoberts said of Morgan and his big play. "Just a little bit of everything. Obviously you see how important he is for us."
It wasn't just Morgan's teammates saying it, either.
"Juwan is strong and athletic," said Maryland sophomore guard Kevin Huerter, who had a fine 16-point effort but, alongside Morsell, couldn't keep Morgan off the glass at that crucial moment. "He was a tough mismatch for us and made some big plays.
"He had the big rebound and put-back that was the play of the game for Indiana."
Morgan had help, of course. Several Hoosiers made key plays.
Freshman forward Justin Smith, who hit 6 of 8 shots from the field, and senior guard Robert Johnson had 12 points apiece, with Johnson adding a team-high eight rebounds. Newkirk, after missing those two free throws before the Morgan put-back, then made two big ones.
Collectively, the Hoosiers defended well enough to make 10 steals, block eight shots and hold Maryland to 31-percent shooting after halftime.
But McRoberts summed it up succinctly regarding Morgan, from an IU perspective:
"It was good he could be out there tonight."
Why, yes. Yes it was.
CRUNCH TIME? WINNING TIME.
Monday's result made IU (12-8, overall, and 5-3 in Big Ten play) 4-0 in games decided by four points or fewer this season, a nice trend for the Hoosiers, and Miller credited his club for crucially buying in on the defense end for that.
"Winning close games is about getting stops," Miller said. "If … your team is believing that you can win a game without scoring points (every possession at crunch time), that's step one.
"Being a tough-minded group, being a team that wants to battle all the way through, I think that's been good. I also think we have a really good player in Juwan Morgan that you can go to in the last four minutes of the game and he can get some things done for you, which was the case tonight."
QUICK TURN-AROUNDS
As was the case heading into the Maryland game, Morgan likely won't see much practice time before Wednesday's 9 p.m. tipoff at Illinois – but that also goes for his teammates.
The Illinois game represents the first of three quick two-day, road-trip turnarounds for IU during the Hoosiers current stretch of playing seven games in 17 days that started with Friday's visit to East Lansing.
After next Sunday's home game with No. 3-ranked Purdue, IU plays at the team tied with Purdue for the league lead – Ohio State – on the road next Tuesday. Then, after a Feb. 3 home game with No. 6 Michigan State, the Hoosiers play Feb. 5 at Rutgers.
And a Big Ten rule requires visiting teams to arrive at their road venues a full 24 hours before tipoff, making the IU itinerary even more squeezed.
"It's an unprecedented run, seven games in 17 days," Miller said. "And three straight quick turn-arounds with the second game being on the road."
Miller hopes to keep Morgan on the road to full recovery, even with the daunting schedule.
"You turn your ankle, and a lot of guys handle it different ways," Miller said. "I think Juwan just played through the adrenalin tonight.
"And I'm sure he'll be sore as we head to Illinois on a quick turnaround. So hopefully, if anything, he gets some more rest before he plays again Wednesday."
CHAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN
Coach Brad Underwood – who arrived at Illinois this season after success at Oklahoma State and Stephen F. Austin – orchestrates an aggressive approach.
Defensively, Illinois employs a take-no-prisoners style that helped prompt 15 Michigan State turnovers by halftime and 25 for the game Monday night.
Unfortunately for the Illini, MSU also shot .789 from the field in the first half and .682 for the game (30 of 44) in forging an 87-74 win. But it was certainly a more competitive affair than the Spartans' previous game, when they laid an 85-57 lumping on IU in East Lansing.
If Illinois (10-11, overall) hasn't yet beaten a Big Ten foe in eight tries, it has played almost everybody tough while having little in the way of luck.
The Illini's first six conference games produced no losses by over 10 points, two overtime defeats (at Northwestern and versus Iowa) and one-point heartbreakers against both Maryland (92-91) and Nebraska (64-63, on the road).
Junior forward Leron Black leads a balanced Illini attack with his 14.4 average while shooting .553 from the field (including .444 from 3-point range) and .817 at the foul. He also leads Illinois in rebounding at 5.3.
Also averaging double-figure scoring for Illinois are freshman guard Trent Frazier (11.1, with a team-leading 35 steals) and 6-foot-10 junior frontliner Michael Finke (10.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg). Kipper Nichols, Aaron Jordan and Mark Smith join Black as Illini regulars shooting over .800 from the foul line.
Indiana won the only meeting between the teams last season, 96-80, in Bloomington. And the Hoosiers hold a slim 90-86 overall series edge.
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - Would Juwan Morgan play?
Why, yes. Yes, he would. Thanks for asking.
The salient question for Indiana's host Hoosiers heading into Monday's matchup with Maryland was whether scoring and rebounding leader Morgan was available.
Morgan had turned his left ankle during the first half Friday night at Michigan State and missed the balance of that game, the final 22 minutes. He didn't practice over the weekend. He was indeed injured.
But he still spent his Monday evening severely injuring Maryland's chances of winning.
While delivering a game-high 25 points – including the biggest bucket of the game – five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two shot-blocks, Morgan epitomized the toughness new Indiana coach Archie Miller is intent on breeding in Bloomington.
This really is no surprise.
This is the same dude who played through a chronically separating shoulder his freshman season – an injury as painful as it was frustrating.
The stoic Morgan admitted he was hurting Saturday, in the wake of the injury at Michigan State.
"The first day I was in a lot of pain," Morgan said post-game Monday. "I didn't think I was going to be able to play."
But Morgan had more than desire and fortitude on his side. He had head athletic trainer Tim Garl, currently in his 37th season keeping Hoosiers healthier.
"(Juwan) wasn't going to be able to play the rest of the Michigan State game – they took the second half and really just treated him," Miller recalled. "He started treatment right away.
"Obviously Tim does an amazing job. But Juwan was detailed. I thought he showed improvement on Saturday, didn't practice … and figuring that full other round of treatments today, that we would know by game time.
"And Juwan said he felt pretty good. So, obviously, he played like it."
Morgan felt that was the least he could do. Really.
"It hurt not being in practice because the guys were going hard in practice," Morgan said, "so it was the least I could do, going out tonight and giving it my all."
The least he could do was a whole heck of a lot, as it turned out. Including supplying 12 of Indiana's final 16 points.
When a 9-0 Maryland surge had the Terps up 62-57 with 4:54 to play, Morgan responded with five straight points of his own, capped by a conventional 3-point play off a Devonte Green steal with 4:13 left. That forged the last of 11 ties in a game that also featured 11 lead-changes.
After Zach McRoberts kept an offensive rebound alive, Robert Johnson scored for the last lead change, as IU took a 62-62 edge with 3:15 left.
But the Hoosier lead was a precarious 67-66 when Josh Newkirk, recently reinserted into the game after sitting with foul trouble, was fouled at the 0:38.7 mark.
Newkirk missed the first free throw. His second attempt looked like it might go in, then didn't. Then …
"I thought it was about to roll in and I jumped before it came out," Morgan recalled. "And then by the time I came back down it was coming off.
"I knew I had enough time to get off the ground before -- I think it was No. 10 (Maryland's Darryl Morsell) who was blocking me out, and I just reached over him and got it and it was wide open."
That's a somewhat mundane description. Offensive rebounds off missed free throws aren't easy to get. But Morgan soared over a couple of Terps to snag the ball, then converted the hoop that really put Maryland in a tough and ultimately fatal position heading into the game's waning seconds..
"He played great for us tonight, on defense, offense -- that big rebound towards the end after the missed free throw was huge for us," McRoberts said of Morgan and his big play. "Just a little bit of everything. Obviously you see how important he is for us."
It wasn't just Morgan's teammates saying it, either.
"Juwan is strong and athletic," said Maryland sophomore guard Kevin Huerter, who had a fine 16-point effort but, alongside Morsell, couldn't keep Morgan off the glass at that crucial moment. "He was a tough mismatch for us and made some big plays.
"He had the big rebound and put-back that was the play of the game for Indiana."
Morgan had help, of course. Several Hoosiers made key plays.
Freshman forward Justin Smith, who hit 6 of 8 shots from the field, and senior guard Robert Johnson had 12 points apiece, with Johnson adding a team-high eight rebounds. Newkirk, after missing those two free throws before the Morgan put-back, then made two big ones.
Collectively, the Hoosiers defended well enough to make 10 steals, block eight shots and hold Maryland to 31-percent shooting after halftime.
But McRoberts summed it up succinctly regarding Morgan, from an IU perspective:
"It was good he could be out there tonight."
Why, yes. Yes it was.
CRUNCH TIME? WINNING TIME.
Monday's result made IU (12-8, overall, and 5-3 in Big Ten play) 4-0 in games decided by four points or fewer this season, a nice trend for the Hoosiers, and Miller credited his club for crucially buying in on the defense end for that.
"Winning close games is about getting stops," Miller said. "If … your team is believing that you can win a game without scoring points (every possession at crunch time), that's step one.
"Being a tough-minded group, being a team that wants to battle all the way through, I think that's been good. I also think we have a really good player in Juwan Morgan that you can go to in the last four minutes of the game and he can get some things done for you, which was the case tonight."
QUICK TURN-AROUNDS
As was the case heading into the Maryland game, Morgan likely won't see much practice time before Wednesday's 9 p.m. tipoff at Illinois – but that also goes for his teammates.
The Illinois game represents the first of three quick two-day, road-trip turnarounds for IU during the Hoosiers current stretch of playing seven games in 17 days that started with Friday's visit to East Lansing.
After next Sunday's home game with No. 3-ranked Purdue, IU plays at the team tied with Purdue for the league lead – Ohio State – on the road next Tuesday. Then, after a Feb. 3 home game with No. 6 Michigan State, the Hoosiers play Feb. 5 at Rutgers.
And a Big Ten rule requires visiting teams to arrive at their road venues a full 24 hours before tipoff, making the IU itinerary even more squeezed.
"It's an unprecedented run, seven games in 17 days," Miller said. "And three straight quick turn-arounds with the second game being on the road."
Miller hopes to keep Morgan on the road to full recovery, even with the daunting schedule.
"You turn your ankle, and a lot of guys handle it different ways," Miller said. "I think Juwan just played through the adrenalin tonight.
"And I'm sure he'll be sore as we head to Illinois on a quick turnaround. So hopefully, if anything, he gets some more rest before he plays again Wednesday."
CHAMPAIGN CAMPAIGN
Coach Brad Underwood – who arrived at Illinois this season after success at Oklahoma State and Stephen F. Austin – orchestrates an aggressive approach.
Defensively, Illinois employs a take-no-prisoners style that helped prompt 15 Michigan State turnovers by halftime and 25 for the game Monday night.
Unfortunately for the Illini, MSU also shot .789 from the field in the first half and .682 for the game (30 of 44) in forging an 87-74 win. But it was certainly a more competitive affair than the Spartans' previous game, when they laid an 85-57 lumping on IU in East Lansing.
If Illinois (10-11, overall) hasn't yet beaten a Big Ten foe in eight tries, it has played almost everybody tough while having little in the way of luck.
The Illini's first six conference games produced no losses by over 10 points, two overtime defeats (at Northwestern and versus Iowa) and one-point heartbreakers against both Maryland (92-91) and Nebraska (64-63, on the road).
Junior forward Leron Black leads a balanced Illini attack with his 14.4 average while shooting .553 from the field (including .444 from 3-point range) and .817 at the foul. He also leads Illinois in rebounding at 5.3.
Also averaging double-figure scoring for Illinois are freshman guard Trent Frazier (11.1, with a team-leading 35 steals) and 6-foot-10 junior frontliner Michael Finke (10.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg). Kipper Nichols, Aaron Jordan and Mark Smith join Black as Illini regulars shooting over .800 from the foul line.
Indiana won the only meeting between the teams last season, 96-80, in Bloomington. And the Hoosiers hold a slim 90-86 overall series edge.
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