Indiana University Athletics
GRAHAM: Effort Alone Doesn't Always Put The Ball In The Basket
2/4/2018 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana – Freddie McSwain Jr. busted his posterior in heavy traffic to claim the rebound of a Robert Johnson layup that rolled off the rim, drawing a Josh Langford foul in the process.
So McSwain, through indefatigable effort, earned two free throws with a chance to put IU ahead Michigan State with 1:39 to play Saturday night.
The only problem was that neither of his shots went in.
That pretty much sums up Indiana's 63-60 loss to the No. 5-ranked Spartans. The Hoosiers couldn't have played much harder. And they couldn't, for much of the game, have shot much worse.
The statistics were, well, strange.
Indiana had 25 offensive rebounds to MSU's 3 and won the overall board battle 53-29 – against a program that prides itself on physicality and rebounding. McSwain supplied a career-high 16 boards, nine offensive.
But the Hoosiers shot .171 in the first half and .288 for the game.
"We brought the fight to the game that we needed," IU coach Archie Miller said. "The numbers – it's hard for me to imagine that we were able to rebound the ball like that. But Freddie in particular was really active. And I thought a lot of guys made a lot of hustle plays and played hard, just went after it.
"Offensively, they had a lot to do with (our) numbers, just in terms of impacting the rim (and) the field goal percentage offense with their shot-blocking and their size. Made it hard for us. And clearly we weren't able to dial it up from 3 again (IU was just 4 of 19 on 3s). But credit our guys. I thought they really fought hard and played hard."
Indiana hasn't shot well most of the season. But it clearly has made strides in areas that Hoosier fans should appreciate.
Toughness. Sticky man-to-man defense. Valuing the ball (IU had just eight turnovers Saturday night). Grit. Unabashed hustle.
The Hoosiers played their guts out against the Spartans.
Examples of that abounded, early and throughout.
Indiana missed its first four shots before getting its first bucket through hustle. Josh McRoberts sprawled to knock a ball off a Spartan out-of-bounds, then arose to hit a 3 from the right wing for the game's first points.
McSwain then worked for a fine follow through contact from MSU's Nick Ward to forge a 5-5 tie.
But effort could only do so much. By the second media timeout, IU trailed 13-5 and had made just 2 of 17 shots from the field. Indiana's defense was good over that stretch. Michigan State's was stifling.
So, at least for a half, the host Hoosiers' upset bid looked mostly blocked.
Literally.
Carmel resident and 6-foot-11 freshman Jaren Jackson, Jr., already had six of his game-high seven shot-blocks for MSU by halftime and the Spartans finished with 13 as a team.
"He's really good," Miller said of Jackson. "I don't think he just emerged tonight and said 'look at me.' He's been doing it all year. He's a dominant defensive player. He leads our conference in shot-blocking (with 89)."
But IU's big men got going offensively after halftime, especially junior forward Juwan Morgan, who had 19 points in the period to finish with a game-high 23. And that stemmed in large part via effective post feeds from sophomore guard Devonte Green.
Green didn't match the 20-point scoring he posted Tuesday at Ohio State, finishing with seven, but had a career-high six assists and zero turnovers.
"Devonte's playing a really good floor game for us," Miller said. "He's the one guy right now that can deliver the ball from an assist standpoint. He's the guy that, when he wants to distribute, he's the best guy on our team at that. And he got with it at Ohio State. He carried it over a little bit today.
"And it's good. We need guys that are hunt and assists rather than shots, and six assists tonight, I think he had five or whatever he had at Ohio State. Even at Illinois he made some good passes. He's starting to come around a little bit for us, which is a good sign."
A Green step-back jumper started 7-0 IU run down the stretch as the Hoosiers essentially willed themselves back into contention, erasing almost all of a 58-50 deficit before McSwain had his chance to deliver the lead at the line.
But he missed. And MSU junior Matt McQuaid didn't miss at the other end, drilling his fourth 3 (in just five attempts) at the 1:03 mark to give the Spartans the breathing room they needed.
"Down the stretch, they just made a couple more winning basketball plays than us," Morgan said." I know the ones that stand out are going to be baseline for the drift 3 (by McQuaid). That was a huge make on their part. And then a couple easy layups they got down … and those are just things we can't give up if we want to get over the hump."
But the Hoosiers still had a three-quarter-court heave from Green at the end that would have tied it had it not hit back iron.
This against a 22-3 Spartan team that had thoroughly spanked IU in East Lansing, 85-57, and brutalized the Hoosiers on the boards, 45-27.
"In East Lansing, they punked us," Morgan said succinctly. "In a few words, that's what happened.
"We came to this mindset, I know me, Freddie, Collin (Hartman) and Justin (Smith), we talked amongst each other and we were, like, this can't happen."
That's the mindset Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had after the game – that what happened to his Spartans on the boards Saturday night can't happen.
"Very seldom does one of our teams get out-worked and out-hustled the way Indiana did it," Izzo said. "The 25-3 difference in offensive rebounds is an insult to me, my players and anybody who ever played here. I was very disappointed in that.
"(But) to find a way to win on the road against a team that took Purdue right to the wire, took Duke right to the wire, and the place was hopping here tonight, I think that's an accomplishment. I'm sure by the time I get on the plane or get home … I'll appreciate the fact that won a game in a hostile, great atmosphere and place. I can't speak enough about that. Archie did a good job and his kids played so hard."
But now the Hoosiers are back to .500 at 12-12 after losing four straight. And for the third straight sequence they'll play a road game on just one day of rest when traveling to Rutgers for a 7 p.m. tipoff Monday.
Rutgers was a tough-luck loser Saturday, too, taking league leader Purdue to the wire before falling, 78-76.
The Scarlet Knights (12-13) got 31 points from junior guard Corey Sanders, with freshman guard Geo Baker and senior forward Deshawn Freeman adding 30 between them. And they played hard.
"Rutgers plays very hard," Miller said. "They're a tough out every single time that you play and we've got our work cut out for us getting up there. Biggest deal is no excuses. It is what it is. We have to get off this floor, up, ready to go and find a way Monday night to play well.
"That's the big thing. It's going to start with our leadership, start with our players being focused. I wasn't in a locker room tonight where everyone was disconnected or down. It was a locker room right there, if we could have played another one tonight, we would play another one. That's what you want to have."
IU fans saw a lot of what they want their team to have Saturday night.
Except shooting.
And a W.
But it wasn't for lack of effort.
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana – Freddie McSwain Jr. busted his posterior in heavy traffic to claim the rebound of a Robert Johnson layup that rolled off the rim, drawing a Josh Langford foul in the process.
So McSwain, through indefatigable effort, earned two free throws with a chance to put IU ahead Michigan State with 1:39 to play Saturday night.
The only problem was that neither of his shots went in.
That pretty much sums up Indiana's 63-60 loss to the No. 5-ranked Spartans. The Hoosiers couldn't have played much harder. And they couldn't, for much of the game, have shot much worse.
The statistics were, well, strange.
Indiana had 25 offensive rebounds to MSU's 3 and won the overall board battle 53-29 – against a program that prides itself on physicality and rebounding. McSwain supplied a career-high 16 boards, nine offensive.
But the Hoosiers shot .171 in the first half and .288 for the game.
"We brought the fight to the game that we needed," IU coach Archie Miller said. "The numbers – it's hard for me to imagine that we were able to rebound the ball like that. But Freddie in particular was really active. And I thought a lot of guys made a lot of hustle plays and played hard, just went after it.
"Offensively, they had a lot to do with (our) numbers, just in terms of impacting the rim (and) the field goal percentage offense with their shot-blocking and their size. Made it hard for us. And clearly we weren't able to dial it up from 3 again (IU was just 4 of 19 on 3s). But credit our guys. I thought they really fought hard and played hard."
Indiana hasn't shot well most of the season. But it clearly has made strides in areas that Hoosier fans should appreciate.
Toughness. Sticky man-to-man defense. Valuing the ball (IU had just eight turnovers Saturday night). Grit. Unabashed hustle.
The Hoosiers played their guts out against the Spartans.
Examples of that abounded, early and throughout.
Indiana missed its first four shots before getting its first bucket through hustle. Josh McRoberts sprawled to knock a ball off a Spartan out-of-bounds, then arose to hit a 3 from the right wing for the game's first points.
McSwain then worked for a fine follow through contact from MSU's Nick Ward to forge a 5-5 tie.
But effort could only do so much. By the second media timeout, IU trailed 13-5 and had made just 2 of 17 shots from the field. Indiana's defense was good over that stretch. Michigan State's was stifling.
So, at least for a half, the host Hoosiers' upset bid looked mostly blocked.
Literally.
Carmel resident and 6-foot-11 freshman Jaren Jackson, Jr., already had six of his game-high seven shot-blocks for MSU by halftime and the Spartans finished with 13 as a team.
"He's really good," Miller said of Jackson. "I don't think he just emerged tonight and said 'look at me.' He's been doing it all year. He's a dominant defensive player. He leads our conference in shot-blocking (with 89)."
But IU's big men got going offensively after halftime, especially junior forward Juwan Morgan, who had 19 points in the period to finish with a game-high 23. And that stemmed in large part via effective post feeds from sophomore guard Devonte Green.
Green didn't match the 20-point scoring he posted Tuesday at Ohio State, finishing with seven, but had a career-high six assists and zero turnovers.
"Devonte's playing a really good floor game for us," Miller said. "He's the one guy right now that can deliver the ball from an assist standpoint. He's the guy that, when he wants to distribute, he's the best guy on our team at that. And he got with it at Ohio State. He carried it over a little bit today.
"And it's good. We need guys that are hunt and assists rather than shots, and six assists tonight, I think he had five or whatever he had at Ohio State. Even at Illinois he made some good passes. He's starting to come around a little bit for us, which is a good sign."
A Green step-back jumper started 7-0 IU run down the stretch as the Hoosiers essentially willed themselves back into contention, erasing almost all of a 58-50 deficit before McSwain had his chance to deliver the lead at the line.
But he missed. And MSU junior Matt McQuaid didn't miss at the other end, drilling his fourth 3 (in just five attempts) at the 1:03 mark to give the Spartans the breathing room they needed.
"Down the stretch, they just made a couple more winning basketball plays than us," Morgan said." I know the ones that stand out are going to be baseline for the drift 3 (by McQuaid). That was a huge make on their part. And then a couple easy layups they got down … and those are just things we can't give up if we want to get over the hump."
But the Hoosiers still had a three-quarter-court heave from Green at the end that would have tied it had it not hit back iron.
This against a 22-3 Spartan team that had thoroughly spanked IU in East Lansing, 85-57, and brutalized the Hoosiers on the boards, 45-27.
"In East Lansing, they punked us," Morgan said succinctly. "In a few words, that's what happened.
"We came to this mindset, I know me, Freddie, Collin (Hartman) and Justin (Smith), we talked amongst each other and we were, like, this can't happen."
That's the mindset Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had after the game – that what happened to his Spartans on the boards Saturday night can't happen.
"Very seldom does one of our teams get out-worked and out-hustled the way Indiana did it," Izzo said. "The 25-3 difference in offensive rebounds is an insult to me, my players and anybody who ever played here. I was very disappointed in that.
"(But) to find a way to win on the road against a team that took Purdue right to the wire, took Duke right to the wire, and the place was hopping here tonight, I think that's an accomplishment. I'm sure by the time I get on the plane or get home … I'll appreciate the fact that won a game in a hostile, great atmosphere and place. I can't speak enough about that. Archie did a good job and his kids played so hard."
But now the Hoosiers are back to .500 at 12-12 after losing four straight. And for the third straight sequence they'll play a road game on just one day of rest when traveling to Rutgers for a 7 p.m. tipoff Monday.
Rutgers was a tough-luck loser Saturday, too, taking league leader Purdue to the wire before falling, 78-76.
The Scarlet Knights (12-13) got 31 points from junior guard Corey Sanders, with freshman guard Geo Baker and senior forward Deshawn Freeman adding 30 between them. And they played hard.
"Rutgers plays very hard," Miller said. "They're a tough out every single time that you play and we've got our work cut out for us getting up there. Biggest deal is no excuses. It is what it is. We have to get off this floor, up, ready to go and find a way Monday night to play well.
"That's the big thing. It's going to start with our leadership, start with our players being focused. I wasn't in a locker room tonight where everyone was disconnected or down. It was a locker room right there, if we could have played another one tonight, we would play another one. That's what you want to have."
IU fans saw a lot of what they want their team to have Saturday night.
Except shooting.
And a W.
But it wasn't for lack of effort.
Players Mentioned
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