Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
5-3
Duke
7-1
IU Falls To No. 7 Duke On the Road
12/2/2015 11:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. - Indiana played two distinct halves against No. 7 Duke.
The first wasn't perfect, but it was manageable. The Hoosiers trailed the Blue Devils 51-42 at halftime but had one point led by six points just eight minutes into the game.
The second half at Cameron Indoor Stadium wasn't as kind.
The Blue Devils (7-1) stormed out in front of the Hoosiers (4-3) early en route to a 94-74 win in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Duke led by as many as 25 midway through the second half and didn't let up much after that.
"We never really made them feel us, presence wise," Indiana head coach Tom Crean said.
Duke forward Brandon Ingram led the way in what was a breakout game for the highly-touted freshman. He finished with a career-high 24 points to go along with Matt Jones' 23 to pace the Blue Devils to victory.
Ingram's performance was a welcome sign for Duke. He had shot just 14-of-40 from the field in his previous five games before playing Indiana, but he warmed up quickly and didn't cool off much Wednesday. He made seven of his first eight attempts—including four 3-pointers—to help him to 18 points in the first half alone.
Indiana didn't have an answer.
"I think a lot of Ingram's threes came off of second-chance points," senior guard Yogi Ferrell said. "They outrebounded us. I think that hurt us."
Duke outrebounded Indiana 38-25, leading to a 17 more shots than Indiana for the game.
The Blue Devils jumped out to a 20-point lead early in the second half because Indiana couldn't get shots to drop. It wasn't until the 15:08 mark in the second half that Ferrell connected on a pair of free throws to temporarily stop the bleeding.
Play from the likes of junior forward Troy Williams—who finished with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting—helped keep Indiana about even with Duke the rest of the way, but the cushion was already too large for the Hoosiers to put enough of a dent in without defensive stops.
"We didn't get enough stops," Crean said. "We didn't get enough stops in a row. We didn't create enough pressure on them to put them in enough uncomfortable situations."
Indiana tried a mix of things defensively to try to slow Duke down but got mixed results. Man-to-man and various zone defenses weren't enough to contend with Duke's length and athleticism on the front line, Crean said.
When asked if he's concerned about his team's recent losses, Crean repeatedly mentioned how early it is in the season. His players did the same.
Their consensus is that there's still time to grow, and the Hoosiers still insist they'll be able to as they return home for three games against Morehead State,
IPFW and McNeese State before heading to Indianapolis to play Notre Dame at the Crossroads Classic.
"It's December 3," Crean said, noting that it was after midnight when he addressed the media.
"It's eight games in. I think we'll get better. That's the bottom line."
