Hustling Hoosiers Hammer Eastern Michigan

Friday, November 24

Bloomington, Ind.

4:30 PM

Indiana University

4-2

Eastern Michigan

4-1

Eastern Michigan

Indiana

11/24/2017 6:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – One could see it. Even hear it.

Indiana's Juwan Morgan dived to the floor, skin squealing, to secure a loose ball and draw a foul on Eastern Michigan's Paul Jackson with 6:20 left in the first half.

And it was perhaps music to coach Archie Miller's ears.

By then it was already apparent the Hoosiers were hustling, and that characterized a convincing 87-67 win Friday evening over the previously unbeaten Eagles.

"Juwan had great effort there at times," coach Archie Miller, who had previously wanted to see more of that sort of thing from his club, said post-game. "I think Josh Newkirk made one of the great run-down blocks … we had a lot of hard plays guys were making."

EMU (4-1) made a lot of hard shots to stay close for a while. The Eagles were within 42-37 at halftime, having shot 7 of 11 from 3-point range, including 4 of 6 sniping from 6-foot-9 junior Elijah Minnie.

But the host Hoosiers then shot a sparkling .593 after intermission (burying 5 of 7 3s in the process) and pulled away stylishly down the stretch.

IU got a terrific showing from senior guards Newkirk and Robert Johnson, who combined for 35 points and 9 of 12 3-point shooting. And that came against an active and extended EMU zone that Miller had described as "the second-best I've seen" (behind only Syracuse's renowned 2-3.)

Which makes sense, given that EMU coach Rob Murphy was a Syracuse assistant under Jim Boeheim through 2011.

"One-day prep for Eastern Michigan is hard," Miller said, alluding to IU having only Thanksgiving Day between Friday's test and Wednesday's win over South Florida. "They play a very unique zone defense, and until you see them up close you don't really realize how long and how big they are.

"And playing against them in the past, I knew this was going to be a challenging game, especially on one day."

But the Hoosiers showed immediate signs they were ready to unlock the zone.

The first possession was textbook execution. The Hoosiers had crisp perimeter ball movement before entering into the lane to De'Ron Davis. His quick pass found Juwan Morgan, who dunked while drawing a foul, leading to a 3-point play.

Morgan returned the favor a couple of possessions later with an interior pass for a Davis bucket to make it 5-0.

"Yeah, we always tell them to look for your buddy (inside)," Miller said. "There is usually going to be one opposite (the ball) or one in the middle, one under or one over. And first look on any catch in the paint is obviously your buddy."

But with Minnie pouring in bombs, the first half produced three lead-changes and three ties before a Davis jump-hook gave IU the lead back – for good, as it turned out – at 19-18 at the 9:05 mark.

The Hoosiers then got a big lift, spiritually and tangibly, as senior Collin Hartman made his first appearance since the Nov. 5 exhibition game against the University of Indianapolis.

It took Hartman precisely 30 seconds to make his presence felt, burying a 3 from the right baseline to prompt his second standing ovation within that shot span.

Asked what it meant to have Hartman back on the court, even for a relatively brief six minutes, Newkirk said: "It meant a lot. His spark, his energy, all that definitely helped us out … he has a lot of experience. He brings a lot of value to the team. He knocks down the open shots. He plays great defense."

Hartman was one of five different Hoosiers to hit 3s before halftime. And IU maintained a lead throughout the second half, but EMU was within 49-47 with 14:32 to play before the Hoosiers headed off on a decisive 19-3 run fueled by hustle plays and hot shooting.

The run was ignited by seven IU points in 38 seconds, started by a Freddie McSwain tip-in and a Newkirk 3, then highlighted by a tandem of freshmen combining for a play that got Assembly Hall rocking.

Miller had appealed to the crowd to get up for a defensive stop and, right on cue, Justin Smith and Aljami Durham came up with a steal atop the key.

The ball ping-ponged a bit, with Smith having to tap it behind his back to Durham, who then flipped a pass forward. Smith somehow located the ball, snagged it and delivered a two-hand thunder dunk that made it 56-47 and prompted an EMU timeout with 13:27 left – to no avail.

"Once they got up nine, they started playing a little more comfortable," Murphy said of the Hoosiers. "We didn't keep the ball out of the inside and (then) the kicked it out.

"Newkirk did an unbelievable job of knocking down shots and getting the ball where it needed to be. He had a great floor game … I thought, as a unit, they all played pretty well together. I like Johnson. He stepped up and hit some 3s. I thought Davis was huge in size, sealing consistently … but I thought Newkirk was the catalyst."

Another Newkirk trey at 11:30 pushed the lead to double-digits at 61-50, and the Hoosiers were not to be headed, pushing the lead to 68-50 before the Eagles finally got on the board again via a goal-tending call at the 8:15 mark.

The closest the Eagles got thereafter was 73-60 with 5:15 left, but Johnson then posted a personal 7-0 run to end any thought of a rally. Johnson led the Hoosier scoring with 18 points and joined Newkirk in stepping up to make senior-savvy plays and big shots all day.

But they were hardly alone in staying proactive.

Just a few examples of Hoosier hustle:

Freshman guard Aljami Durham – who has made just two turnovers through 167 minutes of play in his debut season -- saved a long rebound headed out-of-bounds off an Eagle player to save a possession with 4:42 left in the first half.

Josh McRoberts, one of several Hoosiers to provide a spark off the bench, gave maximum effort to follow his own miss for his first bucket of the season with 9:30 to play. Then he did it again less than two minutes later.

When Durham missed the front-end of a bonus free throw opportunity at the 7:24 mark, Morgan got skinny along the baseline to corral the rebound.

Loose balls were mostly claimed by the home team.

Part of that probably stems from comfort level. The Hoosiers look less hesitant and more aggressive six games into Miller's first season in Bloomington.

"Definitely, everybody is getting comfortable with the offensive style, the defensive schemes," Newkirk said. "We've just been practicing a lot.

"I think everybody is feeling more comfortable understanding that we're all helping each other. I think it's coming along."

Miller was appreciative.

"Good win for our team," Miller adjudged. "… I thought our staff and our team really worked hard yesterday to identify a couple of real key concepts to work against the zone, which was clearly to establish the ball getting inside and working through the paint.

"And I think that's a big reason why we had only eight turnovers. And also think the shot selection, being able to play inside the zone and out was pretty good. Guys got good looks and were able to knock them down for really the first time -- watching Josh and Rob make some shots, it felt a little different out there for us."

Now that the Hoosiers have concluded their four-game Hoosier Tip-Off Classic Play, the schedule will feel a little different, too.

No. 1 Duke comes calling next Wednesday. That's followed in succession by dates at Michigan, home with Iowa, at Louisville and then the Dec. 16 Crossroads Classic matchup against Notre Dame in Indianapolis.

But the 4-2 Hoosiers now look more at ease with Miller's desired approaches on both ends of the court – and ready to play hard in the manner Miller demands – heading into that stretch.