Indiana Stifles Montana State, 80-35

Friday, November 9

Bloomington, Ind.

8:00 PM

Indiana University

Montana State

Montana St.

Indiana

11/9/2018 10:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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By: Pete DiPrimio, IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – This defensive moment comes courtesy of Juwan Morgan.

Yes, Indiana's senior forward was a double-double beast during Friday night's 80-35 blowout victory over Montana State, but for about five seconds, he was also the basketball equivalent of Barry Sanders.

Who's Barry Sanders? He was the former college and NFL running back superstar whose elusive style buckled the knees of anyone who tried to tackle him.

So there was Montana State guard Tyler Hall, seeing a possible mismatch with Morgan guarding him, going for his fanciest dribbling. Morgan countered with a solid defensive stance.

The result -- Hall's knees buckled, he hit the floor, the ball rolled out of bounds and the Hoosiers had another highlight in a night filled with them.

Morgan was the catalyst with his first double-double of the season and the 10th of his career. He finished with 14 points (on 6-for-6 shooting), 11 rebounds and four assists in just 22 minutes.

"Juwan was terrific," coach Archie Miller said.

So was the defense. IU gave up the second fewest points ever at Assembly Hall. Only holding Notre Dame to 29 points in 1971 was better.

Still, Miller continued to want more, especially with Marquette (1-0) coming to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Wednesday. He pointed to a number of defensive mistakes and said, as the caliber of opposition rises, "We'll be exposed by the talent and speed of game. We won't get away with that amount of mistakes.

"We'll try to keep getting better. We have to find a way to be a fantastic team on defense, to make the defense charge the offense every game."

Freshman Romeo Langford won the charisma battle with a couple of spectacular dunks en route to a 12-point, three-rebound night, but Morgan was IU's anchor. He even had an assist on one of Langford's dunks.

Miller said he challenged Morgan to be more assertive after a Chicago State game in which he had nine points and eight rebounds.

"Part of it was him demanding the ball," Miller said. "He wanted it. When he caught it, he was very focused.

"It was good to see him dominate the paint."

This wasn't the first time Morgan has had a perfect shooting night. In 2016 he was 8-for-8 against SIU-Edwardsville.

Morgan didn't score in the second half, he didn't even attempt a shot, but he didn't have to. By halftime the Hoosiers led by 24 points and victory was assured.

Morgan was a distributor rather than a scorer in his six second-half minutes. That's a big turnaround from last season, when so much of the offense had to come from him.

"It took a little getting used to having all these weapons around me, building some chemistry," he said. "Setting people up. Just keep staying aggressive."

Those weapons include forward Justin Smith (13 points) and point guard Rob Phinisee (12 points). Twelve Hoosiers scored and 16 played.

"We're trying to become an unselfish team," Miller said. "With the way we play, we can be hard to defend."

This was a night for in-the-paint excellence (a 48-18 advantage) even as the three-point and free-throw lines became barriers the Hoosiers struggled to overcome. They were 10-for-19 from the line (making them 29-for-52 for the season) and 6-for-21 behind the arc.

Montana State (0-2) lacked the firepower to make IU pay, but that won't last much longer.

"We're still not shooting well from the line or on threes," Miller said. "We don't aspire to be a team that jacks up threes, but we have to take good threes. We have to get some guys with confidence. We've got to find a way to break through in those two things."

It would help if IU could get to full roster strength. Injury continues to sideline highly regarded freshman Jerome Hunter.

Miller said Hunter, who is dealing with a lower leg injury, would be out "indefinitely" while doctors continue to evaluate the injury.

"He'll be out for a significant stretch."

Friday night was the opener of the four-game Hardwood Showcase. The event continues over two weeks with home contests against UT Arlington and UC Davis, and a trip to Arkansas.

First, though, comes Marquette.

"We'll have to play the hardest we've played," Miller said. "It will be a great test for us."

Montana State, coming off a 101-71 loss to Utah State, was no match for Indiana's attack-the-paint approach.

In the first 10 minutes the Hoosiers put up 16 shots, only two from three-point range. They made 10 of those inside shots and built a 26-13 lead. Morgan was the biggest inside beneficiary with eight points on 4-for-4 shooting.

"Coach told us to feed the post so that's what we did," Phinisee said.

Langford's first collegiate three-pointer pushed the Hoosiers ahead 30-13 with six minutes left. By halftime, the lead was 43-19 and the only thing left to decide was margin of victory.

As for the lack of competition in the first two games (average victory margin of 47 points), Morgan said, "We can't worry about the team we're going against. Play as hard as we can and do our things, do what Indiana does."

On Friday night, it was mission accomplished.