Indiana University Athletics
GRAHAM: Enough Five Jive For The Hoosiers
1/25/2019 9:35:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By: Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana would prefer neither streak of five stays alive.
The Hoosiers host Michigan for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff Friday night with IU currently on a five-game slide, overall, and also having lost five straight in the series with the Wolverines.
And Michigan enters, naturally, ranked No. 5.
The Wolverines (18-1 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) have won 32 of their past 34 games, going back into last season, with the only losses during that stretch last year's NCAA title game and last Saturday at Wisconsin.
Michigan's 17-0 start this season included a 74-63 win Jan. 6 over Indiana in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines started hot that day, tying their season-best for a half with 44 points before intermission, and led all the way – though the Hoosiers were decidedly more competitive as the game went along.
"We clearly played well, and we're going to have to do that again," Michigan coach John Beilein said of the first game between the teams and of Friday's assignment. "Tremendous homecourt atmosphere in Bloomington. It's one of the louder arenas.
"At Wisconsin, we didn't play as well as we could, once the road atmosphere kicked in. So we're going to have to handle that. Because it's a difficult venue and they're a very good team. Very good coaching staff. Great plan. They've got a lot of good players and two really exceptional players that will be hard to stop."
Beilein was alluding to 6-foot-8 IU senior Juwan Morgan and 6-6 freshman teammate Romeo Langford, who have scored in double-figures 35 times combined in 38 chances so far this season.
Langford leads the Hoosiers in scoring (17.6 average) but had just four in last Saturday's loss at Purdue, and 12 in Tuesday's 73-66 setback at Northwestern.
Michigan's scoring leader is also a freshman, Iggy Brazdeikis at 14.9, but he was held scoreless against Wisconsin. And while he had 18 in Tuesday's 59-57 homecourt escape versus Minnesota, he hit just 4 of 18 shots from the field.
Beilein has seen that sort of thing before with even exceptionally talented freshmen, such as Langford and Brazdeikis, when a debut season becomes more difficult as they draw focus from opposing defenses.
"Typical freshman, he's trying to figure a lot of things out," Beilein said of Brazdeikis. " … I don't think anybody handles it well when something that was once very easy for them becomes difficult. As a coaching staff, we have to get them and (say), 'Alright, this is what happens to good players.'
"And they all dream of getting to the NBA. And you say, 'Guess what's going to happen in the NBA? At some point, you're going to be guarding LeBron and LeBron is going to be guarding you. Do you think this is going to get easier? So embrace it. Grow from it. Get better.' That's the only way we can approach these things."
It isn't just the star freshmen – both teams have struggled some in recent outings, generally, shooting the ball.
Indiana's offense has appeared moribund at times, with scoring droughts cropping up. Shooting is part of the issue. IU has hit just 10 of 55 shots from 3-point range over its past three games (.181).
Michigan hasn't been much better lately from beyond the arc at just 17 of 76 over its past four games (.224).
"I have to look at it as good news that we won the games (for the most part)," Beilein said. "Wisconsin doesn't give you a 3. Northwestern doesn't give you a 3. The other night (against Minnesota), we had them and we didn't make them (5 of 15)."
Michigan boasts a trio of double-figure scorers, with 6-6 senior Charles Matthews (13.3) and 6-5 sophomore Jordan Poole (12.9) augmenting Brazdeikis.
Poole and Matthews had 18 points apiece in the Jan. 6 win over IU. Matthews hit the baseline buzzer-beater Tuesday that beat Minnesota.
But fellow Wolverine starters Jon Teske, the 7-1 junior averaging 9.1 points and 6.6 boards, and 6-0 junior point guard Zavier Simpson, at 8.6 points and 5.6 assists, have both upped production over the last four games.
Teske has averaged 15.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game over that span, shooting 64.8 percent from the field (including 7 of 13 from 3-point range). Simpson has averaged 14.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game over the last four, notching his first career 20-point game Jan. 13 in the 80-60 homecourt win over Northwestern.
Michigan sixth-man Isaiah Livers, a 6-7 soph who a good shooting touch who averages 7.8 points, missed the first game against IU but is healthy now.
"He really changes their team," IU coach Archie Miller said of Livers. "He gives them the ability to play small with five 3-point shooters on the floor and (it creates) mismatches. They have a great lineup there with their small ball, and they are very versatile defensively with that type of quickness and speed.
"… He's definitely a game changer for him just in terms of the way he shoots it and his versatility and how he uses them.'
But Livers and several teammates haven't shot up to standard recently. And the Wolverines haven't collectively attained 60 points in each of their last two games.
Beilein and Miller both want to see their teams play the sort of defense that can help lead to more offense.
"If we're stopping people 40 percent of the time and getting lots of defensive boards … we have to make them pay in transition," Beilein said.
Michigan made just three turnovers during its earlier win over Indiana, and Miller hasn't seen his defense force enough opposing errors lately.
"Obviously you're playing against really well-coached teams," Miller said Thursday. "They execute well. Michigan is one of them. They don't turn the ball over very much, but we have to find a way to disrupt if we are going to have a chance to get out on transition.
"Our last four games … you can think back on it, what are we not doing, and I just think forcing turnovers, the activity level, the ability to get defense (creating transition) offense hasn't been there for us, which has hurt us."
Injuries have hurt all season, too, and continue to hurt.
Indiana (12-7, 3-5) has now shut down 6-10 junior De'Ron Davis with a lingering ankle injury – a major loss going up against a Michigan team that, in addition to the 7-1 Teske, can bring in 6-10 Austin Davis and 6-8 Brandon Johns (who had career-highs with eight points and eight boards in the first game against IU.)
There was some good recent injury-related news for the Hoosiers, though, with 6-8 redshirt-freshman Race Thompson practicing full-go after having played just one game all season before spending the interim in concussion protocol.
Miller said a taking a medical redshirt is still a possibility for Thompson, whose conditioning is a long way from game-ready, but that the staff isn't ruling out the possibility Thompson might take the court again this season.
IU junior guard Devonte Green remains suspended indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules.
But Hoosier freshman point guard Rob Phinisee, who had 13 points at Northwestern, seems to be finding his stride again after missing almost a month with a concussion. IU also got 11 points off the bench from sophomore guard Al Durham.
"I feel like we got to step up," Durham said of Phinisee and himself. "Things happen … we know we have to play a bigger part, now that we lost one (starter in the backcourt).
"I feel like Rob looked really good at Northwestern … just having him back – his presence, knocking down shots, making plays – is a good addition to what we have."
Durham also liked the looks of the 13-1 run that almost brought the Hoosiers all the way back at Northwestern, and he hopes some of the renewed confidence stemming from that might carry over into Friday.
"Even though we didn't get over the hump, I felt like we were taking steps back toward the way we want to go," Durham said of that second-half momentum. "And if we keep going that way, I feel the sky's the limit."
And even with recent shooting struggles, Indiana's .499 field goal percentage still ranks second in the conference and 13th nationally. The Hoosiers' 3-point percentage has fallen to .333 but, before a 4 of 21 showing at Northwestern, matched Michigan's .350 figure.
Beilein said he and his team are under no illusions about the challenge Friday will bring.
"Indiana is Indiana," Beilein said. "I think we might have won down there two times in the last 12 years. So it's hard to win there and they're a good team. They were nationally ranked last week.
"So it's not like we're going to go in there and play a poor team. This is a really good team and we're a really good team."
Durham said he and his teammates are well aware of the Wolverines' quality, too.
"Overall, they're a great team," Durham said. "I feel you have to give them credit where credit is due. I feel like they just move the ball. They play well as a team. They all know their roles. I feel like they're a good defensive team, as well."
Beilein said he's seen even good teams hit rough patches almost every season of his 41-year head coaching career:
"I think it happens to most teams sometime during a year … you go through periods where it's not the right matchup, somebody has a slight injury, you're on the road, and it's an environment where you're not comfortable. All of a sudden, you look like a shell of who you can be.
"And it just happens. And then you have to get yourself out of it. I can remember times over my career where it was all you needed was to get a W, or have one guy make one shot, and the whole season could change."
Sometimes one shot, one sequence, can especially fire up a home crowd.
Four of the losses during IU's current slide were on the road.
"It's good to be back in Bloomington," Durham said. "I feel like, as everybody knows, IU is just the best place to play. And then having that fan base behind us, I feel like it gives us an ultra-boost. There's nothing like it anywhere else, I feel like."
Durham's classmate Justin Smith agreed. "It's really nice (to be home)," Smith said. "This place is going to be going crazy. It's Michigan … they're beating everybody. It's going to be a good game and we're looking forward to it."
Miller knows beating a Top 5 foe is never easy but, if accomplished, is the sort of thing that can indeed change a season's trajectory.
"Big opportunity for our team to get back on the floor on Friday night," he said. "Should be hopefully an electric atmosphere for us getting back home playing obviously a really highly regarded Michigan team who is having a phenomenal season
"Obviously we don't want to be in the situation that we're currently in, but you can't worried about what's happened in the past. You have to continue to focus on getting better. You have to continue on making the players feel like they are getting better and they are earning their confidence back, and you have an another opportunity on Friday."
And a chance to see that those streaks of five don't survive.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana would prefer neither streak of five stays alive.
The Hoosiers host Michigan for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff Friday night with IU currently on a five-game slide, overall, and also having lost five straight in the series with the Wolverines.
And Michigan enters, naturally, ranked No. 5.
The Wolverines (18-1 overall, 7-1 Big Ten) have won 32 of their past 34 games, going back into last season, with the only losses during that stretch last year's NCAA title game and last Saturday at Wisconsin.
Michigan's 17-0 start this season included a 74-63 win Jan. 6 over Indiana in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines started hot that day, tying their season-best for a half with 44 points before intermission, and led all the way – though the Hoosiers were decidedly more competitive as the game went along.
"We clearly played well, and we're going to have to do that again," Michigan coach John Beilein said of the first game between the teams and of Friday's assignment. "Tremendous homecourt atmosphere in Bloomington. It's one of the louder arenas.
"At Wisconsin, we didn't play as well as we could, once the road atmosphere kicked in. So we're going to have to handle that. Because it's a difficult venue and they're a very good team. Very good coaching staff. Great plan. They've got a lot of good players and two really exceptional players that will be hard to stop."
Beilein was alluding to 6-foot-8 IU senior Juwan Morgan and 6-6 freshman teammate Romeo Langford, who have scored in double-figures 35 times combined in 38 chances so far this season.
Langford leads the Hoosiers in scoring (17.6 average) but had just four in last Saturday's loss at Purdue, and 12 in Tuesday's 73-66 setback at Northwestern.
Michigan's scoring leader is also a freshman, Iggy Brazdeikis at 14.9, but he was held scoreless against Wisconsin. And while he had 18 in Tuesday's 59-57 homecourt escape versus Minnesota, he hit just 4 of 18 shots from the field.
Beilein has seen that sort of thing before with even exceptionally talented freshmen, such as Langford and Brazdeikis, when a debut season becomes more difficult as they draw focus from opposing defenses.
"Typical freshman, he's trying to figure a lot of things out," Beilein said of Brazdeikis. " … I don't think anybody handles it well when something that was once very easy for them becomes difficult. As a coaching staff, we have to get them and (say), 'Alright, this is what happens to good players.'
"And they all dream of getting to the NBA. And you say, 'Guess what's going to happen in the NBA? At some point, you're going to be guarding LeBron and LeBron is going to be guarding you. Do you think this is going to get easier? So embrace it. Grow from it. Get better.' That's the only way we can approach these things."
It isn't just the star freshmen – both teams have struggled some in recent outings, generally, shooting the ball.
Indiana's offense has appeared moribund at times, with scoring droughts cropping up. Shooting is part of the issue. IU has hit just 10 of 55 shots from 3-point range over its past three games (.181).
Michigan hasn't been much better lately from beyond the arc at just 17 of 76 over its past four games (.224).
"I have to look at it as good news that we won the games (for the most part)," Beilein said. "Wisconsin doesn't give you a 3. Northwestern doesn't give you a 3. The other night (against Minnesota), we had them and we didn't make them (5 of 15)."
Michigan boasts a trio of double-figure scorers, with 6-6 senior Charles Matthews (13.3) and 6-5 sophomore Jordan Poole (12.9) augmenting Brazdeikis.
Poole and Matthews had 18 points apiece in the Jan. 6 win over IU. Matthews hit the baseline buzzer-beater Tuesday that beat Minnesota.
But fellow Wolverine starters Jon Teske, the 7-1 junior averaging 9.1 points and 6.6 boards, and 6-0 junior point guard Zavier Simpson, at 8.6 points and 5.6 assists, have both upped production over the last four games.
Teske has averaged 15.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game over that span, shooting 64.8 percent from the field (including 7 of 13 from 3-point range). Simpson has averaged 14.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game over the last four, notching his first career 20-point game Jan. 13 in the 80-60 homecourt win over Northwestern.
Michigan sixth-man Isaiah Livers, a 6-7 soph who a good shooting touch who averages 7.8 points, missed the first game against IU but is healthy now.
"He really changes their team," IU coach Archie Miller said of Livers. "He gives them the ability to play small with five 3-point shooters on the floor and (it creates) mismatches. They have a great lineup there with their small ball, and they are very versatile defensively with that type of quickness and speed.
"… He's definitely a game changer for him just in terms of the way he shoots it and his versatility and how he uses them.'
But Livers and several teammates haven't shot up to standard recently. And the Wolverines haven't collectively attained 60 points in each of their last two games.
Beilein and Miller both want to see their teams play the sort of defense that can help lead to more offense.
"If we're stopping people 40 percent of the time and getting lots of defensive boards … we have to make them pay in transition," Beilein said.
Michigan made just three turnovers during its earlier win over Indiana, and Miller hasn't seen his defense force enough opposing errors lately.
"Obviously you're playing against really well-coached teams," Miller said Thursday. "They execute well. Michigan is one of them. They don't turn the ball over very much, but we have to find a way to disrupt if we are going to have a chance to get out on transition.
"Our last four games … you can think back on it, what are we not doing, and I just think forcing turnovers, the activity level, the ability to get defense (creating transition) offense hasn't been there for us, which has hurt us."
Injuries have hurt all season, too, and continue to hurt.
Indiana (12-7, 3-5) has now shut down 6-10 junior De'Ron Davis with a lingering ankle injury – a major loss going up against a Michigan team that, in addition to the 7-1 Teske, can bring in 6-10 Austin Davis and 6-8 Brandon Johns (who had career-highs with eight points and eight boards in the first game against IU.)
There was some good recent injury-related news for the Hoosiers, though, with 6-8 redshirt-freshman Race Thompson practicing full-go after having played just one game all season before spending the interim in concussion protocol.
Miller said a taking a medical redshirt is still a possibility for Thompson, whose conditioning is a long way from game-ready, but that the staff isn't ruling out the possibility Thompson might take the court again this season.
IU junior guard Devonte Green remains suspended indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules.
But Hoosier freshman point guard Rob Phinisee, who had 13 points at Northwestern, seems to be finding his stride again after missing almost a month with a concussion. IU also got 11 points off the bench from sophomore guard Al Durham.
"I feel like we got to step up," Durham said of Phinisee and himself. "Things happen … we know we have to play a bigger part, now that we lost one (starter in the backcourt).
"I feel like Rob looked really good at Northwestern … just having him back – his presence, knocking down shots, making plays – is a good addition to what we have."
Durham also liked the looks of the 13-1 run that almost brought the Hoosiers all the way back at Northwestern, and he hopes some of the renewed confidence stemming from that might carry over into Friday.
"Even though we didn't get over the hump, I felt like we were taking steps back toward the way we want to go," Durham said of that second-half momentum. "And if we keep going that way, I feel the sky's the limit."
And even with recent shooting struggles, Indiana's .499 field goal percentage still ranks second in the conference and 13th nationally. The Hoosiers' 3-point percentage has fallen to .333 but, before a 4 of 21 showing at Northwestern, matched Michigan's .350 figure.
Beilein said he and his team are under no illusions about the challenge Friday will bring.
"Indiana is Indiana," Beilein said. "I think we might have won down there two times in the last 12 years. So it's hard to win there and they're a good team. They were nationally ranked last week.
"So it's not like we're going to go in there and play a poor team. This is a really good team and we're a really good team."
Durham said he and his teammates are well aware of the Wolverines' quality, too.
"Overall, they're a great team," Durham said. "I feel you have to give them credit where credit is due. I feel like they just move the ball. They play well as a team. They all know their roles. I feel like they're a good defensive team, as well."
Beilein said he's seen even good teams hit rough patches almost every season of his 41-year head coaching career:
"I think it happens to most teams sometime during a year … you go through periods where it's not the right matchup, somebody has a slight injury, you're on the road, and it's an environment where you're not comfortable. All of a sudden, you look like a shell of who you can be.
"And it just happens. And then you have to get yourself out of it. I can remember times over my career where it was all you needed was to get a W, or have one guy make one shot, and the whole season could change."
Sometimes one shot, one sequence, can especially fire up a home crowd.
Four of the losses during IU's current slide were on the road.
"It's good to be back in Bloomington," Durham said. "I feel like, as everybody knows, IU is just the best place to play. And then having that fan base behind us, I feel like it gives us an ultra-boost. There's nothing like it anywhere else, I feel like."
Durham's classmate Justin Smith agreed. "It's really nice (to be home)," Smith said. "This place is going to be going crazy. It's Michigan … they're beating everybody. It's going to be a good game and we're looking forward to it."
Miller knows beating a Top 5 foe is never easy but, if accomplished, is the sort of thing that can indeed change a season's trajectory.
"Big opportunity for our team to get back on the floor on Friday night," he said. "Should be hopefully an electric atmosphere for us getting back home playing obviously a really highly regarded Michigan team who is having a phenomenal season
"Obviously we don't want to be in the situation that we're currently in, but you can't worried about what's happened in the past. You have to continue to focus on getting better. You have to continue on making the players feel like they are getting better and they are earning their confidence back, and you have an another opportunity on Friday."
And a chance to see that those streaks of five don't survive.
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