Indiana Limiting Turnovers Has Been Key to 5-0 Start

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It seems like a simple enough concept. Take care of the ball, and good things happen.

The 2019-20 Hoosiers have done just that, turning the ball over an average of just 11.0 times a game in five outings this season, and they turned in their best performance of the season with just nine miscues in a 79-54 win over Princeton. Just three of those mistakes came after halftime, and overall, Indiana's turnovers led to just nine Princeton points. With the Hoosiers' defense forcing 15 Tiger mistakes that led to 22 Indiana points, valuing the ball was key to IU's win.

"Nothing is more important for this team than not turning the ball over," head coach Archie Miller said. "Especially live-ball turnovers. We had a silly one to start the game today again. It was a post feed. We had six at the half and ended with nine, so that was three in the second half, which was pretty good."

Starting guards Aljami Durham and Armaan Franklin combined to hand out eight assists without committing a single turnover. Senior Devonte Green came off the bench and handed out four assists vs. just one turnover, and Green was robbed of a few more assists when his teammates were unable to finish some slick passes from Green with a bucket. Sophomore Rob Phinisee added a pair of assists to go with two turnovers.

"When I see turnovers, I look right to the guard play," Miller said. "The floor game by our guards… they're handling the ball more for us, so they have to take care of the ball more for us."

IU is continuing a trend when it comes to taking care of the ball. During Miller's first season at IU in 2017-18, the Hoosiers averaged 12.5 turnovers a game. Last season, that number ticked down a bit to 12.4. The 2019-20 season has just begun but dropping down to 11.0 turnovers a game while scoring an average of 21.2 points off opponents' turnovers is a big reason IU has started 5-0 for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

The Princeton game marked the 17th time in the 22 games the Hoosiers have played since the start of the 2019 calendar year that IU recorded 12 or fewer turnovers.

"It has always been a point of emphasis," Green said. "I think we're just being smarter with the ball this year. We're just making more shots, so there aren't as many turnovers to go around anymore."

Green and center Joey Brunk have developed a rapport on the court, and Green fired of some of his best passes to Brunk for scores. The big man finished with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and Green's feeds were one of the reasons for his success.

"You love having somebody that's looking for you, wants to reward you," Brunk said. "You want to play hard with him because you know he's going to get you the ball in the right spots."

Miller doesn't mind what he has seen from his senior guard early this year.

"Devonte knows that he's a playmaker for us, and we want him to be aggressive," Miller said. "It's being aggressive within the framework of what we're doing. He's our best playmaker in terms of making the pass you can't see, and he sees it early. He's aggressive, and he knows he can impact the game. The only thing I stress to him is to play smart and play simple."

Indiana held a slim 35-31 lead at halftime, but the Hoosiers pulled away in the final 20 minutes with a simple formula.

"Our offensive execution and not turning the ball over, getting a shot almost every time was really good," Miller said.

Between shooting 56.4 percent from the field overall, outrebounding Princeton 34-25, and handing out 19 assists vs. nine turnovers, Indiana checked all the boxes for a win.

"If you look at the two things with our team, it's rebounding and turning the ball over," Miller said. "If we're rebounding well and we don't turn the ball over, we're going to be all right."

Indiana University Athletics

Indiana Limiting Turnovers Has Been Key to 5-0 Start

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