Familiar Story Leads to Different Ending for Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - It can be difficult for a team to stay on script.

When a couple of possessions go sideways, when the opposing team is starting to build some momentum, it's a natural tendency for players to want to try something different.

Indiana certainly felt that vs. Notre Dame Dec. 21 when the Hoosiers struggled midway through the second half, allowed a double-digit lead to slip away, and managed to pull out the win thanks to a timely 3-pointer from freshman guard Armaan Franklin in the closing seconds.

It provided a lift for the Hoosiers, and it gave the team the confidence to know it could battle back to a win even when things haven't worked out as planned.

It's nice to have that confidence in a team's pocket to draw on late in games. But that doesn't mean every instance is going to have a happy ending.

Indiana built a five-point lead by halftime and stretched that advantage to 11-points early in the second half vs. Arkansas at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall Sunday night, and the Hoosiers did it by pounding the ball inside and running their offense from the inside out. But after free throws from forward Justin Smith put IU up 50-39 with 16:04 to play, the Hoosiers went away from what was working.

Arkansas' Isaiah Joe drained a three, then Smith scored in the paint to push the lead back to 10. Indiana's next three shot attempts then came on a jumper by Franklin and a pair of missed 3-pointers from guard Devonte Green. The Razorbacks, meanwhile, ran off eight straight points on the other end to pull within 52-50.

Smith broke the run with a jumper, but Arkansas answered with a lay-up from Reggie Chaney, and Green drained a three to push the lead back to five. IU continued to look inside, with freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis scoring on a putback in the pain, and forward Joey Brunk's lay-up with 8:08 to play gave Indiana a 61-52 lead.

Crisis averted.

Well…

Brunk's basket would be IU's last score by a big man on the day. Jackson-Davis, who scored 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, didn't take a shot past the 9:01 mark. Instead, IU's offense, like it did vs. Notre Dame, moved to the perimeter, and Arkansas closed the game on a 19-3 run to give the Razorbacks a 71-64 victory.

Some numbers stood out after the final buzzer sounded: IU went 5-of-21 from 3-point range, including 3-of-13 in the second half from beyond the arc, and the Hoosiers made just 9-of-18 shots from the free-throw line. Both teams made the same number of total field goals (25) and the same number of total free throws (9). But Arkansas made seven more 3-pointers than the Hoosiers, and those extra seven points were the margin of victory.

"We were in a similar situation a week ago, found a way to win the game in a similar manner, where your offense let you down," head coach Archie Miller said. "So, it wasn't like something alarming happened today that didn't happen a week ago against (Notre Dame). We're a team that's finding a way to consistently run really good offense throughout the course of the game, get quality shots. Not being able to run good offense, get the ball inside, be able to play downhill, and play out of the post was a big deal late in that second half."

Arkansas made some tough shots to be sure, and although Miller wasn't thrilled with his team's defensive effort in the second half—"I didn't feel we were ramped up enough defensively to start that second half," Miller said—Razorback shooters made a number of deep threes along the way with a hand in their face. But ultimately, it was IU going off-script that created the issues.

"We didn't do a good job running offense," Miller said. "We were a reluctant screening team tonight, and we were a very reluctant team to move without the ball. That's been one of the things that we've worked hard as a group is to be able to move without the ball and play together. I thought tonight that vacated us a little bit. We stopped trusting the movement, the screening and being able to share it, and we got no inside/out. … We didn't do enough offensively in the second half to run good enough offense."

Still, Indiana held a 62-61 lead with 3:17 to play. IU had its opportunity to recreate what happened vs. Notre Dame and walk off with a win. It just didn't happen this time around.

"We had enough in this game to win it," Miller said. "But I think it goes to show you how the room for error and slippage and the tide can turn for our team quickly in games. And I think we've got to really mature and grow up in terms of understanding you're going to have to be able to run good offense and execute and do a better job of doing some things to get quality looks. On the other end of the floor you've got to control what you can. You've got to communicate and work hard.

"Tonight, I just didn't think we were good enough in any of those areas when you're coming down to a 50/50 game. But it was a winnable game. We just didn't do enough."

Indiana closed the non-conference schedule with a 10-1 mark, and it sits at 11-2 as the Hoosiers head into 2020 and the meat of the Big Ten season. Like every outing, the Arkansas game is a chance to learn lessons, to improve in every area. And Miller is certain his team will do just that.

"We'll get better at it," Miller said. "We have a good group. To finish non-conference this way, at home, to me, it's humility, a wake-up call, let's go. Let's go."

Indiana University Athletics

Familiar Story Leads to Different Ending for Hoosiers

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Players Mentioned

Joey Brunk

Armaan Franklin

Devonte Green

Trayce Jackson-Davis

Justin Smith

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