Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Looking to Use Lessons Learned from Loss at Wisconsin
12/8/2019 1:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
MADISON, Wis. - Indiana's first road trip of the season didn't go nearly as planned.
The Hoosiers fell behind early. The offense sputtered. The defense didn't communicate well, didn't put up enough resistance for head coach Archie Miller's taste.
The result on the court was an 84-64 loss at Wisconsin. But that's the result of the 40 minutes of action on the court, and there's no changing that.
What results from the loss, however, will be far more important than just one game.
The Hoosiers headed to Madison with eight straight wins to open the season, including an impressive win over Florida State earlier in the week. For a team that features just two scholarship seniors and two scholarship juniors who had ever appeared in an IU game prior to the start of the season, it was a great start to the year.
It was so much fun that it was easy to forget that the Hoosiers are a young team still trying to find themselves, especially being on the road for the first time all year.
That part of the equation was on full display during Indiana's sobering loss, something Miller was quick to point out.
"It's easy when you're playing in the environment that we play in (at home)," Miller said. "Wisconsin had that environment at their disposal today. I thought they were very confident, and we weren't able to really punch back and throw resistance. That was probably the most disappointing thing. I thought that we got frustrated with them making shots, and we didn't' continue to stay with it possession after possession."
Freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis scored nine points on 3-of-6 shooting, and he grabbed three rebounds in his first road experience. Redshirt junior Joey Brunk scored two points on 1-of-4 shooting and struggled defensively in his first Big Ten game. Redshirt freshman Jerome Hunter and freshman Armaan Franklin saw their first conference action, and both of them didn't look like themselves, combining for seven points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Miller did his best to find a combination that would work to slow the Badgers' offense in the first half, but he couldn't quite find the right answer.
"We searched," Miller said. "We played a lot of guys and couldn't get a lineup or group that was able to establish anything defensively."
The Hoosiers also weren't their normal selves on the court. Miller described his team as "quiet" during the game, and he knows his team needs a vocal leader to emerge. Miller doesn't know who that player might be, but he knows it will emerge.
"It's just an adjustment," Miller said. "It's like a player who is working on his game. If you're working on a game, your role is to step outside yourself and be better in certain areas. I think we have to be better in the area of talking. We've pleaded with this team as much as any that I've been around in terms of getting guys to talk a little more. You have to have a rallying cry at some point, you know, somebody has to jump start you and shake you up a little bit. Guys have to grab each other by the jersey and talk player to player."
Miller singled out junior guard Aljami Durham as a guy who did his best to get his team going, but he acknowledged the lack of experience on the roster from top to bottom is an issue the team is working to overcome.
"You have some guys who have never been there before," Miller said. "Now that they've been there, there are no excuses."
Miller also expects his guys to bounce back quickly, learn the lessons they need to take from the defeat, and put the outing behind them.
"We came out short in the win column, but there are going to be certain areas you have to improve on," Miller said. "This team has shown the ability through the early part of the year to really be coachable and to really be team-oriented. I don't think that will change. It's a long, long year. Individual players are going through ups and downs. Listen. Let's get back to work. Let's hone in on a couple of things that can't happen, and we have to get certain guys to do a better job in those areas. We'll keep moving forward, and I think we will keep moving forward. We will be better Tuesday."
The Hoosiers fell behind early. The offense sputtered. The defense didn't communicate well, didn't put up enough resistance for head coach Archie Miller's taste.
The result on the court was an 84-64 loss at Wisconsin. But that's the result of the 40 minutes of action on the court, and there's no changing that.
What results from the loss, however, will be far more important than just one game.
The Hoosiers headed to Madison with eight straight wins to open the season, including an impressive win over Florida State earlier in the week. For a team that features just two scholarship seniors and two scholarship juniors who had ever appeared in an IU game prior to the start of the season, it was a great start to the year.
It was so much fun that it was easy to forget that the Hoosiers are a young team still trying to find themselves, especially being on the road for the first time all year.
That part of the equation was on full display during Indiana's sobering loss, something Miller was quick to point out.
"It's easy when you're playing in the environment that we play in (at home)," Miller said. "Wisconsin had that environment at their disposal today. I thought they were very confident, and we weren't able to really punch back and throw resistance. That was probably the most disappointing thing. I thought that we got frustrated with them making shots, and we didn't' continue to stay with it possession after possession."
Freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis scored nine points on 3-of-6 shooting, and he grabbed three rebounds in his first road experience. Redshirt junior Joey Brunk scored two points on 1-of-4 shooting and struggled defensively in his first Big Ten game. Redshirt freshman Jerome Hunter and freshman Armaan Franklin saw their first conference action, and both of them didn't look like themselves, combining for seven points on 3-of-8 shooting.
Miller did his best to find a combination that would work to slow the Badgers' offense in the first half, but he couldn't quite find the right answer.
"We searched," Miller said. "We played a lot of guys and couldn't get a lineup or group that was able to establish anything defensively."
The Hoosiers also weren't their normal selves on the court. Miller described his team as "quiet" during the game, and he knows his team needs a vocal leader to emerge. Miller doesn't know who that player might be, but he knows it will emerge.
"It's just an adjustment," Miller said. "It's like a player who is working on his game. If you're working on a game, your role is to step outside yourself and be better in certain areas. I think we have to be better in the area of talking. We've pleaded with this team as much as any that I've been around in terms of getting guys to talk a little more. You have to have a rallying cry at some point, you know, somebody has to jump start you and shake you up a little bit. Guys have to grab each other by the jersey and talk player to player."
Miller singled out junior guard Aljami Durham as a guy who did his best to get his team going, but he acknowledged the lack of experience on the roster from top to bottom is an issue the team is working to overcome.
"You have some guys who have never been there before," Miller said. "Now that they've been there, there are no excuses."
Miller also expects his guys to bounce back quickly, learn the lessons they need to take from the defeat, and put the outing behind them.
"We came out short in the win column, but there are going to be certain areas you have to improve on," Miller said. "This team has shown the ability through the early part of the year to really be coachable and to really be team-oriented. I don't think that will change. It's a long, long year. Individual players are going through ups and downs. Listen. Let's get back to work. Let's hone in on a couple of things that can't happen, and we have to get certain guys to do a better job in those areas. We'll keep moving forward, and I think we will keep moving forward. We will be better Tuesday."
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