GRAHAM: Badgers Certainly Not Happ-less
2/26/2019 1:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By: Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Ethan Happ will probably hit his free throws tonight.
The way Indiana's luck has gone lately.
Happ, Wisconsin's superb senior frontliner, is certain to do plenty else that is hard for Indiana's host Hoosiers to handle when the No. 19-ranked Badgers visit Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for a 9 p.m. tipoff.
But while averaging a double-double at 17.7 points and 10.2 boards, the versatile 6-foot-10 Happ is shooting just .436 from the foul line. Badger coach Greg Gard has, with that in mind, done a judicious job of substituting for Happ late in close games.
And close games is what Wisconsin (19-8 overall, 11-5 Big Ten) tends to play and to win. None of the Badgers' six games so far this month were decided by double digits and they've won four of them, most recently 69-64 Saturday at Northwestern.
Indiana (13-14, 4-12) by contrast has lost 12 of its last 13 and, especially lately, the losses have come in excruciatingly close fashion.
Essentially ever since the Hoosiers started February with a 79-75 win at Michigan State, IU foes have hit shots they absolutely had to hit at crunch time of every game – often in the form of deep, challenged 3-pointers.
That happened in close home losses against Ohio State (C.J. Jackson being the culprit) and Purdue (Ryan Cline) and in a pair of games against Iowa, home and away, courtesy of Hawkeye junior Jordan Bohannon.
Bohannon's fadeaway 3 over the outstretched fingertips of Romeo Langford rescued Iowa near the end of regulation time Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and his overtime bombs then proved decisive.
"Good players make tough shots sometimes," IU coach Archie Miller said of Bohannon during Miller's Monday radio show. "He has a confidence level about him right now.
"It hasn't just been our games, either – whether it was the Maryland game or against Northwestern at home, he's just a really, really key player that gives them confidence at the end of the game. The shots he takes, very few guys can take and make them. Give him credit where credit is due.
"We had our chances to make our own breaks in that game and weren't able to capitalize on some free throws or breakaway layups, you name it. We didn't have the ability to seal that thing."
But last week against both Purdue and Iowa, the Hoosiers played hard enough to be in position to win against ranked opposition. Miller saw progress in that regard.
"We are really proud of our effort level from last week," Miller said. "We have to keep getting it higher. We have to keep finding a way where our effort level is unmatched. The other team can't play harder than you.
"We've had a good mindset about us, not only on game day, but our practices have been competitive and our shoot-arounds have been more serious. We're trying everything under our power to make sure we get 40 minutes of max effort … our competitiveness, and how tough we're going to play, those things have to be at an all-time high right now."
The Hoosiers will have to play intelligently tonight, too.
Asked about the need for disciplined defense against Happ – who has averaged 19.3 points in six career games against IU and hit the Hoosiers for 28 points last season in Madison – Miller replied:
"(Tuesday) will be the third day we talk about it. You have to understand how he plays. He's almost a post guy who posts up at the 3-point line and makes his way down that way. He loves to go baseline, and if you're not ready and you put your hands on him, that's a foul.
"He's pivoting, he's stepping up and going backwards. He's a unique cover where you're constantly being hammered by him. He's shifty enough where he's spinning off and using your body as leverage. We can't bail them out with unnecessary and silly fouls."
Indeed, IU hopes to avoid foul trouble for 6-8 senior stalwart Juwan Morgan, mobile enough to likely draw the initial defensive assignment on Happ.
The same goes for 6-10 De'Ron Davis, whose re-emergence from an ankle injury that cost him most of January has helped the Hoosiers lately – and who might well have to deal defensively with emerging 6-11 Badger sophomore Nate Reuvers.
Reuvers is a challenging cover because he can go outside and hit 3s (shooting .394 from beyond the arc). And he's hardly the only Badger potent from that range.
Sophomore guards D'Mitrik Trice (.434 from 3, averaging 12.6 points) and Brad Davison (.407, 11.5) are both 3-point bombardiers, with Davison at .462 from beyond the arc since mid-December. Wisconsin shoots 39 percent from 3 as a team.
"They're a good 3-point shooting team … you're trying not to overcommit to Happ, so it's a 'Catch 22' of what you're willing to give up against them," Miller said. "Wisconsin is a different team when Trice is knocking down shots because it really helps them spread the floor.
"But you've got to get some defensive stops. You've got to get into transition."
Because if Wisconsin is allowed to set up in its halfcourt defense, opposing offenses wither. That Badgers, according to KenPom stats, rank sixth nationally and second in the league for defensive efficiency.
And Big Ten defenses have figured out how to make things tough for the Hoosiers. IU is the league's worst 3-point shooting team (.263 in conference play) and foes are packing the paint to take touches away from Morgan and driving lanes closed to Langford.
Langford still leads the Hoosier scoring at 17.0 per game and Morgan is at 15.1, and Miller has praised the perseverance of both. Langford was a guest on Miller's show Monday and the coach said this of his 6-6 freshman:
"He's had a fantastic season. Romeo has been a terrific kid to coach and he works each and every day … people are always going to be asking for more because of his pedigree as a player (McDonalds All-American and Indiana Mr. Basketball) … but he's made tremendous strides on the defensive end and has also made strides with his preparation during his time at IU."
Langford, with 14 points behind Morgan's 15, was one of five Hoosiers attaining double-figure scoring at Iowa, which reflected some positive developments.
Freshman point guard Rob Phinisee – with 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals – looked as sharp at both ends as he has ever since missing almost a month to a concussion.
Grad-transfer Evan Fitzner operated effectively in the key when the Hawkeyes went zone, finishing with 11 points off the bench. And Davis continued his run of good play lately while scoring 10.
"(Fitzner) was a big target in the high post and he turned around and made some 12 footers," Miller said. "That was good. He held his own on the glass and did a nice job. He was a big positive. So was Race (Thompson, a 6-8 redshirt freshman). He gave us second-chance opportunities. Both guys did a good job. We'll continue to work those guys in."
"I would say (Davis is) as good as he's been since I've been here. By far and away, he's at his best right now in terms of his body and how he feels. His conditioning level is going up.
" … (And Phinisee) was as good as he's been. Defensively, he was great in terms of getting up on the ball … he cramped up late in regulation and in overtime, so we didn't have him in there those last couple of possessions. But he brought the energy level we needed him to."
Bringing the effort level is what Miller needs all his Hoosiers to keep doing, even though that hasn't gotten rewarded with wins of late. And he knows the team might well have to manufacture its own energy tonight, with a fan base muted somewhat by losses.
"The only things we have right now is each other and our effort," Miller said. "At times, it is difficult. It's not like any player I've ever been around wants to go out and lose the game. We're all striving to get better and find one opportunity to cash-in that will take the pressure off your back a little bit.
"There's always that downer feeling when you're not able to get the job done. You have to focus in on the next opportunity, and we have that Tuesday night against a ranked Wisconsin team."
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Ethan Happ will probably hit his free throws tonight.
The way Indiana's luck has gone lately.
Happ, Wisconsin's superb senior frontliner, is certain to do plenty else that is hard for Indiana's host Hoosiers to handle when the No. 19-ranked Badgers visit Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for a 9 p.m. tipoff.
But while averaging a double-double at 17.7 points and 10.2 boards, the versatile 6-foot-10 Happ is shooting just .436 from the foul line. Badger coach Greg Gard has, with that in mind, done a judicious job of substituting for Happ late in close games.
And close games is what Wisconsin (19-8 overall, 11-5 Big Ten) tends to play and to win. None of the Badgers' six games so far this month were decided by double digits and they've won four of them, most recently 69-64 Saturday at Northwestern.
Indiana (13-14, 4-12) by contrast has lost 12 of its last 13 and, especially lately, the losses have come in excruciatingly close fashion.
Essentially ever since the Hoosiers started February with a 79-75 win at Michigan State, IU foes have hit shots they absolutely had to hit at crunch time of every game – often in the form of deep, challenged 3-pointers.
That happened in close home losses against Ohio State (C.J. Jackson being the culprit) and Purdue (Ryan Cline) and in a pair of games against Iowa, home and away, courtesy of Hawkeye junior Jordan Bohannon.
Bohannon's fadeaway 3 over the outstretched fingertips of Romeo Langford rescued Iowa near the end of regulation time Friday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and his overtime bombs then proved decisive.
"Good players make tough shots sometimes," IU coach Archie Miller said of Bohannon during Miller's Monday radio show. "He has a confidence level about him right now.
"It hasn't just been our games, either – whether it was the Maryland game or against Northwestern at home, he's just a really, really key player that gives them confidence at the end of the game. The shots he takes, very few guys can take and make them. Give him credit where credit is due.
"We had our chances to make our own breaks in that game and weren't able to capitalize on some free throws or breakaway layups, you name it. We didn't have the ability to seal that thing."
But last week against both Purdue and Iowa, the Hoosiers played hard enough to be in position to win against ranked opposition. Miller saw progress in that regard.
"We are really proud of our effort level from last week," Miller said. "We have to keep getting it higher. We have to keep finding a way where our effort level is unmatched. The other team can't play harder than you.
"We've had a good mindset about us, not only on game day, but our practices have been competitive and our shoot-arounds have been more serious. We're trying everything under our power to make sure we get 40 minutes of max effort … our competitiveness, and how tough we're going to play, those things have to be at an all-time high right now."
The Hoosiers will have to play intelligently tonight, too.
Asked about the need for disciplined defense against Happ – who has averaged 19.3 points in six career games against IU and hit the Hoosiers for 28 points last season in Madison – Miller replied:
"(Tuesday) will be the third day we talk about it. You have to understand how he plays. He's almost a post guy who posts up at the 3-point line and makes his way down that way. He loves to go baseline, and if you're not ready and you put your hands on him, that's a foul.
"He's pivoting, he's stepping up and going backwards. He's a unique cover where you're constantly being hammered by him. He's shifty enough where he's spinning off and using your body as leverage. We can't bail them out with unnecessary and silly fouls."
Indeed, IU hopes to avoid foul trouble for 6-8 senior stalwart Juwan Morgan, mobile enough to likely draw the initial defensive assignment on Happ.
The same goes for 6-10 De'Ron Davis, whose re-emergence from an ankle injury that cost him most of January has helped the Hoosiers lately – and who might well have to deal defensively with emerging 6-11 Badger sophomore Nate Reuvers.
Reuvers is a challenging cover because he can go outside and hit 3s (shooting .394 from beyond the arc). And he's hardly the only Badger potent from that range.
Sophomore guards D'Mitrik Trice (.434 from 3, averaging 12.6 points) and Brad Davison (.407, 11.5) are both 3-point bombardiers, with Davison at .462 from beyond the arc since mid-December. Wisconsin shoots 39 percent from 3 as a team.
"They're a good 3-point shooting team … you're trying not to overcommit to Happ, so it's a 'Catch 22' of what you're willing to give up against them," Miller said. "Wisconsin is a different team when Trice is knocking down shots because it really helps them spread the floor.
"But you've got to get some defensive stops. You've got to get into transition."
Because if Wisconsin is allowed to set up in its halfcourt defense, opposing offenses wither. That Badgers, according to KenPom stats, rank sixth nationally and second in the league for defensive efficiency.
And Big Ten defenses have figured out how to make things tough for the Hoosiers. IU is the league's worst 3-point shooting team (.263 in conference play) and foes are packing the paint to take touches away from Morgan and driving lanes closed to Langford.
Langford still leads the Hoosier scoring at 17.0 per game and Morgan is at 15.1, and Miller has praised the perseverance of both. Langford was a guest on Miller's show Monday and the coach said this of his 6-6 freshman:
"He's had a fantastic season. Romeo has been a terrific kid to coach and he works each and every day … people are always going to be asking for more because of his pedigree as a player (McDonalds All-American and Indiana Mr. Basketball) … but he's made tremendous strides on the defensive end and has also made strides with his preparation during his time at IU."
Langford, with 14 points behind Morgan's 15, was one of five Hoosiers attaining double-figure scoring at Iowa, which reflected some positive developments.
Freshman point guard Rob Phinisee – with 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals – looked as sharp at both ends as he has ever since missing almost a month to a concussion.
Grad-transfer Evan Fitzner operated effectively in the key when the Hawkeyes went zone, finishing with 11 points off the bench. And Davis continued his run of good play lately while scoring 10.
"(Fitzner) was a big target in the high post and he turned around and made some 12 footers," Miller said. "That was good. He held his own on the glass and did a nice job. He was a big positive. So was Race (Thompson, a 6-8 redshirt freshman). He gave us second-chance opportunities. Both guys did a good job. We'll continue to work those guys in."
"I would say (Davis is) as good as he's been since I've been here. By far and away, he's at his best right now in terms of his body and how he feels. His conditioning level is going up.
" … (And Phinisee) was as good as he's been. Defensively, he was great in terms of getting up on the ball … he cramped up late in regulation and in overtime, so we didn't have him in there those last couple of possessions. But he brought the energy level we needed him to."
Bringing the effort level is what Miller needs all his Hoosiers to keep doing, even though that hasn't gotten rewarded with wins of late. And he knows the team might well have to manufacture its own energy tonight, with a fan base muted somewhat by losses.
"The only things we have right now is each other and our effort," Miller said. "At times, it is difficult. It's not like any player I've ever been around wants to go out and lose the game. We're all striving to get better and find one opportunity to cash-in that will take the pressure off your back a little bit.
"There's always that downer feeling when you're not able to get the job done. You have to focus in on the next opportunity, and we have that Tuesday night against a ranked Wisconsin team."
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