Indiana University Athletics
DIPRIMIO: Hoosiers Will Rock You – Defense Sets Sights on Maryland
1/25/2020 5:54:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By: Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana has played its way into Big Ten contention, and if it's still early, if we haven't reached the conference schedule halfway point and a brutal schedule remains, two things are as clear as a Trayce Jackson-Davis block:
Defense rocks.
The Hoosiers can rock you.
Did you see the way they squashed Michigan State's first-half attack as a follow up to shutting down Northwestern, Ohio State, Rutgers and, to a large degree, 3-point happy Nebraska in recent weeks?
The result, a league-tying-best 15-4 record and a 5-3 Big Ten mark, a game behind co-leaders Michigan State and Illinois.
Even in this offensive-minded era, where everybody loves the 3-point and the three-footer, and where the mid-range game has become as endangered as land-line phones, you can never have enough defense.
Case in point -- the way IU stuffed Michigan State's final, potentially game-winning possession, with the 6-9 Jackson-Davis switching on to do-it-all-Spartan-guard Cassius Winston, who got the ball with a chance to win it or force overtime.
Jackson-Davis took away the three-point-shot option, then deflected Winston's lob. The Hoosiers pressured Spartan forward Xavier Tillman into a follow-up miss, and earned their third straight win over Michigan State.
That last happened in 2012 and '13.
A year after last season's January and February struggles, the Hoosiers have won four of five games, two over top-15 squads, and have forever-yearning Cream and Crimson fans looking up.
Now comes another ranked challenge with No. 17 Maryland (15-4, 5-3) heading to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday.
With games against rival Purdue, Iowa, Michigan and more ahead as part of the nation's toughest remaining schedule, this truth rings clear:
If you can't defend, you got no chance.
These Hoosiers can defend, and if they don't do it well enough for coach Archie Miller to call "great," well, it's all about upward trending.
"We have grown up," Miller said. "I think part of it is inexperience with youth (freshmen Jackson-Davis and Armaan Franklin) and inexperience with new players (graduate transfer Joey Brunk).
"We had a lot of newness. We struggled defensively early in the season with our on-ball defense and our inability to keep our defense tight and be where we're supposed to be.
"We have gotten better as the month has gone on. And once you get into conference play, you have to find a way to keep tweaking and getting better at what you're doing because in this league, if you can't defend, you're not going to have a chance on a night-in night-out basis.
"We have gotten better, gradually, week-to-week, which is important. But we still have to keep going. Our physicality has to get better around the basket. Our on-ball defense has to get better. Our communication, especially in transition, has to climb the ladder. So we have a lot of room to improve."
IU really showed that physicality against Michigan State, as punishing a team as there is in the country. It allowed nothing easy inside, and did it without fouling. The Hoosiers also out-rebounded the rebound-nasty Spartans 31-29, 10-5 on the offensive boards.
"Defense is about being connected," Miller said, "and knowing what you're supposed to do and doing it to the best of your abilities.
"When you play 11 guys, you have some breakdowns. But we're moving past that. Hopefully we can continue that gradual climb."
That climb could include a shorter rotation, at least in the second half. Miller did that in the final 20 minutes against Michigan State, although 10 guys played at least eight minutes overall.
One uncertainty -- forward Race Thompson, who was outstanding in his 11 first-half minutes against Michigan State (four points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist) before hurting his back in a nasty fall.
Miller said he didn't think it was serious, but wasn't sure about Thompson's availability for Maryland.
Either way, "We'll need different guys to step up and play. Some guys don't play as much on certain days. Some guys have good and bad games. But part of having a team in a long season is being able to count on each other that each night you have a good attitude and that you're ready to play.
"I can't say enough good things about our attitude and preparation and just being ready to play."
Readiness also means better free throw shooting. IU is just 53-for-88 (60.2 percent) in its last four games. Against Michigan State, it was 11-for-20.
"We struggled from the free throw line again," Miller said, "which is disappointing."
As for Maryland, it was too much for the Hoosiers in College Park three weeks ago, building leads as large as 30 points before finishing off a 75-59 victory.
But at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, where the Hoosiers are 12-1 with five straight wins over ranked teams, all things are possible.
"We have great fans," forward Joey Brunk said. "We love playing in front of them. This is a great place to play basketball."
Maryland has won two straight with a home win over Purdue and a road victory at Northwestern.
Sophomore guard Aaron Wiggins has overcome a slow start to peak at the right time. In his last three games he's averaged 14.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 10-for-21 from three-point range.
Against Northwestern, his career-high 17 points fueled a Terrapins rally from a 14-point deficit and helped deliver their first road win of the season.
Coach Mark Turgeon wants forward Jalen Smith to make at least 50 three-point baskets every practice. The 6-10, 225-pound Smith has done that, plus ratcheted up his defense.
Smith shoots a team-leading 39.5 percent from three-point range (he was 2-for-3 against IU in the first meeting). He averages 14.4 points and 9.5 rebounds.
Guard Anthony Cowan leads Maryland in scoring (15.4 points) and assists (81). He also averages 3.6 rebounds.
The Terrapins, who basically use a six-player rotation, are 11-0 at home, but just 1-4 on the road.
In other words, they're Assembly Hall vulnerable.
"I'm very thankful we're at home," Miller said. "We can't do it without our crowd."
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana has played its way into Big Ten contention, and if it's still early, if we haven't reached the conference schedule halfway point and a brutal schedule remains, two things are as clear as a Trayce Jackson-Davis block:
Defense rocks.
The Hoosiers can rock you.
Did you see the way they squashed Michigan State's first-half attack as a follow up to shutting down Northwestern, Ohio State, Rutgers and, to a large degree, 3-point happy Nebraska in recent weeks?
The result, a league-tying-best 15-4 record and a 5-3 Big Ten mark, a game behind co-leaders Michigan State and Illinois.
Even in this offensive-minded era, where everybody loves the 3-point and the three-footer, and where the mid-range game has become as endangered as land-line phones, you can never have enough defense.
Case in point -- the way IU stuffed Michigan State's final, potentially game-winning possession, with the 6-9 Jackson-Davis switching on to do-it-all-Spartan-guard Cassius Winston, who got the ball with a chance to win it or force overtime.
Jackson-Davis took away the three-point-shot option, then deflected Winston's lob. The Hoosiers pressured Spartan forward Xavier Tillman into a follow-up miss, and earned their third straight win over Michigan State.
That last happened in 2012 and '13.
A year after last season's January and February struggles, the Hoosiers have won four of five games, two over top-15 squads, and have forever-yearning Cream and Crimson fans looking up.
Now comes another ranked challenge with No. 17 Maryland (15-4, 5-3) heading to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Sunday.
With games against rival Purdue, Iowa, Michigan and more ahead as part of the nation's toughest remaining schedule, this truth rings clear:
If you can't defend, you got no chance.
These Hoosiers can defend, and if they don't do it well enough for coach Archie Miller to call "great," well, it's all about upward trending.
"We have grown up," Miller said. "I think part of it is inexperience with youth (freshmen Jackson-Davis and Armaan Franklin) and inexperience with new players (graduate transfer Joey Brunk).
"We had a lot of newness. We struggled defensively early in the season with our on-ball defense and our inability to keep our defense tight and be where we're supposed to be.
"We have gotten better as the month has gone on. And once you get into conference play, you have to find a way to keep tweaking and getting better at what you're doing because in this league, if you can't defend, you're not going to have a chance on a night-in night-out basis.
"We have gotten better, gradually, week-to-week, which is important. But we still have to keep going. Our physicality has to get better around the basket. Our on-ball defense has to get better. Our communication, especially in transition, has to climb the ladder. So we have a lot of room to improve."
IU really showed that physicality against Michigan State, as punishing a team as there is in the country. It allowed nothing easy inside, and did it without fouling. The Hoosiers also out-rebounded the rebound-nasty Spartans 31-29, 10-5 on the offensive boards.
"Defense is about being connected," Miller said, "and knowing what you're supposed to do and doing it to the best of your abilities.
"When you play 11 guys, you have some breakdowns. But we're moving past that. Hopefully we can continue that gradual climb."
That climb could include a shorter rotation, at least in the second half. Miller did that in the final 20 minutes against Michigan State, although 10 guys played at least eight minutes overall.
One uncertainty -- forward Race Thompson, who was outstanding in his 11 first-half minutes against Michigan State (four points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist) before hurting his back in a nasty fall.
Miller said he didn't think it was serious, but wasn't sure about Thompson's availability for Maryland.
Either way, "We'll need different guys to step up and play. Some guys don't play as much on certain days. Some guys have good and bad games. But part of having a team in a long season is being able to count on each other that each night you have a good attitude and that you're ready to play.
"I can't say enough good things about our attitude and preparation and just being ready to play."
Readiness also means better free throw shooting. IU is just 53-for-88 (60.2 percent) in its last four games. Against Michigan State, it was 11-for-20.
"We struggled from the free throw line again," Miller said, "which is disappointing."
As for Maryland, it was too much for the Hoosiers in College Park three weeks ago, building leads as large as 30 points before finishing off a 75-59 victory.
But at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, where the Hoosiers are 12-1 with five straight wins over ranked teams, all things are possible.
"We have great fans," forward Joey Brunk said. "We love playing in front of them. This is a great place to play basketball."
Maryland has won two straight with a home win over Purdue and a road victory at Northwestern.
Sophomore guard Aaron Wiggins has overcome a slow start to peak at the right time. In his last three games he's averaged 14.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 10-for-21 from three-point range.
Against Northwestern, his career-high 17 points fueled a Terrapins rally from a 14-point deficit and helped deliver their first road win of the season.
Coach Mark Turgeon wants forward Jalen Smith to make at least 50 three-point baskets every practice. The 6-10, 225-pound Smith has done that, plus ratcheted up his defense.
Smith shoots a team-leading 39.5 percent from three-point range (he was 2-for-3 against IU in the first meeting). He averages 14.4 points and 9.5 rebounds.
Guard Anthony Cowan leads Maryland in scoring (15.4 points) and assists (81). He also averages 3.6 rebounds.
The Terrapins, who basically use a six-player rotation, are 11-0 at home, but just 1-4 on the road.
In other words, they're Assembly Hall vulnerable.
"I'm very thankful we're at home," Miller said. "We can't do it without our crowd."
Players Mentioned
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