Trayce and Race Give Hoosiers Big Foundation to Build Upon
2/23/2021 10:06:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson slowly walked toward the Hoosiers' locker room, the final buzzer still ringing in their ears.
Indiana got off to a fast start, building a 13-point lead midway through the first half, only to see it slip away in a 78-71 loss to Michigan State at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers, winners of three of their last four outings, let a prime opportunity to create some late-season momentum slip away, but Trayce and Race had done all they could.
Thompson and Jackson-Davis have been two of the constants for head coach Archie Miller, two of the players who bring the same energy every time the ball is tipped. Jackson-Davis was a man among boys vs. the Spartans, scoring a career-high 34 points and grabbing nine rebounds. He went 11-of-18 from the floor and made 12-of-16 free-throw attempts. The performance marked the 13th time this season he has scored 20 or more points.
Thompson, meanwhile, added 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go along with seven steals, becoming one of just seven players in IU history to record as many as seven thefts in a single game. He also snagged six rebounds.
The duo combined to score 49 of IU's 71 points, and they grabbed more than half of Indiana's 29 rebounds.
They did all they could.
"Trayce Jackson-Davis had 34 today, and he was also able to draw 13 personal fouls," Miller said. "He scored 34, he drew 13 fouls, shot 16 free throws, 12 of them went in, and he was 11-of-18. They did not really have an answer for him. Race played hard and was very active defensively. I thought Trayce did a much better job for our team today in terms of impacting things at the rim. Race got a lot of deflection on the ball. He was very active with his hands. In the second half he did a good job giving us another guy offensively that we could go to. He played well."
Jackson-Davis played 37 minutes, the ninth time he has played more than 35 minutes in a game this season. He has been an anchor for the Hoosiers. Thompson has been just as steady, not necessarily with his offensive numbers but with his willingness to battle in the post, play hard, do the little things, and make his presence felt.
"Race did a good job," Miller said. "He was active most of the game. He had a great effort. I never question it. In the second half, he did a great job for us, especially early being able to help us. Those two guys were able to do it, able to get some baskets."
Of course, the play of the two bigs wasn't enough to pick up the win, and therein lies the rub. IU's starting guards and bench struggled vs. Michigan State, and the Hoosiers' defense fell apart after halftime, giving up 52 points after holding MSU to just 26 points in the first 20 minutes.
Still, one of the most difficult things to accomplish in basketball is putting up numbers when everyone knows you're the best option to score. With IU's perimeter game struggling—Indiana made just 4-of-19 attempts from 3-point range in the loss—Jackson-
Davis and Thompson were the Hoosiers' best options. And they delivered.
Consider that when the Hoosiers found themselves down 12 points with 4:47 to play, Michigan State knew it could give Indiana's shooters a bit of room on the perimeter. If the Hoosiers were going to rally, it was going to have to come from the outside.
Instead, there was TJD scoring on a hook shot off a pass from guard Rob Phinisee to cut the lead to 10. On Indiana's next possession, there was Thompson scoring on a hook of his own off a pass from Jackson-Davis. Then, after a missed jumper by MSU's Aaron Henry, it was Jackson-Davis who cut the lead to six with a driving lay-up.
Just 88 seconds had passed since the lead was pushed to a dozen, and despite the fact the Spartans knew Indiana would still be looking inside, Trayce and Race personally cut the lead in half.
"Those two guys inside… Trayce Jackson-Davis, he is a superstar," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "He made plays, he made spin plays… he just looked good to me. He has gotten better every year. A lot of big guys in this league get credit, but Trayce has been really, really good. Thompson hasn't been as good, but he's a blue-collar guy. He tore us up a little bit in there."
The loss to Michigan State hurt—Miller called the loss "a hard one to take"—and IU will need more from its guards to reach its potential. Dialing back on mistakes with the ball will be critical, too. But with Jackson-Davis and Thompson continuing to be rocks for the Hoosiers inside, it gives Miller something to build around.
Indiana got off to a fast start, building a 13-point lead midway through the first half, only to see it slip away in a 78-71 loss to Michigan State at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers, winners of three of their last four outings, let a prime opportunity to create some late-season momentum slip away, but Trayce and Race had done all they could.
Thompson and Jackson-Davis have been two of the constants for head coach Archie Miller, two of the players who bring the same energy every time the ball is tipped. Jackson-Davis was a man among boys vs. the Spartans, scoring a career-high 34 points and grabbing nine rebounds. He went 11-of-18 from the floor and made 12-of-16 free-throw attempts. The performance marked the 13th time this season he has scored 20 or more points.
Thompson, meanwhile, added 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go along with seven steals, becoming one of just seven players in IU history to record as many as seven thefts in a single game. He also snagged six rebounds.
The duo combined to score 49 of IU's 71 points, and they grabbed more than half of Indiana's 29 rebounds.
They did all they could.
"Trayce Jackson-Davis had 34 today, and he was also able to draw 13 personal fouls," Miller said. "He scored 34, he drew 13 fouls, shot 16 free throws, 12 of them went in, and he was 11-of-18. They did not really have an answer for him. Race played hard and was very active defensively. I thought Trayce did a much better job for our team today in terms of impacting things at the rim. Race got a lot of deflection on the ball. He was very active with his hands. In the second half he did a good job giving us another guy offensively that we could go to. He played well."
Jackson-Davis played 37 minutes, the ninth time he has played more than 35 minutes in a game this season. He has been an anchor for the Hoosiers. Thompson has been just as steady, not necessarily with his offensive numbers but with his willingness to battle in the post, play hard, do the little things, and make his presence felt.
"Race did a good job," Miller said. "He was active most of the game. He had a great effort. I never question it. In the second half, he did a great job for us, especially early being able to help us. Those two guys were able to do it, able to get some baskets."
Of course, the play of the two bigs wasn't enough to pick up the win, and therein lies the rub. IU's starting guards and bench struggled vs. Michigan State, and the Hoosiers' defense fell apart after halftime, giving up 52 points after holding MSU to just 26 points in the first 20 minutes.
Still, one of the most difficult things to accomplish in basketball is putting up numbers when everyone knows you're the best option to score. With IU's perimeter game struggling—Indiana made just 4-of-19 attempts from 3-point range in the loss—Jackson-
Davis and Thompson were the Hoosiers' best options. And they delivered.
Consider that when the Hoosiers found themselves down 12 points with 4:47 to play, Michigan State knew it could give Indiana's shooters a bit of room on the perimeter. If the Hoosiers were going to rally, it was going to have to come from the outside.
Instead, there was TJD scoring on a hook shot off a pass from guard Rob Phinisee to cut the lead to 10. On Indiana's next possession, there was Thompson scoring on a hook of his own off a pass from Jackson-Davis. Then, after a missed jumper by MSU's Aaron Henry, it was Jackson-Davis who cut the lead to six with a driving lay-up.
Just 88 seconds had passed since the lead was pushed to a dozen, and despite the fact the Spartans knew Indiana would still be looking inside, Trayce and Race personally cut the lead in half.
"Those two guys inside… Trayce Jackson-Davis, he is a superstar," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. "He made plays, he made spin plays… he just looked good to me. He has gotten better every year. A lot of big guys in this league get credit, but Trayce has been really, really good. Thompson hasn't been as good, but he's a blue-collar guy. He tore us up a little bit in there."
The loss to Michigan State hurt—Miller called the loss "a hard one to take"—and IU will need more from its guards to reach its potential. Dialing back on mistakes with the ball will be critical, too. But with Jackson-Davis and Thompson continuing to be rocks for the Hoosiers inside, it gives Miller something to build around.
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