Sunday, January 9
Bloomington, Ind.
Noon
Indiana University
12-3,3-2Big Ten
73
vs
60
Minnesota
10-3,1-3Big Ten
1
2
F
Minnesota
29
31
60
Indiana
39
34
73
Hoosiers Handle Minnesota
1/9/2022 1:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Disrespect?
Not exactly.
The Minnesota Gophers weren't about to let Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson beat them Sunday afternoon.
That meant pack the paint and dare guards Rob Phinisee and Xavier Johnson to thrive from the perimeter.
They did.
Hold that thought.
Cream 'n Crimson comfort turned tense during a second-half stretch that turned a 12-point lead into a one-point deficit.
The Hoosiers blinked, but didn't buckle.
They got tough when it mattered most, dominating crunch time (a 25-11 edge over the final 11 minutes), delivering offensive balance (five Hoosiers scored in double figures) and turning the Gophers offense to rubble (no field goals in the last three minutes).
The result -- a 73-60 victory to get the Hoosiers to 12-3 overall, 3-2 in the Big Ten, with an 11-0 Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall record.
"I call it wining basketball," coach Mike Woodson said. "(Minnesota) came back from being down and took the lead. Our defense picked up after that. We had the lapse and picked it up.
"The last three to four minutes we were solid."
Were they ever.
Let's start with Johnson and Phinisee.
Johnson, the Pitt transfer, had a team-leading 14 points. He made two three-pointers and added five assists, three rebounds and one turnover.
Phinisee had 13 points, four assists, three rebounds and one turnover. He made four three-pointers, not bad for a guy who had made only eight all season off 27.9 percent shooting before Sunday.
"Coming off the bench," Phinisee said, "I saw how they were guarding X. Teams usually guard us the same, so I came in ready and knocked down shots."
Added Woodson: "Both played extremely well considering all the yelling and screaming I was doing out there."
Johnson and Phinisee played together down the stretch, something that has happened occasionally this season.
"It's effective a lot," Johnson said. "We get a lot of stops with me and him on the floor because it's hard to beat us off the dribble. We both pick up 94 feet and love to play defense because we know it gets the team going."
Phinisee, once a starter, has adjusted to his off-the-bench role. Johnson continues learning to play point guard to Woodson's demanding standards.
"I'm trying to give all them confidence," Woodson said, "but I'm still trying to coach them. There's some tough love.
"(For Phinisee), shooting is a big part of it, but it's just leading.
"Rob has been through the grind of the Big Ten. He knows the ins and outs. He's a senior. I expect him to lead. He can't live in the past. He has to break past that. It's like, 'Hey man, here's the ball. It's OK to be good.'"
Minnesota spent the first half conceding three-point shots to Phinisee and Johnson. They combined for 22 points (including 6-for-12 three-point shooting) in the opening 20 minutes.
"Coach builds our confidence and tells us to shoot if we're wide open," Phinisee said. "I made shots this game."
Added Woodson: "I'm not telling them not to shoot. Minnesota forced our hand in terms of shooting threes.
"They were saying Trayce and Race won't beat us. When teams do that, our perimeter guys have to step up and make shots. They did that."
That includes guard Parker Stewart, who made a pair of three-pointers and who finished with 12 points, his most since scoring 12 against Notre Dame in mid December.
In the closing minutes, Minnesota went small and Woodson took advantage with 6-9 Trayce Jackson-Davis and 6-8 Race Thompson.
Jackson-Davis finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. It was his 28th career double-double and second straight.
Thompson finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
"When they did that," Woodson said, "we have to spoon feed the ball inside. That's what we did. Race had a guard guarding him. Get it inside and make them stop us."
With the Gophers double teaming Jackson-Davis, that left Thompson one on one.
"If they're not going to double Race," Woodson said, "I'll take my chances with him. He's worked on his game. I'm good with that."
Jackson-Davis, coming off a 27-point effort against Ohio State, had no trouble with letting others be the offensive focal point.
"It's called trust," Woodson said. "It's not going to be him every night. Teams double team him. They packed it in, and he made the correct passes and guys benefited it by making shots.
"That was no surprise. If I coached against him, I would double him, too, and get it out of his hands."
Minnesota (10-3, 1-3), despite road wins at Pitt and Mississippi State, and a victory over Michigan, arrived vulnerable. It had lost at home to Illinois 76-53 five days earlier.
Coach Ben Johnson, seeing what Jackson-Davis had done to Ohio State, wanted to avoid a repeat.
"(The Hoosiers) feed him and feed him," Johnson said. "We wanted to make a concerted effort to double and heavy crowd him. We were going to have to live with all the shots (from Johnson and Phinisee). That's the gamble you have to play. You pick your poison with a guy as dominant as Trayce is inside."
IU guards ruled the first half. Johnson set the tone by scoring the Hoosiers' first five points, including a three-pointer, but Minnesota pushed ahead 12-7.
It didn't last.
The Hoosiers took their first lead, at 22-21, on Phinisee's second three-pointer. Add a rebound, an assist and a steal and it was a decisive eight-minute burst that kept him in the game the rest of the half.
A Michael Durr basket, followed by ones from Jackson-Davis and Trey Galloway to give the Hoosiers a 28-25 lead. Phinisee's third and fourth three-pointers, plus Johnson's second, and then his two throws (IU's only attempts of the half), pushed the Hoosiers to a 39-29 halftime advantage.
IU quickly got the ball inside to Jackson-Davis for a basket at a 12-point lead to start the second half.
Johnson pushed and passed to an open Stewart for a three-pointer as IU stayed ahead 44-34.
Then Minnesota made its move.
It went on a 13-2 run to take a 47-46 lead before a pair of Thompson free throws put the Hoosiers back in front by a point with 12 minutes left.
Miller Kopp drained a three-pointer. Galloway scored. Jackson-Davis made a hook shot to offset a pair of Minnesota free throws, a basket and a banked-in three-pointer.
IU led 57-54 with 7:18 left.
Thompson scored, then scored again. Johnson drove for a basket. Thompson scored yet again. The lead was 11 as the clock ticked under three
minutes.
The Gophers were finished.
In its last eight games, the Hoosiers have held opponents to 61 or fewer points seven times. The other game -- a loss at Wisconsin -- was 64.
"If we hold teams to 60 points and under, it gives you a chance to win a lot of game," Woodson said. "Our guys believe that. We have to continue to grow in that area."
Now IU hits the road for games against Iowa and Nebraska. It is 0-3 away from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
"We've got to break the ice on the road," Woodson said. "Once we break through, it will open up a lot that we can compete and win in the Big Ten."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Disrespect?
Not exactly.
The Minnesota Gophers weren't about to let Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson beat them Sunday afternoon.
That meant pack the paint and dare guards Rob Phinisee and Xavier Johnson to thrive from the perimeter.
They did.
Hold that thought.
Cream 'n Crimson comfort turned tense during a second-half stretch that turned a 12-point lead into a one-point deficit.
The Hoosiers blinked, but didn't buckle.
They got tough when it mattered most, dominating crunch time (a 25-11 edge over the final 11 minutes), delivering offensive balance (five Hoosiers scored in double figures) and turning the Gophers offense to rubble (no field goals in the last three minutes).
The result -- a 73-60 victory to get the Hoosiers to 12-3 overall, 3-2 in the Big Ten, with an 11-0 Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall record.
"I call it wining basketball," coach Mike Woodson said. "(Minnesota) came back from being down and took the lead. Our defense picked up after that. We had the lapse and picked it up.
"The last three to four minutes we were solid."
Were they ever.
Let's start with Johnson and Phinisee.
Johnson, the Pitt transfer, had a team-leading 14 points. He made two three-pointers and added five assists, three rebounds and one turnover.
Phinisee had 13 points, four assists, three rebounds and one turnover. He made four three-pointers, not bad for a guy who had made only eight all season off 27.9 percent shooting before Sunday.
"Coming off the bench," Phinisee said, "I saw how they were guarding X. Teams usually guard us the same, so I came in ready and knocked down shots."
Added Woodson: "Both played extremely well considering all the yelling and screaming I was doing out there."
Johnson and Phinisee played together down the stretch, something that has happened occasionally this season.
"It's effective a lot," Johnson said. "We get a lot of stops with me and him on the floor because it's hard to beat us off the dribble. We both pick up 94 feet and love to play defense because we know it gets the team going."
Phinisee, once a starter, has adjusted to his off-the-bench role. Johnson continues learning to play point guard to Woodson's demanding standards.
"I'm trying to give all them confidence," Woodson said, "but I'm still trying to coach them. There's some tough love.
"(For Phinisee), shooting is a big part of it, but it's just leading.
"Rob has been through the grind of the Big Ten. He knows the ins and outs. He's a senior. I expect him to lead. He can't live in the past. He has to break past that. It's like, 'Hey man, here's the ball. It's OK to be good.'"
Minnesota spent the first half conceding three-point shots to Phinisee and Johnson. They combined for 22 points (including 6-for-12 three-point shooting) in the opening 20 minutes.
"Coach builds our confidence and tells us to shoot if we're wide open," Phinisee said. "I made shots this game."
Added Woodson: "I'm not telling them not to shoot. Minnesota forced our hand in terms of shooting threes.
"They were saying Trayce and Race won't beat us. When teams do that, our perimeter guys have to step up and make shots. They did that."
That includes guard Parker Stewart, who made a pair of three-pointers and who finished with 12 points, his most since scoring 12 against Notre Dame in mid December.
In the closing minutes, Minnesota went small and Woodson took advantage with 6-9 Trayce Jackson-Davis and 6-8 Race Thompson.
Jackson-Davis finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds. It was his 28th career double-double and second straight.
Thompson finished with 10 points and five rebounds.
"When they did that," Woodson said, "we have to spoon feed the ball inside. That's what we did. Race had a guard guarding him. Get it inside and make them stop us."
With the Gophers double teaming Jackson-Davis, that left Thompson one on one.
"If they're not going to double Race," Woodson said, "I'll take my chances with him. He's worked on his game. I'm good with that."
Jackson-Davis, coming off a 27-point effort against Ohio State, had no trouble with letting others be the offensive focal point.
"It's called trust," Woodson said. "It's not going to be him every night. Teams double team him. They packed it in, and he made the correct passes and guys benefited it by making shots.
"That was no surprise. If I coached against him, I would double him, too, and get it out of his hands."
Minnesota (10-3, 1-3), despite road wins at Pitt and Mississippi State, and a victory over Michigan, arrived vulnerable. It had lost at home to Illinois 76-53 five days earlier.
Coach Ben Johnson, seeing what Jackson-Davis had done to Ohio State, wanted to avoid a repeat.
"(The Hoosiers) feed him and feed him," Johnson said. "We wanted to make a concerted effort to double and heavy crowd him. We were going to have to live with all the shots (from Johnson and Phinisee). That's the gamble you have to play. You pick your poison with a guy as dominant as Trayce is inside."
IU guards ruled the first half. Johnson set the tone by scoring the Hoosiers' first five points, including a three-pointer, but Minnesota pushed ahead 12-7.
It didn't last.
The Hoosiers took their first lead, at 22-21, on Phinisee's second three-pointer. Add a rebound, an assist and a steal and it was a decisive eight-minute burst that kept him in the game the rest of the half.
A Michael Durr basket, followed by ones from Jackson-Davis and Trey Galloway to give the Hoosiers a 28-25 lead. Phinisee's third and fourth three-pointers, plus Johnson's second, and then his two throws (IU's only attempts of the half), pushed the Hoosiers to a 39-29 halftime advantage.
IU quickly got the ball inside to Jackson-Davis for a basket at a 12-point lead to start the second half.
Johnson pushed and passed to an open Stewart for a three-pointer as IU stayed ahead 44-34.
Then Minnesota made its move.
It went on a 13-2 run to take a 47-46 lead before a pair of Thompson free throws put the Hoosiers back in front by a point with 12 minutes left.
Miller Kopp drained a three-pointer. Galloway scored. Jackson-Davis made a hook shot to offset a pair of Minnesota free throws, a basket and a banked-in three-pointer.
IU led 57-54 with 7:18 left.
Thompson scored, then scored again. Johnson drove for a basket. Thompson scored yet again. The lead was 11 as the clock ticked under three
minutes.
The Gophers were finished.
In its last eight games, the Hoosiers have held opponents to 61 or fewer points seven times. The other game -- a loss at Wisconsin -- was 64.
"If we hold teams to 60 points and under, it gives you a chance to win a lot of game," Woodson said. "Our guys believe that. We have to continue to grow in that area."
Now IU hits the road for games against Iowa and Nebraska. It is 0-3 away from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
"We've got to break the ice on the road," Woodson said. "Once we break through, it will open up a lot that we can compete and win in the Big Ten."
Team Stats
MINN
IND
FG%
.383
.482
3FG%
.200
.375
FT%
.750
.667
RB
34
39
TO
5
6
STL
5
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
Center
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
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