Friday, November 18
Cincinnati, Ohio
6:00 PM
Indiana University
3-0,0-0Big Ten
81
at
79
Xavier
3-1,0-0Big East
1
2
F
Indiana
38
43
81
Xavier
40
39
79
Indiana Holds Off Xavier for 81-79 Win
11/18/2022 10:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
CINCINNATI – Fear? Not on this night. Buckling under road pressure? Forget that.
Twelfth-ranked Indiana (3-0) took shots early and late against a formidable Xavier team, made crunch-time plays when it mattered most, and delivered the kind of tough-minded victory champions are made of.
Friday night's 81-79 win at a sold-out and raucous Cintas Center showcased talent, depth and resilience crucial for elite success.
"They pushed us," coach Mike Woodson told Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer during the post-game radio show. "Xavier is a great team. At the end of the day, we made the plays to secure it."
Did they ever.
Forward Trayce Johnson-Davis came up big as you'd expect from one of the nation's top players. He had 30 points on 13-of-16 shooting with six rebounds and three blocks.
"Trayce was unbelievable," Woodson told Fischer. "For a guy who hadn't practiced much the last three to four days because he was under the weather, he really stepped up. He played big for us. We needed all of it."
Guard Xavier Johnson added 23 points and seven rebounds.
And then, with Xavier surging in crunch time, forward Miller Kopp drilled a critical 3-pointer, then added a pair of pressure-packed free throws.
Guard Trey Galloway didn't score in 23 minutes (he only took one shot), but defended ferociously, hustled relentlessly and passed efficiently (four assists, one turnover).
IU shot 52% from the field, had a 15-9 edge in points off turnovers and only committed 11 turnovers. It pounded the paint for 50 points, and maximized fast-break opportunities for 11 more.
It was just enough.
"I thought X played great," Woodson told Fischer. "Everybody played well.
"We didn't have a lot of turnovers. To win on the road, you have to stay away from turnovers. It was a total team effort."
How confident is Woodson in heralded freshmen Jalen Hood-Schifino and Malik Reneau? He played both in the closing minutes under extreme on-the-road pressure.
The 6-9, 233-pound Reneau responded with 12 points, six rebounds and a steal in 16 minutes. Despite having four fouls, he was in at crunch time over senior Race Thompson, who added five points, eight rebounds, three blocks and a steal in 22 minutes.
"The beauty about Malik is he's not afraid and is a big body who can do a lot of things on the floor," Woodson told Fischer. "I rolled (the dice with) him tonight. I knew he was in foul trouble. Had he fouled out, I still had ace in the hole in Race Thompson.
"That's the beauty of our team. I can't worry about guys fouling out. We have backups."
Xavier (3-1) had five players score in double figures.
IU twice fell behind by nine points in the first half and didn't rattle, mostly because Jackson-Davis and Johnson refused to let it stick.
"We got down early and didn't panic," Woodson told Fischer. "We kept digging and grinding and got back in it."
First-half offensive efficiency morphed into second-half defensive fury and then full-bore, back-and-forth intensity.
Previous Hoosier teams might have faltered. This group found a way.
"When it got to back and forth," Woodson told Fischer, "we made the plays to bring it home."
Jackson-Davis was IU's offense early. He made his first three shots. The rest of the Hoosiers were 0-for-7, including 0-for-3 from 3-point range. Xavier inched ahead 10-6.
Johnson drove for a layup to put another Hoosier on the board. Reneau muscled in another basket off of consecutive offensive rebounds.
IU's first 12 points came in the paint.
Xavier surged to a pair of nine-point leads. Johnson's attack-the-basket success -- 3-for-3 from the field, plus a pair of free throws -- prevented a bigger gap.
With four minutes left in the half, Xavier led 33-27. Twenty-two of IU's points had come from the paint, zero from 3-point range.
Trailing by two in the closing seconds of the half, the Hoosiers missed a pair of inside baskets to trail 40-38. Jackson-Davis had 17 points. Johnson had 11.
Thompson opened the second half with a dunk. Johnson followed with another layup to put IU ahead 42-40.
The Hoosiers surged ahead 54-46 on a Reneau basket. Xavier rallied for five-straight points before a Thompson free throw put IU ahead 55-51 with 13:22 left.
Xavier tied it at 57-57. Jackson-Davis untied it with a reverse layup, and then a free throw. The Musketeers tied it, took a two-point lead gave it up on yet another Jackson-Davis basket.
A pair of free throws by Reneau and Johnson, a Johnson steal and layup, and then a Reneau layup pushed IU ahead 73-66 with four minutes left.
Kopp's 3-pointer made it an eight-point lead. He added a pair of free throws. Still, Xavier closed within a point, at 80-79. Reneau missed a pair of free throws, then forced a Musketeer miss. Johnson rebounded with two seconds left, and made a free throw.
The Hoosiers -- burying any lingering doubts from last season's 3-8 road record, and their 15-40 away-for-home record over the past five years -- had survived.
Next up – a Sunday evening game against Miami of Ohio at Indianapolis' Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
"This was a huge win for our team and fan base," Woodson told Fischer. "Now we get ready for Miami."
Twelfth-ranked Indiana (3-0) took shots early and late against a formidable Xavier team, made crunch-time plays when it mattered most, and delivered the kind of tough-minded victory champions are made of.
Friday night's 81-79 win at a sold-out and raucous Cintas Center showcased talent, depth and resilience crucial for elite success.
"They pushed us," coach Mike Woodson told Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer during the post-game radio show. "Xavier is a great team. At the end of the day, we made the plays to secure it."
Did they ever.
Forward Trayce Johnson-Davis came up big as you'd expect from one of the nation's top players. He had 30 points on 13-of-16 shooting with six rebounds and three blocks.
"Trayce was unbelievable," Woodson told Fischer. "For a guy who hadn't practiced much the last three to four days because he was under the weather, he really stepped up. He played big for us. We needed all of it."
Guard Xavier Johnson added 23 points and seven rebounds.
And then, with Xavier surging in crunch time, forward Miller Kopp drilled a critical 3-pointer, then added a pair of pressure-packed free throws.
Guard Trey Galloway didn't score in 23 minutes (he only took one shot), but defended ferociously, hustled relentlessly and passed efficiently (four assists, one turnover).
IU shot 52% from the field, had a 15-9 edge in points off turnovers and only committed 11 turnovers. It pounded the paint for 50 points, and maximized fast-break opportunities for 11 more.
It was just enough.
"I thought X played great," Woodson told Fischer. "Everybody played well.
"We didn't have a lot of turnovers. To win on the road, you have to stay away from turnovers. It was a total team effort."
How confident is Woodson in heralded freshmen Jalen Hood-Schifino and Malik Reneau? He played both in the closing minutes under extreme on-the-road pressure.
The 6-9, 233-pound Reneau responded with 12 points, six rebounds and a steal in 16 minutes. Despite having four fouls, he was in at crunch time over senior Race Thompson, who added five points, eight rebounds, three blocks and a steal in 22 minutes.
"The beauty about Malik is he's not afraid and is a big body who can do a lot of things on the floor," Woodson told Fischer. "I rolled (the dice with) him tonight. I knew he was in foul trouble. Had he fouled out, I still had ace in the hole in Race Thompson.
"That's the beauty of our team. I can't worry about guys fouling out. We have backups."
Xavier (3-1) had five players score in double figures.
IU twice fell behind by nine points in the first half and didn't rattle, mostly because Jackson-Davis and Johnson refused to let it stick.
"We got down early and didn't panic," Woodson told Fischer. "We kept digging and grinding and got back in it."
First-half offensive efficiency morphed into second-half defensive fury and then full-bore, back-and-forth intensity.
Previous Hoosier teams might have faltered. This group found a way.
"When it got to back and forth," Woodson told Fischer, "we made the plays to bring it home."
Jackson-Davis was IU's offense early. He made his first three shots. The rest of the Hoosiers were 0-for-7, including 0-for-3 from 3-point range. Xavier inched ahead 10-6.
Johnson drove for a layup to put another Hoosier on the board. Reneau muscled in another basket off of consecutive offensive rebounds.
IU's first 12 points came in the paint.
Xavier surged to a pair of nine-point leads. Johnson's attack-the-basket success -- 3-for-3 from the field, plus a pair of free throws -- prevented a bigger gap.
With four minutes left in the half, Xavier led 33-27. Twenty-two of IU's points had come from the paint, zero from 3-point range.
Trailing by two in the closing seconds of the half, the Hoosiers missed a pair of inside baskets to trail 40-38. Jackson-Davis had 17 points. Johnson had 11.
Thompson opened the second half with a dunk. Johnson followed with another layup to put IU ahead 42-40.
The Hoosiers surged ahead 54-46 on a Reneau basket. Xavier rallied for five-straight points before a Thompson free throw put IU ahead 55-51 with 13:22 left.
Xavier tied it at 57-57. Jackson-Davis untied it with a reverse layup, and then a free throw. The Musketeers tied it, took a two-point lead gave it up on yet another Jackson-Davis basket.
A pair of free throws by Reneau and Johnson, a Johnson steal and layup, and then a Reneau layup pushed IU ahead 73-66 with four minutes left.
Kopp's 3-pointer made it an eight-point lead. He added a pair of free throws. Still, Xavier closed within a point, at 80-79. Reneau missed a pair of free throws, then forced a Musketeer miss. Johnson rebounded with two seconds left, and made a free throw.
The Hoosiers -- burying any lingering doubts from last season's 3-8 road record, and their 15-40 away-for-home record over the past five years -- had survived.
Next up – a Sunday evening game against Miami of Ohio at Indianapolis' Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
"This was a huge win for our team and fan base," Woodson told Fischer. "Now we get ready for Miami."
Team Stats
IND
XU
FG%
.517
.438
3FG%
.333
.412
FT%
.654
.727
RB
37
34
TO
11
12
STL
6
8
Game Leaders
Pts
30
FGM
13
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
23
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
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