Tuesday, December 20
Bloomington, Ind.
7:00 PM
Indiana University
9-3,1-1Big Ten
96
vs
72
Elon
2-11,0-0CAA
1
2
F
Elon
29
43
72
Indiana
47
49
96
Indiana Races Past Elon 96-72
12/20/2022 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The point-guard spotlight found Jalen Hood-Schifino and he didn't blink.
He thrived, in fact.
Against Elon on Tuesday night, Hood-Schifino was an offensive force and facilitator, big in these life-without-Xavier-Johnson times.
Case in point, the freshman's career-high 17 points (on 7-of-12 shooting) and seven assists in 30 minutes in No. 18 IU's 96-72 victory at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
This was huge with Johnson, the veteran point guard, out indefinitely with a foot injury suffered in last Saturday's loss to Kansas. He spent Tuesday night's game in a boot, moving around on a scooter.
"Things change with X out," forward Miller Kopp said. "He's one of our leading scorers and one of our leaders. He's a big loss.
"Fino is making strides. The kid is a relentless worker. We're super comfortable of where he's going."
Hood-Schifino has scored 14, 11 and now those 17 points in his last three games. He seems over the back spasms that cost him three games.
Coach Mike Woodson wants to keep it that way.
"With X, that gives you two guards in the game who make plays with the ball. Now, we don't have X. I've got to keep an eye on Jalen. He's just getting back from his flareup, I don't want to bury him with a lot of minutes and he goes down. Then, we're really stuck.
"I wanted to play him 30 minutes, and he responded. He had a few too many turnovers (five), but he's young and learning."
Guards Trey Galloway, Tamar Bates, CJ Gunn and Anthony Leal will have to help with the point-guard burden.
"This isn't like the NBA where I can go to the D-League and find another point guard," Woodson said. "Gallo, Scoop, CJ and Anthony have to play stronger and make basketball plays to help us."
This was much-needed Hoosier dominance after a pair of double-digit defeats to top-10 Arizona and Kansas. They controlled points in the paint (58-24), rebounding (39-22) and bench scoring (37-22).
IU (9-3) did that without Johnson, forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (out for precautionary reasons) and forward Jordan Geronimo (dislocated finger).
Freshman Malik Reneau replaced Jackson-Davis and totaled nine points and seven rebounds.
"We play well at home," Woodson said. "I expect us to win every game at home.
"Bouncing back is a confidence builder. This is still a young team. I started two freshmen (Hood-Schifino and Reneau) tonight."
Career highs also came for Gunn (11 points) and forward Logan Duncomb (10).
Forward Race Thompson led the Hoosier with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Kopp added 13 points.
The goal, Woodson said, is getting everyone to play hard.
"That's a big part of it. Some of our guys are not playing hard enough. That's my job to get them to play hard. Everything else will fall in place if they learn to just play hard.
"That's what you deal with when you have young players. They think they play hard, but there's always another level that they've got to reach. That's what I'm trying to get them to."
Elon (2-11) fell to 0-30 against ranked NCAA Division I teams. It stayed as close as it did by making 10-of-24 three-pointers.
Kopp sparked IU out of a sluggish start with a steal, a drive, a pair of free throws and consecutive three-pointers. Reneau added an inside basket. Bates came off the bench and quickly hit a three-pointer. The Hoosiers surged ahead 17-9.
With Woodson taking full use of his bench, Elon surged back behind six three-pointers in the first 13 minutes, and trailed 27-25.
IU went to work behind Thompson, who scored off a soft hook, and then a monster dunk from a Bates assist. The Hoosiers led by 10 with two minutes left. Thompson's block led to a Gunn layup. Kopp quickly followed with another layup. IU led 43-29
Thompson added another inside hook shot, and Gunn had a half-beating dunk for a 47-29 lead. IU had a 24-14 rebounding edge, a 26-8 advantage in points in the paint and just six turnovers.
Thompson scored the Hoosiers' first six points of the second half as the built a series of 20-point leads. A Duncomb inside basket and a Gunn three-pointer pushed the advantage to 65-40.
IU cruised from there.
The Hoosiers host Kennesaw State on Friday night before taking an extended holiday break leading back into Big Ten play.
"It's about making guys come together," Kopp said. "I always say, when the spider webs unite, you can tie up a lion.
"At the end of the day, it's just about getting guys to understand that we need everybody, and we're only as strong as our weakest link."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The point-guard spotlight found Jalen Hood-Schifino and he didn't blink.
He thrived, in fact.
Against Elon on Tuesday night, Hood-Schifino was an offensive force and facilitator, big in these life-without-Xavier-Johnson times.
Case in point, the freshman's career-high 17 points (on 7-of-12 shooting) and seven assists in 30 minutes in No. 18 IU's 96-72 victory at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
This was huge with Johnson, the veteran point guard, out indefinitely with a foot injury suffered in last Saturday's loss to Kansas. He spent Tuesday night's game in a boot, moving around on a scooter.
"Things change with X out," forward Miller Kopp said. "He's one of our leading scorers and one of our leaders. He's a big loss.
"Fino is making strides. The kid is a relentless worker. We're super comfortable of where he's going."
Hood-Schifino has scored 14, 11 and now those 17 points in his last three games. He seems over the back spasms that cost him three games.
Coach Mike Woodson wants to keep it that way.
"With X, that gives you two guards in the game who make plays with the ball. Now, we don't have X. I've got to keep an eye on Jalen. He's just getting back from his flareup, I don't want to bury him with a lot of minutes and he goes down. Then, we're really stuck.
"I wanted to play him 30 minutes, and he responded. He had a few too many turnovers (five), but he's young and learning."
Guards Trey Galloway, Tamar Bates, CJ Gunn and Anthony Leal will have to help with the point-guard burden.
"This isn't like the NBA where I can go to the D-League and find another point guard," Woodson said. "Gallo, Scoop, CJ and Anthony have to play stronger and make basketball plays to help us."
This was much-needed Hoosier dominance after a pair of double-digit defeats to top-10 Arizona and Kansas. They controlled points in the paint (58-24), rebounding (39-22) and bench scoring (37-22).
IU (9-3) did that without Johnson, forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (out for precautionary reasons) and forward Jordan Geronimo (dislocated finger).
Freshman Malik Reneau replaced Jackson-Davis and totaled nine points and seven rebounds.
"We play well at home," Woodson said. "I expect us to win every game at home.
"Bouncing back is a confidence builder. This is still a young team. I started two freshmen (Hood-Schifino and Reneau) tonight."
Career highs also came for Gunn (11 points) and forward Logan Duncomb (10).
Forward Race Thompson led the Hoosier with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Kopp added 13 points.
The goal, Woodson said, is getting everyone to play hard.
"That's a big part of it. Some of our guys are not playing hard enough. That's my job to get them to play hard. Everything else will fall in place if they learn to just play hard.
"That's what you deal with when you have young players. They think they play hard, but there's always another level that they've got to reach. That's what I'm trying to get them to."
Elon (2-11) fell to 0-30 against ranked NCAA Division I teams. It stayed as close as it did by making 10-of-24 three-pointers.
Kopp sparked IU out of a sluggish start with a steal, a drive, a pair of free throws and consecutive three-pointers. Reneau added an inside basket. Bates came off the bench and quickly hit a three-pointer. The Hoosiers surged ahead 17-9.
With Woodson taking full use of his bench, Elon surged back behind six three-pointers in the first 13 minutes, and trailed 27-25.
IU went to work behind Thompson, who scored off a soft hook, and then a monster dunk from a Bates assist. The Hoosiers led by 10 with two minutes left. Thompson's block led to a Gunn layup. Kopp quickly followed with another layup. IU led 43-29
Thompson added another inside hook shot, and Gunn had a half-beating dunk for a 47-29 lead. IU had a 24-14 rebounding edge, a 26-8 advantage in points in the paint and just six turnovers.
Thompson scored the Hoosiers' first six points of the second half as the built a series of 20-point leads. A Duncomb inside basket and a Gunn three-pointer pushed the advantage to 65-40.
IU cruised from there.
The Hoosiers host Kennesaw State on Friday night before taking an extended holiday break leading back into Big Ten play.
"It's about making guys come together," Kopp said. "I always say, when the spider webs unite, you can tie up a lion.
"At the end of the day, it's just about getting guys to understand that we need everybody, and we're only as strong as our weakest link."
Team Stats
Elon
IND
FG%
.472
.580
3FG%
.417
.400
FT%
.706
.571
RB
23
39
TO
19
13
STL
9
11
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
9
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Center
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's BasketballForward
/ Men's BasketballGuard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
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