Indiana University Athletics
NCAA Tourney Bound -- IU Set to Leave It ‘All Out on the Court’ against Kent State
3/13/2023 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Somebody will go 6-0 in the next 22 days and win an NCAA men's basketball championship.
Why not Indiana?
It has one of the nation's best players in forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, one of the nation's best freshmen in guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, veteran perimeter sharpshooters in Miller Kopp and Trey Galloway, and a veteran inside presence in forward Race Thompson.
Plus, it's been steeled by rugged Big Ten competition -- eight conference teams made the NCAA tourney field.
March Madness opportunity has arrived for a second-straight season, this time Friday in Albany, N.Y. against Kent State, and the Hoosiers are pumped.
"This is what it's all about," Thompson says. "Being one and done, there's no doubt in my mind I'm going to leave it all out on the court. Everybody will do the same."
IU (22-11) got the Midwest Region No. 4 seed and will face the No. 13 Golden Flashes (28-6).
"Kent State has had a hell of a season," coach Mike Woodson says. "They're well coached.
"In tournament play, in every game, it's a game of inches. I can relate back to when I was in college (in the 1978 NCAA tourney). We lost to Villanova at the buzzer (61-60) after being up the whole game.
"Nobody wants to go home in March Madness. I get it. That's why you've got to be ready to play every minute, every second of every game."
Coached by former Hoosier assistant coach Rob Senderoff, the Golden Flashes have won five straight. They finished 15-3 in the Mid-American Conference and beat Toledo 93-78 in the conference tourney title game. This is their first NCAA tourney appearance in six years.
"We're not going to take them lightly," Jackson-Davis says. "They're a great team. They're here for a reason. We have to play basketball."
That means sticking to the season-long routine.
"Nothing changes," Jackson-Davis says. "We scout every team the same. We take scouting very seriously. Our assistant coaches do a great job.
"We have four days to prepare and see what they're doing. Then we have to execute and perform."
IU's NCAA tourney success is predicated, Jackson-Davis adds, by doing what they're told.
"First and foremost, listen to Coach, execute our sets, execute our game plan," he says. "Play as hard as we can. Play for each other. That's the biggest thing. When we play for each other, usually good things happen."
Fortune favors the brave might be a cliché, but that doesn't make it any less true.
"We can't played scared," Jackson-Davis says. "I thought overall we played kind of tentative (during Saturday's Big Ten tourney semifinal against Penn State). We weren't shooting the ball when we should have been. We've got to fix those things."
Fixing means taking open shots, good shots, the kind of shots NCAA tourney success demands.
"You can't be afraid to shoot the ball," Jackson-Davis says. "We've got a great team. We've got great shooters, and that's what really spaces the floor for us. When we're not doing that, they can just pack it in."
Doing that creates the kind of offensive balance Woodson preaches.
"When we're winning," he says, "our perimeter play is making shots and our bigs are making plays inside."
At this point, teams have established their identities.
"We won't change up too much," guard Tamar Bates says. "It comes down to the team that's the most prepared. I feel we will be. We learn from setbacks."
Saturday's defeat stung. It always does, but this hurt more given the championship implications. Still, Bates found promise amid disappointment.
"I wouldn't call it frustration or a setback. It's basketball. We go out to win, but sometimes it doesn't happen. We know with the guys we have, we trust each other, what we can do. We'll put the work in and get ready for the tournament."
The Penn State loss ended Jackson-Davis's Big Ten opportunities, but the big one remains.
"It's bittersweet," he says. "I know that I left everything I have on the court. I think Indiana fans and fans in general that enjoy college basketball will appreciate that.
"At the same time, you can't dwell on it. We've still got ball left to be played. We'll see what happens. We've got to take it one game at a time."
Kent State is a veteran team led by senior guards Sincere Carry and Malique Jacobs, and senior forward Miryne Thomas.
Carry leads the Golden Flashes in scoring (17.6) and assists (165). Jacobs averages 13.0 points and 5.2 rebounds. Thomas has a team-high 67 3-pointers. He averages 10.7 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Five players have at least 24 3-pointers.
Kent State utilizes an attacking defense that has produced 303 steals and forced 544 turnovers. By comparison, IU has 190 steals and forced 370 turnovers.
In 12 seasons as Kent State head coach, Senderoff has won a school-record 247 games with two MAC tourney titles and one MAC regular season championship.
At IU, Senderoff was an assistant coach under Kelvin Sampson, now the head coach of Midwest Region top seed Houston.
The Hoosiers and Cougars could meet in the Sweet Sixteen.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Somebody will go 6-0 in the next 22 days and win an NCAA men's basketball championship.
Why not Indiana?
It has one of the nation's best players in forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, one of the nation's best freshmen in guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, veteran perimeter sharpshooters in Miller Kopp and Trey Galloway, and a veteran inside presence in forward Race Thompson.
Plus, it's been steeled by rugged Big Ten competition -- eight conference teams made the NCAA tourney field.
March Madness opportunity has arrived for a second-straight season, this time Friday in Albany, N.Y. against Kent State, and the Hoosiers are pumped.
"This is what it's all about," Thompson says. "Being one and done, there's no doubt in my mind I'm going to leave it all out on the court. Everybody will do the same."
IU (22-11) got the Midwest Region No. 4 seed and will face the No. 13 Golden Flashes (28-6).
"Kent State has had a hell of a season," coach Mike Woodson says. "They're well coached.
"In tournament play, in every game, it's a game of inches. I can relate back to when I was in college (in the 1978 NCAA tourney). We lost to Villanova at the buzzer (61-60) after being up the whole game.
"Nobody wants to go home in March Madness. I get it. That's why you've got to be ready to play every minute, every second of every game."
Coached by former Hoosier assistant coach Rob Senderoff, the Golden Flashes have won five straight. They finished 15-3 in the Mid-American Conference and beat Toledo 93-78 in the conference tourney title game. This is their first NCAA tourney appearance in six years.
"We're not going to take them lightly," Jackson-Davis says. "They're a great team. They're here for a reason. We have to play basketball."
That means sticking to the season-long routine.
"Nothing changes," Jackson-Davis says. "We scout every team the same. We take scouting very seriously. Our assistant coaches do a great job.
"We have four days to prepare and see what they're doing. Then we have to execute and perform."
IU's NCAA tourney success is predicated, Jackson-Davis adds, by doing what they're told.
"First and foremost, listen to Coach, execute our sets, execute our game plan," he says. "Play as hard as we can. Play for each other. That's the biggest thing. When we play for each other, usually good things happen."
Fortune favors the brave might be a cliché, but that doesn't make it any less true.
"We can't played scared," Jackson-Davis says. "I thought overall we played kind of tentative (during Saturday's Big Ten tourney semifinal against Penn State). We weren't shooting the ball when we should have been. We've got to fix those things."
Fixing means taking open shots, good shots, the kind of shots NCAA tourney success demands.
"You can't be afraid to shoot the ball," Jackson-Davis says. "We've got a great team. We've got great shooters, and that's what really spaces the floor for us. When we're not doing that, they can just pack it in."
Doing that creates the kind of offensive balance Woodson preaches.
"When we're winning," he says, "our perimeter play is making shots and our bigs are making plays inside."
At this point, teams have established their identities.
"We won't change up too much," guard Tamar Bates says. "It comes down to the team that's the most prepared. I feel we will be. We learn from setbacks."
Saturday's defeat stung. It always does, but this hurt more given the championship implications. Still, Bates found promise amid disappointment.
"I wouldn't call it frustration or a setback. It's basketball. We go out to win, but sometimes it doesn't happen. We know with the guys we have, we trust each other, what we can do. We'll put the work in and get ready for the tournament."
The Penn State loss ended Jackson-Davis's Big Ten opportunities, but the big one remains.
"It's bittersweet," he says. "I know that I left everything I have on the court. I think Indiana fans and fans in general that enjoy college basketball will appreciate that.
"At the same time, you can't dwell on it. We've still got ball left to be played. We'll see what happens. We've got to take it one game at a time."
Kent State is a veteran team led by senior guards Sincere Carry and Malique Jacobs, and senior forward Miryne Thomas.
Carry leads the Golden Flashes in scoring (17.6) and assists (165). Jacobs averages 13.0 points and 5.2 rebounds. Thomas has a team-high 67 3-pointers. He averages 10.7 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Five players have at least 24 3-pointers.
Kent State utilizes an attacking defense that has produced 303 steals and forced 544 turnovers. By comparison, IU has 190 steals and forced 370 turnovers.
In 12 seasons as Kent State head coach, Senderoff has won a school-record 247 games with two MAC tourney titles and one MAC regular season championship.
At IU, Senderoff was an assistant coach under Kelvin Sampson, now the head coach of Midwest Region top seed Houston.
The Hoosiers and Cougars could meet in the Sweet Sixteen.
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