Indiana was roadkill once again. For the fourth time this season and eighth straight true road game overall, the Hoosiers came up empty away from Bloomington, falling 83-74 in Iowa City.
IU took a 48-41 lead into halftime, but there were signs of bad things to come as they made mistakes and gave up big scoring runs before the break. And then Indiana imploded in the second half, with a wave of turnovers while Iowa appeared to give a better effort.
Let’s take a deeper look at how the Hoosiers lost with another edition of The Report Card.
IU (12-4, 3-3) will stay on the road as they next face Nebraska in Lincoln on Monday evening.
OFFENSE (D)
The second half was a complete disaster for Indiana against what to this point has been a very average Iowa defense. After halftime Indiana scored just 26 points, made 40.9 percent of their shots, made just 5-of-11 free throws, and had 14 turnovers. They scored just .765 points per possession after the break.
“When you’re throwing the ball away, you’re not rebounding the ball, and you’re not making your free throws, that’s a bad combination when you’re trying to win on the road,” head coach Mike Woodson said after the game.
For the game Indiana had 23 turnovers, including eight by point guards Rob Phinisee and Xavier Johnson. Against multiple looks the pair struggled to recognize what defense Iowa was in and how best to attack it.
“I’ve got to get more leadership there in terms of them being able to calm the storm, get the ball up, and execute to get us at least an opportunity to score the ball,” Woodson said of the duo.
Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson were dominant in the first half, with a combined 21 points on 11 shots. But Iowa was able to limit them to just 10 points on seven shots after the break. Jackson-Davis believes Iowa’s full court pressure played a role.
“I think a big factor was their press, obviously when 15 seconds have already run off the shot clock you’ve got to get in your offense quick, so we settled sometimes and I thought that was a big factor,” Jackson-Davis said.
Jackson-Davis and his frontcourt mate Thompson combined for seven turnovers.
DEFENSE (C)
Indiana had stretches where they were able to slow Iowa’s attack, but the turnovers helped serve up 34 points including many of their 17 on the fast break. A full 40.9 percent of Iowa’s points came off of IU turnovers.
And when they weren’t giving it away, IU was giving the Hawkeyes second chances. Iowa had 16 offensive rebounds, good for 45.7 percent of their missed shots.
Why was Iowa able to do that?
“They outhustled us all across the board honestly,” Jackson-Davis said.
It was curious why Woodson didn’t play Jordan Geronimo more often considering how much the Hoosiers struggled to guard the Murray twins, who combined for 41 points. Indiana really didn’t have a good matchup for them otherwise. Geronimo committed a couple turnovers, and Woodson gave some of those minutes to Michael Durr, who wasn’t effective on the defensive end.
Indiana held Iowa below their season averages in field goal percentage from both two and three, and forced them into a higher than normal turnover rate. But with the combination of IU turnovers and Iowa second chances, the Hawkeyes’ shot volume was just too much to overcome.
IU gave up 1.15 points per possession, the second most in a game this season following Syracuse.
OTHER GAME COVERAGE
- Final box score, keys to the game and specialty stats
- Mike Woodson and Trayce Jackson-Davis post-game
- Sloppy second-half keeps IU winless on the road
- Extended highlights:
THE PLAYERS
Trayce Jackson-Davis (B) It is hard to find too much fault in Jackson-Davis’ effort, although like everyone else he needed to keep Iowa off the offensive glass and make more free throws. Jackson-Davis was a force as a rim protector and efficient offensively on limited looks as Iowa double-teamed him all night.
Race Thompson (C) Thompson had just five rebounds in 33 minutes, and he had that many turnovers as well. While he was a productive scorer, Thompson seemed to wear down in the second half, and he was not match defensively for either Murray.
Miller Kopp (C+) He probably should have played more in this one as Kopp was connecting from three, and although he was beat some off the bounce, Indiana’s defense seemed to be better with the starting five in the game.
Parker Stewart (C+) Stewart’s scoring at the rim was encouraging, as was his three assists against just one turnover. On the defensive end he continues to struggle with fouls.
Xavier Johnson (D-) Johnson got the second half off to a really bad start with several turnovers and poor shots. All four of his turnovers were in the second half.
Jordan Geronimo (C) Two turnovers in five minutes offset a three-pointer, and those mistakes meant Woodson didn’t trust him in the second half.
Rob Phinisee (D-) Phinisee has a history of inconsistency, and he had one of his worst games of the season after several good ones. He wasn’t making shots, showed poor judgment against the press, and he wasn’t particularly effective on defense.
Trey Galloway (C) While it was an encouraging sign for Galloway to knock down a couple 3-pointers, he turned it over three times in 18 minutes and he wasn’t disruptive on the defensive end.
Tamar Bates (D) He had a nice steal that he turned into a transition dunk, but otherwise Bates continues to look like a freshman who is getting sped up and can’t quite get comfortable in the Big Ten.
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Michael Durr appeared in the game briefly.
Anthony Leal and Khristian Lander did not play.
Logan Duncomb was not available due to a non-COVID illness.
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