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ASHEVILLE, NC – Midway through the second half, Archie Miller reached his tipping point. All the misses, all the sloppy passes, all the turnovers finally caught up with him. Senior Al Durham had just missed a face-off and looked at the referee hoping to take a foul. The whistle did not sound.
Thus, Miller said something mean towards the referee and was quickly penalized with a technical foul. Miller hasn’t done much to challenge it. He turned his palms to the sky, his forehead wrinkled. All he could do then was watch.
After a dominant performance against Providence, Miller knew that Tuesday would take a rambling effort to win. Playing two games in two days, Miller knew it would be ugly. But maybe not so ugly.
Indiana was embarrassed by No.17 Texas 66-44 in the Maui Invitational semi-finals on Tuesday afternoon at Harrah’s Cherokee Center, achieving one of their worst offensive performances in a decade. The Hoosiers were outclassed from the start, never holding a lead and were beaten in almost every statistic. There were nuances from years gone by with the inability to put the ball in the basket. Even in Miller’s fourth year in office, this has not been fixed.
It’s these inconsistencies, year after year, where Indiana looks like a Sweet Sixteen-caliber team one night, and a mid-size Big Ten contender the next, that have left Miller’s teams so criticized.
“And our team, I think in general right now, learned a good lesson today,” Miller said. “I think in addition to we played, as hard as we played last night, they played harder today, more physical and forced us more willpower today. We have to find a way to respond. “
Here are the takeaways from Tuesday’s game:
An abysmal offensive performance: The length and speed of Texas proved too much for Indiana. The Longhorns were pressuring the perimeter, refusing passes and closing traffic lanes. After looking like a capable offensive team on Monday against Providence, Indiana was totally out of sync.
At the end of the first half, the Hoosiers had only scored 5 of 23 goals, including 0 of 4 from a distance of 3 points. They went long stretches without scoring, showing resurgent signs of prolonged droughts last season. They were also overwhelmed on the stage.
It didn’t help that second Trayce Jackson-Davis and junior Rob Phinisee both had to take their places on the bench after landing their second foul later in the first half. Despite being totally outmatched, Indiana’s own defense kept them in the game and trailed only 31-19 at the break. However, the difficulties of the first half were not due to a lack of energy or intensity. Indiana was engaged for most of the game, but just couldn’t get a shot.
“I think Texas kinda stunned our guys in the first four to five minutes of the game, inability to reverse the ball, inability to connect to the screen, inability to do what we wanted to do,” Miller said. . “They imposed very early on how hard and physically they were going to play and I thought that played a role in putting us on our heels.
The woes continued into the second half and Indiana could never reach striking distance. This time, however, there was more of a disconnect with the offense.
On a possession in the second half, Franklin had a lane but sent it out instead. Then Thompson ended up with the ball and looked around like he didn’t know what to do with it. A few minutes later, Phinisee lifted a wild 3 point after the shot clock struck. The five players on the pitch wore a deadpan, defeated expression on their faces.
In the end, the Hoosiers have scored the fewest points in a game since December 22, 2009. Jackson-Davis was the only Hoosier to score in double digits. Indiana finished the game 2 of 10 to 3 points and 11-46 from the field.
“They beat us in each of those phases and by the end of the day we were outnumbered in these little things,” Miller said. “You combine the fact that our attack couldn’t do anything, for me, over the long course of the game they exhausted us.
Trayce Jackson-Davis struggles again: One night removed from a 5 of 15 shooting performance against Providence, Jackson-Davis struggled again. He led Indiana with 17 points, but only shot 5 of 12 and was contained for most of the game. And for an Indiana team playing with a small formation, Jackson-Davis’s four rebounds aren’t going to cut him off either.
Jackson-Davis has garnered a myriad of accolades heading into the season. There have been great expectations, which he hasn’t quite played out yet. In order for Indiana to be successful, they need him to be a real star inside the painting.
“I think sometimes he maybe squeezes a little too much and sometimes he’s bothered to miss a shot here or there,” Miller said. “But Trayce has always been a guy with a head, wit, and everything’s fine, who always comes to play when it matters most, and tomorrow is a big day for him and his leaders.
Al Durham injured his ankle: If things couldn’t get worse, head goaltender Al Durham landed awkwardly on his right ankle after leading to the basket late in the second half. Durham appeared to be in great distress, rolling in pain and was helped off the field by members of the medical staff.
Miller said after the game that Durham was being assessed and that he was unlikely to play in tomorrow’s game. Durham was one of the bright spots for the Hoosiers in the first half, scoring eight points and knocking down 4 out of 5 free throws.
In an act of leadership, Durham was helped back onto the bench to support his team in the dying minutes of the blowout. The two-time captain is one of the Hoosiers’ most experienced players and would be a serious loss in the future.
Hoosiers have a high turnover rate and low assist count: At the start of the season, Miller said one of the most important stats for Indiana was attendance-to-turnover ratio. By the end of the first half, they had given nine turnovers, while handing out just two assists. They ended the game with 14 turnovers and just six assists. Jackson-Davis made five turnovers on his own.
Indiana had been effective in these categories in the first two games of the season. The Hoosiers tallied 16 assists for just nine turnovers in the first-round victory over Providence. On Tuesday, Durham was the only player to record multiple assists.
This led to fewer transition chances as the Hoosiers had just nine quick break points compared to Texas’ 22. Being a more goaltending team, Indiana must take advantage of opportunities in the open ground.
“I think today we didn’t execute our attack,” Jackson-Davis said. “We were very gentle with the ball, so we have to be stronger with the ball, set the screens hard. We let their pressure get to us.
Indiana fails to find a spark on the bench: At the start of the game, with the starters in a bad mood, Indiana needed a spark on the bench. Last season, with all of his inconsistencies, that guy was Devonte Green. He had the ability to deliver a high score when the starters were struggling.
Green is now a graduate and key reserves Jerome Hunter and Trey Galloway failed to add much to Tuesday’s loss. Many were hoping that five-star first-year goaltender Khristian Lander would be able to create the dribble for Indiana when the offense stalled. So far, Lander hasn’t been able to make an immediate impact and is slowly acclimating to the college game. Freshman Anthony Leal hasn’t seen much in court. Senior Joey Brunk was also sidelined for the third game in a row.
“We’re playing in this event, we’ve got a lot of information on what you’re going to have to do to be successful and I just think as we continue here it will be really, really imperative to develop our bench and keep counting. on them to give us minutes, you don’t want to keep it as a group of five men, a group of six men, you have to sprinkle these guys, ”Miller said.
The bottom line is that Indiana is always looking for someone who can take control of the game. If Jackson-Davis isn’t a star, Indiana needs everyone to participate. Tuesday, no one could do that. Everyone looked at each other to lead.
What will be most telling, however, is how Indiana responds in less than 24 hours.
(Photo credit: Maui Invitational)
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