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Thoughts on a 79-63 win over the Cardinal:
After a disturbing loss to Texas on Tuesday, the Hoosiers rebounded in the third-place game against Stanford, heading for a comfortable double-digit victory. Indiana saved face for the tournament and leaves Asheville with two wins over quality opponents on neutral ground.
Stanford entered the competition as the No.28 team in KenPom’s overall standings and No.4 in its adjusted defensive efficiency measure. But it wasn’t the Cardinal’s best performance, as he looked a bit slow on both sides of the pitch. Freshman star Ziaire Williams made a foul and was just 1 in 9 off the ground.
Still, thank the Hoosiers for bouncing back and enjoying it. There was some concern about where the offense came from with Al Durham, but Trayce Jackson-Davis carried the Hoosiers from the start and he never looked back. The second was an absolute terror in this one and Stanford had absolutely no answer for him. He got off to a good start, showing great emotion for the brands. He finished the competition with 31 points, a career high. He scored 10 of his 16 total field goals and came to the One Tonne line, where he also excelled (11 of 14). He and his teammates’ ability to foul early meant four Stanford players had two fouls entering the break.
Armaan Franklin also entered the void left by Durham. The sophomore took an aggressive approach, driving out of the perimeter to make plays for himself and others. The box’s score put him in 40 minutes for the contest and he scored 13 points (4 of 10 on the field, 5 of 6 on the line), landed eight rebounds and gave out five assists. Race Thompson’s production fell against Texas after a career high score and rebounding performance in the Hoosiers’ victory over Providence. But like the team as a whole, Thompson bounced back into this one, setting up a hyper-efficient offensive performance hitting 6 of 7 from the ground (including 1 of 1 deep) and all of his free throws (2 of 7) -2) to display 15 points.
Indiana’s 3-point shot still wasn’t great in this one, but it hit 4 of 8 in the second half (including two from Rob Phinisee, who should get the bulk of the glares, especially with Durham out) to finish 5 of 15 (33.3%) for the contest. Stanford was even worse in that department (5 out of 20, 25 percent) this afternoon. But outside of the 3-point shot, Indiana’s offensive profile was pretty strong. The Hoosiers scored 1.11 points per possession and posted a field goal percentage of 58. They also had a strong free throw rate (49%) and hit 20 of 25 (80%) from the line, although their percentage of turnover is 20 must be better.
Defensively, Stanford’s 0.89 points per possession means the Hoosiers have held their three opponents under one point per possession in the tournament. While offensive questions remain, through four games this season, Indiana’s defense has been pretty good.
After three games in three days, the Hoosiers have a week before their next game to face Florida State in Tallahassee in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The Seminoles haven’t even played a game yet. Their first is tonight against North Florida and their second will be against the Hoosiers. That said, KenPom has the Seminoles at No.18 right now and he’ll be another high-quality opponent early in the season for IU.
Indiana wasn’t perfect in Asheville, but the Hoosiers can build on two solid NCAA tournament resume wins and a third-place finish.
(Photo credit: Maui Invitational)
Filed at: Stanford Cardinal
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