What We Learned: IU basketball Takes Down Butler 82-73
I love it when IU basketball wins. The sky is bluer, food tastes better, and I get as giddy as a five year old on Christmas morning. I especially love it when the Hoosiers win the way they did Saturday afternoon. In their most impressive performance this young season, the Hoosiers dispatched the Butler Bulldogs, 82-73.
After the 20-point thrashing that the Hoosiers suffered at the hands of Louisville, and the cupcake they devoured last week in Grand Canyon University, I had my concerns about which IU squad would show up. Consider those concerns alleviated. It certainly appears that Tom Crean and his Hoosiers made good use of the week off, and came in well-prepared to face their third ranked opponent of the year. The dust has settled, and the Hoosiers now sit 9-2, going into a game tonight against the University of New Orleans. What did we learn Saturday? Well, we learned what the Hoosiers are capable of when they play to their top-notch potential.
Troy Williams can flat-out ball:
Troy Williams went into uber beast mode Saturday, turning in what was likely his most complete game in a Hoosier uniform. His 22 points and 11 rebounds were both career highs, as he showed IU fans why they were all thrilled when he committed to wear the candy striped pants.
Troy also showed his superior athleticism, blocking two Butler shots, and capped off his stat sheet with two steals and three assists in 29 minutes of playing time.
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Saturday, you saw a Troy Williams with a purpose. He had focus. He came with fire. He used his talents to their full potential, but did so under control. Hoosier fans saw a mere glimpse of what Troy Williams can become, and the future looks bright for the 6’7 swingman. To use a phrase often used by Indiana head coach Tom Crean, Troy is just beginning to scratch the surface of his basketball potential. If him performance Saturday is any indication of what is to come, Hoosier fans are going to be elated.
Yogi Ferrell has another gear:
Yes, for the most part we already knew that, but it was exemplified in the second half at Bankers Life. After failing to score in the first half, Yogi Ferrell turned it up a notch. The Butler guards couldn’t contain his drives, and when they sagged off of him in an attempt to keep him out of the lane, #11 made them pay from long-range.
Known for his quickness, Ferrell gave Butler PG, Alex Barlow, fits in the second half, finishing with 20 points for the game, good for second on the IU scoring list for the evening.
On a related note, Ferrell joined the Hoosiers’ 1,000 point club this weekend, and is just five points away from passing Jared Jeffries for 47th on the IU all-time scoring list.
Hanner can play ball when he wants to:The enigmatic Hoosier big man has shown promise at times, and at other has disappeared (making me and other want to pull our hair out on occation). Against the Bulldogs, Mosquera-Perea showed up in a big way. From the opening tip, the 6’9 Colombia native appeared to be a man on a mission.
I’ve been tough on the guy at times. To be quite frank, I’ve never seen a man with his athletic ability that sometimes just doesn’t jump. Saturday he vindicated himself. With four timely blocks, nine rebounds, and eight points, Hanner was against Butler what I thought the Hoosiers would need him to be in order for the Hoosiers to have a successful season. Air Colombia has give me his fair share of gray hairs. Saturday he showed us all what he is capable of.
The Hoosiers can defend, when they put their minds to it:
Now granted, while Butler might have been a little bigger and more physical than the Hoosiers, the Bulldogs are far from the biggest team IU will face this season. IU’s lack of size wasn’t as big of a factor in this game that it could be going into the Big Ten.
The Hoosiers held Butler to 3-15 from three, two of those coming from Bulldog leading scorer, Kellan Dunham. While Dunham led all scorers in the game with 23, 18 of those points came in the first half of play. The Hoosier coaching staff must have gotten through to the Hoosiers at halftime, because from then on out, the sharpshooter from Pendleton was essentially a non factor.
Tom Crean’s club held the Bulldogs to 39% shooting for the game. While Butler did score 73 points on the Hoosiers, one could easily argue that this was likely due to the up-and-down pace of them game, which obviously favored IU.
James Blackmon is capable of having a bad game, and the Hoosiers can still win:
The Hoosiers leading scorer, and leading freshman scorer in the country, James Blackmon Jr., was essentially shut down by the Bulldogs’ defense. This was probably by design, but Indiana proved it has enough weapons on offense to compete with anyone, provided the long-range bombs are falling.
Blackmon, coming into the game shooting 44% from beyond the arch, and averaging 17.9 pts per game, was held to just five points on 2-12 shooting. The rest of the Hoosier long-range snipers were collectively 8-16 for the game. That, and the strong play from Williams and Mosquera-Perea, were enough to spur the Hoosiers to victory over the #23 Bulldogs.
The Bottom Line:
The guys in the Cream and Crimson showed their fans and the nation what they are capable of when they are firing on all cylinders. This being their second win against top 25 completion figures to way heavily in the event that the Hoosiers find themselves on the NCAA bubble at the end of the year, as many experts predict.
The Hoosiers have some serious fire power, and their size limitations aside, have one of the most explosive, most entertaining teams in the country, now averaging a league-best 87 points per outing. Us diehard fans might suffer from heart palpitations from time to time this season, but as ESPN’s Eamonn Brennan writes, the Hoosiers might just be the nation’s most watchable team.
If this you Indiana ball club can learn from this game and start to build momentum going into Big Ten play, they might just surprise some people. These Hoosiers can score, and that cures a lot of ills.
Next up: University of New Orleans
When: Tonight @7pm EST
Where: Assembly Hall, Bloomington, IN
On a side note, the game is being broadcast on BTN Plus…. (Yes, than annoying bad quality internet video feed.) I’m sure BTN had something much more important to cover, like coed badminton or something. If it sounds like I’m bitter, well, I am…
Be sure to stay tuned to InkOnIndy.com and @HoosierHaze for game analysis a absolutely amusing commentary during and following the game. Your friends are doing it. It will make you cool. I promise.