The Tale of Two Teams: Hoosiers Rebound Vs. Buckeyes, 69-66

Well, this game certainly wasn’t the high scoring affair everyone expected it to be. In a matchup between the Big Ten’s two highest scoring teams, Saturday’s contest turned into a defensive struggle, with the Hoosiers prevailing 69-66.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well, but the Indiana, fresh off a 20-point thrashing in East Lansing, turned their effort around against the Buckeyes. That proved to be the difference. Tom Crean’s squad out rebounded the Buckeyes, 48-39. They held OSU 12 points below their season average, and limited to Bucks to just 34% shooting for the game (14% from three).

Against Michigan State, the Hoosiers failed to show up. From a mental standpoint, and from an effort standpoint, IU looked as though they never believed they could win the game. Not many people thought the odds were likely that Indiana would come way with a win in the Breslin Center, but it was the way they lost that had the rabid Hoosier fan base up in arms. Indiana fans can handle missed shots, we can even handle losing on the road in he Big Ten (it happens, unfortunately), but when an IU team comes into a game looking ill-prepared and lost, it makes our skin crawl.

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Against OSU, the other Indiana team showed up.

Going into Saturday’s contest, I wanted to see effort. I wanted to see hustle. I wanted to see passion and toughness. The Hoosiers delivered on those things ten-fold. Whatever Tom Crean said or did this week in practice must have worked, because a tougher Indiana woke up against Ohio State. IU showed that effort can win you basketball games, even when you shot isn’t falling.

Hoosier coach Tom Crean agreed. “I think they learned a lot this week,” Crean added, referring to his team’s poor performance at Michigan State “We’ve been getting mentally tougher all year, but it’s not consistent yet.” Against the Buckeyes, Indiana showed growth. “I thought our talk improved during the game. I thought our leadership improved during the game.”

Saturday’s effort did a great deal to revive some momentum for a young IU team and re-excites the fan base.

Performances of note:

Give the nod to young Emmitt Holt for player of the game. There were Indiana players with better star lines, but most would agree with me that there really might not have been a Hoosier that played a bigger part in the IU win than Emmitt Holt. With Hanner Mosquera-Perea leaving the game early on with foul trouble, Holt came into the game and gave the Hoosiers a big burst of energy when they needed it most. Although he just scored five points, he had two timely blocks and seven rebounds for the Hoosiers in the victory.

At 6’7, Holt is a bit of a tweener, significantly undersized for playing the post in the Big Ten. That hasn’t stopped the freshman forward from competing at the highest level. Holt dictated play inside on more than one occasion with his presence on both ends of the floor.

This brings us to a very serious question. Should Holt be starting for the Hoosiers? While Mosquera-Perea has shown significant improvement this season, at times the enigmatic junior big man does better disappearing acts than David Copperfield.

Sometimes Air Colombia fails to take off. Whether it be foul trouble, lack of concentration, or lack of fire, passion, call it what you may, Hanner has complete games where he just seems to have his head in the clouds. With his athleticism, Hoosier fans would rather him have his head in the clouds physically rather than mentally. All too often, we get the latter.

On the flip side, Holt has been the more consistent player. Seemingly, each and every time Holt has come in off the bench in relief of Mosquera-Perea, he has excelled. Whether it be a timely block, a strong rebound, or a smart bucket in the paint when the IU needs it most, Holt has been IU’s most reliable post presence. Indiana was Holt’s only major D1 offer this season. Considering he was literally one week away from playing in prep school, had IU not come calling in the last-minute, the results he’s been producing on the court for the Hoosiers are nothing short of phenomenal. Bottom line: start the guy!

James Blackmon Jr. comes out of his scoring slump. It took him about 20 minutes of play to finally break through the wall, scoring just two points in the first half. After that, it seemed like the light switch flipped on, and Blackmon didn’t look back. “We tried to get our edge back, our swagger back and we just went so hard in practice and it happened tonight in the game, too,” Blackmon commented on his team’s improved performance. Blackmon certainly regained his swagger, finishing win a game high 18 points on 6-13 shooting. While his outside shooting slump continued to be an issue (1-5), Blackmon seized several opportunities to score on the drive against the Buckeyes, taking what the game gave him.

Troy Williams also turned it back on against the Bucks. Following Monday’s disappointing performance against the Spartans, Williams turned in 15 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, and one block for the Hoosiers. Troy looked like a man on a mission against the Buckeyes, as Thad Matta appeared to have no answer for the athletic 6’7 forward.

Don’t discount the impact Collin Hartman has on this Indiana team. Yeah, the 6’8 IU sophomore had just two points, but grabbed six rebounds and had a game-high three block shots. Hartman seems to have assumed the role of Indiana’s Mr. Hustle, doing a lot of the dirty work that wins you ball games. I’ll go out on a limb and guess that he leads the team in floor burns this year.

Many fans thought Hartman would be the odd man out this season, coming off an ACL injury, and far from being the teams most athletic player. He’s  been winning the hearts of Hoosier Nation all season with his smart, gritty play on the hardwood.

The Bottom Line: The Hoosiers showed can win in an ugly game. Yes, it was at home, but Indiana showed that they can play a game where they don’t score a whole lot of points, and their defense fan win games for them. With a defense ranked last in the conference, the Hoosiers needed to prove to themselves that their defense could stand up to a test like this. Mission accomplished.