INDIANAPOLIS — The pertinent details of the final score, including that Indiana defeated Notre Dame and did so in overtime, say much about how far the Hoosiers have come as a team since their disastrous season-opening loss to Indiana State.
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said a lot more in just a few short sentences.
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“They're just a tough group, man,” Brey told reporters following Indiana’s 80-77 win in the Crossroads Classic doubleheader. “They keep coming at your paint. They keep coming at your paint. The guards are driving. The big guys are banging around. I like them.”
Archie Miller, in his first season as Indiana's head coach, is attempting to build a culture in the IU basketball program, and the foundation of that cure is the sort of competitive ferocity that allowed his Dayton Flyers to punch above their weight in recent seasons. It was apparent Miller's message was connecting with his target audience when the Hoosiers battled then-No. 1 Duke and talented Seton Hall and Louisville squads in narrow road defeats.
It's more obvious when you win.
“Our guys, we've been hanging tough here the last couple weeks and just haven't had the ability to find a way to win,” Miller said. “I thought today's effort was outstanding.
“We're very excited and have seen our improvement week by week and continue to get confidence that our guys are starting to understand a little bit more, playing through mistakes, continuing to play hard. Whether you're up or down is a good sign right now that we're able to hang in there and claw our way back.”
The curious thing about scheduling in college basketball is that, although you’ll often see teams excoriated by media analysts for playing a series of weak opponents — you’d think Georgetown was out clubbing baby seals given how harshly the Hoyas have been condemned — almost no one gets ripped for compiling a schedule that’s too freaking hard.
How Indiana came to play seven major opponents in its first 11 games is a coincidence of various conference obligations and its own longstanding commitments to the Crossroads and Louisville series. It hasn’t been ideal for a team in this circumstance, having chosen to start over with a new coach and then losing three key regulars to early NBA Draft entry.
“We've been in the pressure cooker for about four weeks,” Miller said. “You're going against Duke. I think four, five games ago, whatever it may be, you're right there and disappointed you weren't able to get it done. Struggled on the road against Michigan. Battled back and had a good win against Iowa. At Louisville, I thought we were prepared to play. Guys competed and played really hard. We just weren't sharp enough, being able to finish it off.
“I thought in this game we were sharp enough to finish it off, and we also did it on both ends. We had key plays, being able to get key stops, and continuing to score when we were down.”
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Indiana resourcefully found a matchup favorable enough to help it overcome some offensive droughts. The Hoosiers took advantage of Juwan Morgan's post-up skills to the tune of 34 points, which worked because they’d allowed Notre Dame a large enough lead that Brey decided not to double-team in the post; he feared the Hoosiers rallying with a barrage of 3-pointers.
Indiana made every necessary play to scramble back from multi-possession deficits near the end of regulation and the extra period.
The most extraordinary sequence commenced with 20 seconds left in overtime, when Indiana trailed by three points and sent out versatile forward Zach McRoberts — 0-for-1 on the season from 3-point range — instead of fielding more shooters. Rather than try to tie the game with a deep shot, the Hoosiers ran a quick play to get Morgan the ball near the post, and he scored while drawing a foul from Notre Dame point guard Matt Farrell.
Morgan missed the free throw, though. And McRoberts flashed in to grab the rebound on the left side, found Morgan flashing alone to the right block, then zipped a pass across the lane for Morgan to slam home for the game-winner.
“The minutes that Zach gave were incredible,” Morgan said. “His defense on ball, off ball, I think he got two or three times where he was just in the right spot for helping guys, got a few turnovers for them.”
Morgan's ability to bounce the basketball in the post is not a common skill in college basketball, and it’s something he’d rarely demonstrated before. IU hasn't had anyone as adept that in that art since Jared Jeffries 15 years ago.
Morgan used this technique occasionally as a high schooler, but not a lot in his two previous college seasons. That was in part because playing down low generally involves taking a pounding on your shoulders, and he already had enough problems to deal with in that area. He had shoulder surgery in the offseason following his freshman year, and he now is completely healthy. It showed as he totally dominated the Irish.
“I thought maybe if we didn't give up 3s, they wouldn't score enough,” Brey said. “His jump-hooks count two, and we could keep a little bit of a cushion. But, God, did he beat us up, and he was fabulous.”
Morgan shot 13 of 17 from the field and 8 of 11 from the foul line. He grabbed 11 rebounds. Playing frequently as Indiana’s lone big man, he allowed the Hoosiers to field a smaller, quicker lineup than the Irish, who are accustomed to using All-American Bonzie Colson to cause matchup problems for opponents. Colson scored 29 points and got 11 rebounds and was typically brilliant. For a change, though, at least for one afternoon, he was not the best player on the floor.
Notre Dame probably was the best team, but it was not the winning team. The Hoosiers will take what they can get.
