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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

sports

Hoosiers need to shoot, make or miss

Taking care of business is an important mantra for IU over the next two weeks.

Going into the final four games, th Hoosiers needed to protect home court and win their two away games against Rutgers and Northwestern.

It’s really important for them to go at least 3-1 during that stretch for Big Ten standings purposes and to secure a decent seed in the NCAA Tournament. IU took the first step toward that goal against Rutgers on Sunday.

The Hoosiers looked impressive in an 84-54 victory over the struggling Scarlet Knights — something that was expected. But still, the Hoosiers righted the ship after a disappointing loss to Purdue during the week.

It always impresses me how, despite being consistently outmanned in the post, IU still manages to outrebound its opponents — or at least be right there ?with them.

A lot of that has to do with the amount of threes the Hoosiers take. Whether they make them or not, IU needs to keep firing threes at ?the rim.

I’ve written it all season, and I know it’s getting old, but this team is much better when they take a lot of 3-point field goal attempts. When they make them, and they do quite often, it’s three points. When they miss them, it’s long rebounds.

That’s the reason IU hits the boards so well for such a small team. Its missed threes turn into long rebounds that can be snatched up by guards, or tipped out to them.

IU shot relatively well on Sunday, but not spectacularly. They finished 10-of-27 for 37 percent from deep. That’s below its season average.

However, the Hoosiers also outrebounded Rutgers 45-32.

Away games have been devastating for IU during the past two seasons. Sunday’s win was just IU’s fifth road victory over the last two seasons. That’s the third fewest number of road wins of all Big Ten teams — Nebraska and Rutgers have just ?three each.

This team has improved so much compared to last season, but the road record is a reminder that there’s still a long way to go. Last year’s team was 2-8 on the road and this team is 3-5. That’s better, but still not where the program needs to be.

Still, this is an important win for IU. I can’t stress that enough. It’s a game that the Hoosiers should by all means win but is still very ?significant.

Defense remains IU’s biggest issue and IU played Rutgers well, but it’s hard to project long-term success based on one game against a bad opponent. The offense, on the other hand, will see success as long as they keep shooting threes.

A 30-point victory at Rutgers is nice, but there won’t be much time to pat each other on the back. Northwestern has played well against IU over the last three years and is playing hot.

But for now, the Rutgers win puts IU on the right track. One down, three to go.

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