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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

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Blackmon leads IU to 87-79 win over UNCG

James Blackmon, Jr., can shoot the basketball. That much was known.

As a recruit, he was lauded as the country’s top shooter. Then the freshman guard made 18 3-pointers in his first five career games, second among all Big Ten players.

It was obvious Blackmon could score from outside – the uncertainty was whether he could impact a basketball game in other ways.

He did his part to answer that question Friday night when the shots stopped falling. He shot just 2-of-7 from deep but maintained his presence in the game.

The 6-foot-4 guard led IU with nine rebounds, also tallying two steals and an assist. He made seven of his 10 shots from inside the arc and connected on four of five free throws.

Blackmon finished with a team-high 24 points, but he said scoring isn’t his primary focus. The Hoosiers’ leading scorer has concentrated his efforts on the other end of the floor.

“My mindset is really defense-first right now,” he said. “The offense just takes care of itself.”

IU Coach Tom Crean has repeatedly stressed the importance of guard rebounding, especially for a team that often plays four-guard lineups.

“Defensive rebounding, guard rebounding is huge,” Crean said. “Rebounding in general.”

Blackmon has been sufficient on the glass, pulling in over five rebounds a game this season. His nine rebounds Friday night were a career high, and tied for the second most by any IU player this season.

As a recruit, Blackmon’s primary criticism was his ability to defend at the collegiate level. Much of that was attributed to a lack of elite athleticism.

“James is just an average basketball athlete,” Blackmon’s ESPN.com scouting report reads. “He also needs to improve defensively, he’s not bad, but there is definite room for improvement.”

Blackmon himself agreed that he has work to do on the defensive end. He said staying alert and active while defending can improve not only his individual defense, but IU’s as a whole.

“I feel like if I bring the intensity defensively, my teammates will see that and will start doing it as well,” he said.

Blackmon will always be a scorer. It’s what made him a top recruit, what made him an automatic starter at IU and what could propel him to the NBA. Despite his offensive talents, he said he will continue to focus on the rest of his game, especially his defensive deficiencies.

“Just following the scouting report that our coaches give us,” he said. “They always show us what guys do and their tendencies. Just paying more attention to that, getting in the film room to see what we did wrong.”

He deflected some of the credit to a team effort.

“The upperclassmen have been helping me as well to stay into it, and I’ve gotten so much better at it.”

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