It’s basketball’s most unfair equalizer — hitting from 20.75 feet can mask a lot of deficiencies and win games for overmatched teams.
But sometimes, good shooting performances are just a result of strong play — the most visible end product for the hidden workings of an offense. That’s how it worked out for IU in a 90-71 win against ?Minnesota on Sunday night.
On offense, IU (18-8, 8-5) worked its way around Minnesota’s (16-10, 5-8) trap-heavy defense with ball movement. Drives to the rim turned into kick-outs to the perimeter. ?Kick-outs turned into swing passes, which turned into extra passes, which resulted in open shots.
And more often than not, IU hit those shots. The Hoosiers broke a program record for made 3-pointers in a game, shooting 18-of-32 from deep. The previous program record of 17 made 3-pointers was set in 2002 and matched in 2007.
IU Coach Tom Crean attributed the new record to his team’s ball movement.
“The ball just has to move,” Crean said. “A lot of that 3-point shooting, that’s just what we do. It’s not like we have set play-calls for that 3.”
Freshman guard James Blackmon Jr. led the flood of 3-pointers, shooting 6-of-10 from long distance. He finished with 24 points, his highest output since Big Ten play began, to lead all ?scorers.
Fellow freshman guard Robert Johnson shot 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Junior guard Nick Zeisloft and sophomore forward Collin Hartman made two each. Junior guard Yogi Ferrell ?hit one.
Even sophomore forward Troy Williams — not lauded for his jump shot — got in on the 3-point action. He made both of his long-distance attempts to bring his season total to — fittingly enough — three.
“I’m happy to be a part of the record,” Williams said. “But as for the shooting, I’ve just been working hard on it with Coach (Tim) Buckley and all the other coaches. It’s just extra work in ?the gym.”
Williams recovered from what appeared to be a head injury to make the record-breaking 3.
With 4:37 to play in the half, Williams collided with teammate Max Hoetzel and Minnesota forward Elliott Eliason. He fell to the ground and remained there, holding his head.
He walked to the locker room and returned for the second half.
As effective as the Hoosiers’ offense was, it was far from perfect. IU turned the ball over 18 times, its third-highest mark of the season.
“We turned the ball over too much,” Crean said. “We have a lot of things to get better at.”
But it was overshadowed by the 3-pointers.
As Blackmon’s sixth and final 3-pointer — IU’s 17th of the night — rippled the net, somebody behind the IU bench told Crean his team had tied the record. Crean put a hand up and waved him off. From afar, he appeared to say, “Don’t tell me that now.”
For Crean, the record was nice, but he said he was more pleased with his team’s overall performance.
“When it’s on a string like that and the ball’s moving and you’ve got Yogi leading the way, you’re going to get open looks,” Crean said. “Tonight, those looks went down, and we were very fortunate to have those go down. Sometimes they don’t. Tonight they did.”
