IU men’s basketball started Monday night’s matchup against Delaware State the polar opposite as they did in the Butler loss.
After not hitting an outside shot in the first half against the Bulldogs, the Hoosiers sunk eight 3-pointers against the Hornets in the first 20 minutes of play and were comfortably up 24 at the break.
Four Hoosiers paced the way with double figures on the night and as the margin on the scoreboard started to grow, the Hoosiers got better all around. In the end, IU cruised to a 103-56 victory over Delaware State, extending its home win streak to 25 games.
“I love the way our team got off to a really good start with the offense, 32 points in the first 10 minutes was huge,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “I love the fact that we got better as the game went on, I think the last 26 minutes of the game they shot 11 percent from three and 27 percent from the field. Those are all positive things because we wanted to focus on us tonight.”
Sophomore forward OG Anunoby came off the bench in his second game back from an ankle injury and didn’t miss a shot inside the arc. The Jefferson City, Missouri, native led the way with 19 points, nine-for-11 from the field, nine rebounds, a career-high four blocks, two assists and two steals. The Hornets struggled to get the ball past Anunoby’s 7-foot-6 wingspan all night.
Anunoby’s supporting cast wasn’t bad Monday night either. Junior guard James Blackmon Jr. racked up 18 points on four-of-seven from three while fellow junior guard Robert Johnson had 16 points and sophomore forward Thomas Bryant finished with 14.
Crean was disappointed with his team's overall defensive performance last game, but the Hoosiers came out pressuring the perimeter from the start, and their coach was very pleased with Monday’s game after a crisp practice Sunday.
“Our big thing tonight was let’s not let the offense dictate how we’re guarding,” Crean said. “We were active and we knew we had to challenge shots a lot better. It was very clear in the film from the other day that, that was the number one weakness in the game and they showed real good resiliency and maturity to respond in the short window that we had.”
Johnson said the team’s communication on defense was much better Monday than it was against Butler and he felt as if they were more connected on the floor. When the Hoosiers made mistakes on defense, they didn’t let it pile up and affect their play.
Defense turned into offense for the Hoosiers as they capitalized on 12 Hornet turnovers and turning those into 19 points on the other end. While the turnovers were down, rebounding continues to be the strong suit for IU on both ends of the floor as they brought down just 13 offensive boards but scored 27 points in the second-chance effort.
Another Achilles' heel for IU in addition to the defensive struggles all season has been turnovers. The Hoosiers committed a season-low 11 turnovers against the Hornets, and Crean said the quick ball movement was the key to their success. This is only the second time all year that the Hoosiers have won the turnover margin, with the first coming on Dec. 10 against Houston Baptist.
IU finished 31-for-37 from inside the arc with more than 100 points for the fourth time this season. Looking ahead for the Hoosiers, they play their final nonconference home game Thursday against Austin Peay before getting into Big Ten play against Nebraska next week.
The scoring is there for IU every night, but the biggest thing Johnson said he took away from Monday night’s game was winning the turnover margin and playing sound basketball up and down the court.
“As the season goes along and we get into Big Ten play, that’s going to be something that’s very detrimental to our team,” Johnson said. “If we turn the ball over and let guys get out in transition, it makes it hard. As the season goes along and we can build that turnover margin, it will be good.”
