Happy Saturday everybody. IU had a rough last day in (The) Paradise (Jam Tournament), as the Hoosiers fell in their final game 60-48 to the Texas A&M Aggies, moving their record to 4-2. A&M was ranked 10th when the Hoosiers played them, though the Aggies lost earlier in the tournament to Wake Forest. Jamie Braun led the way yet again with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. Whitney Thomas and Amber Jackson added 12 and 10, respectively.
Game notes (it seems the same ones keep coming up): 1) Turnovers - IU forced 18, but committed 21, and their turnover-to-assist ratio was 21-9, which is way too high. The Hoosiers need to take better care of the ball as they move into Big Ten play, or they could be in for some very long contests. 2) Shooting and rebounding were also both areas of concern for IU. They shot 35 percent from the game, primarily because of a second-half slump that saw them hit only 28 percent of their shots. They also got outrebounded 41-33, and only made one 3-pointer in nine attempts, good for 11 percent. 3) Coach Jack really only used six players, as freshmen Haylie Linn and Whitney Lindsay only saw a combined four minutes the entire game. 4) Jamie Braun had a solid tournament, averaging 16.7 points per game over the tournament. Couple that with her performance against Ball State, and Braun has averaged 18.5 points per game over her last four games after scoring just 8.5 PPG in the Hoosiers' first two contests.
The Hoosiers will be back in action on Nov. 30 on the Big Ten Network (for those who get it) when they take on Florida State at home in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Check out Monday's IDS for a wrap of the Hoosiers trip to the islands. Until then, stay warm, and enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend. I'm out.
