There were stretches on Thursday night where IU’s shooting went cold. Shots weren’t dropping.
But IU didn’t stray away from them. This is a team designed to play with four guards. It’s built around hitting jump shots, whether that ultimately proves good or bad.
When IU needed shots to fall the most, the Hoosiers started taking 3-pointers.
And they hit them consistently.
IU made five of its final 10 3-point attempts en route to upsetting No. 22 SMU 74-68.
“This win was very good for us, short-term and long-term, and now we want to build on it,” IU Coach Tom Crean said.
It started ever-so-harmlessly with a made jump shot by freshman Robert Johnson midway through the second half to tie it at 50-50 with 9:35 left.
Soon after came a drawn charge by junior forward Hanner Mosquera-Perea. Then a 3-pointer from junior guard Collin Hartman and yet another from junior Nick Zeisloft to put IU (3-0) up 60-52 against SMU with 6:39 left.
The Mustangs (1-2) responded by going to the post where they were dominant, both limiting Mosquera-Perea to just three points and zero rebounds and scoring 42 points in the paint.
But it was Mosquera-Perea’s charge that Crean and teammates were talking about afterward as being a momentum changer.
As junior guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell pointed out, it was nearly a dunk for SMU but was called the other way, electrifying the Assembly Hall crowd.
“Man, that was a big play,” Ferrell said. “That could’ve been on SportsCenter, too. They called it a block.”
The Mustangs outrebounded the Hoosiers 40-27 and shot 20.7 percent better from the field.
Ultimately, IU’s hot streak and ability to create 19 turnovers proved to be too much, even after IU came out of the gate slow and trailing by 12 points early in the game.
“The great thing about our team is we have such great shooters. When it wasn’t falling for us, none of our heads went down,” Ferrell said. “We know we can make shots.”
Freshman guard James Blackmon Jr. finished with 26 points and seven rebounds off 5-for-10 shooting from beyond the arc to lead IU.
He hit 3 of 3 free throws late in the game after being fouled on a 3-point attempt to double IU’s lead from three to six points with 2:33 remaining. Blackmon was 7 of 7 from the line.
From there, all IU had to do was hold on.
“I really just focused and wanted to win the game,” Blackmon said.
Crean rattled off a laundry list of things IU needed to do to get the win, including score at least 70 points and hold onto the ball.
What he said changed the game was a stretch when IU was down four, and it made seven defensive stops in eight SMU offensive trips midway through the second half as IU’s shots began falling on the other end.
Sophomores Stanford Robinson and Troy Williams combined to play 32 minutes in their first games coming off of suspensions. Freshman Emmitt Holt was available but didn’t play.
Crean credited Robinson with changing the dynamic by attacking the paint in the first half when IU’s offense was struggling.
“Momentum is always up for grabs in the game,” Crean said. “It can come a lot of different ways. Who has momentum the longest or last usually wins a close game.”
Thursday, Crean’s Hoosiers had the momentum last.
And they pulled off the upset.
