Hoosiers keep it close at the line

Champaign, Ill. – His team down by two, only 22 seconds left in the second half, Jeremiah Rivers was on the line.

At the loneliest place in basketball, the junior guard delivered. Rivers tied the game with his clutch shots, but he couldn’t save IU from a teardrop buzzer-beater from Illinois’ Demetri McCamey as IU lost, 72-70.

Sophomore guard Verdell Jones said he had seen Rivers hit last-minute free throws in practice, and he had confidence his teammate would come through on his only two attempts from the line.

“We knew going in he was going to hit those,” Jones said.

Even though Rivers was on the spot in the final second, it was the Hoosiers’ previous free throws that put them in a position to win.

The foul shots helped IU stay in the game while they missed from the field. IU shot 35 percent for the game, while Illinois hit a steady 49 percent, including 55 percent in the second half.

The free throws were another story, as IU shot 19-of-23 from the line.
Although the Hoosiers couldn’t scratch out a win, improving on their free-throw shooting is one positive that came from Saturday’s loss.

Most importantly, the Hoosiers only missed one free throw out of 14 in the second half.

“As long as we have a good free-throw percentage, that’s going to help us win the games,” freshman guard Jordan Hulls said.

The Hoosiers’ 82 percent effort from the free-throw line was a vast improvement from its 65 percent average going in. It was also a better showing than its first game against Illinois, in which the team shot 10-of-18.

No player missed more than two free throws. Freshman forward Bobby Capobianco, who hit a pair Saturday, said the team’s focus on free throws paid off.

“We spent a lot of time working on free throws, and they ended up being clutch for us,” he said.

Both Jones and freshman forward Christian Watford shot poorly everywhere except the charity stripe. Jones, who shot 5-of-20 from the field, hit 10-of-12 free-throws, including all six of his attempts in the second half. Watford was a mere 1-of-10 from the field but 4-of-4 from the line.

“That’s something that we can lean on and know we’re going to need in the future,” he said. “It’s not just a one-game thing. We’re going to need to continue that to be in these types of games.”