Oladipo, Hoosiers spur defensive change after recent struggles

The IU men’s basketball team gave up 82 points at Penn State two weeks ago. The Hoosiers won the game but still had their worst defensive performance of the season.

Sunday afternoon was a different story.

In a turnaround from the first bout, IU (16-4, 4-4) beat the Nittany Lions (10-11, 2-6) 73-54 at Assembly Hall, marking the Hoosiers’ best defensive output in conference play.

“I think to hold the team to the shooting percentage that we did — especially in the second half — says a lot about our guys’ resolve in the defensive end,” IU Coach Tom Crean said.

IU held Penn State to 34 percent (17-of-50) shooting from the field and 24 percent (4-of-17) from 3-pointer range in the game.

The Nittany Lions were limited to 23 percent (5-of-22) shooting in the second half, which was a clip that Crean said stemmed from shutting down Penn State junior guard Tim Frazier.

“The defensive intensity ratcheted up in the second half, especially when it came to how we had to guard Tim Frazier,” Crean said. “I think everyone saw again today how hard a matchup he is and how much he thrives on pressure and playing through that pressure and what he creates.”

IU sophomore guard Victor Oladipo was faced with the task of guarding Frazier, whose 21 points in the first meeting kept his team within striking distance. Frazier again scored 21 points, but shot 25 percent (2-of-8) in the second half.

Oladipo said the defensive performance left him satisfied.

“I think I did a pretty good job of containing him today,” Oladipo said. “He’s a really good player, and he has the ball in his hands a lot. I was up for the challenge.”

IU was able to rattle off a slew of consecutive stops that resulted in Penn State going without a field goal from 17:11 to 9:03 in the second half. IU held the Nittany Lions to 16 points in the paint.

IU freshman forward Cody Zeller, who had four blocks, said the defensive lockdown started with Oladipo.

“Vic did a nice job of keeping them out of the lane,” Zeller said. “We got back to the basics of doing what we were doing when we were winning. I thought it was a pretty good defensive performance. I know they didn’t shoot a very high percentage, so that’s always good to see.”

When Oladipo was out, sophomore forward Will Sheehey was responsible for staying consistent defensively.

“There’ll be times where it’s Victor and Will together,” Crean said. “There’ll be times when it’s those two separate, and today, for the most part, it turned out with those two tag-teaming on a very good player.”

Frazier’s inability to take over coupled with Penn State’s 25 percent (2-of-8) 3-pointer shooting in the second half resulted in IU’s lowest defensive output in a half in Big Ten play.

“I think this was a really good game to show that when we’ve got to bear down and guard and we’ve got to win it on the defense end, we can do it,” Crean said.

IU junior guard Jordan Hulls, who joined the defensive act with three steals, said Oladipo’s defensive intensity sparked the 19-point victory.

“It was great defensive pressure by Victor, and it was a core group of five guys out there playing good defense,” Hulls said. “We just got stops and turned it into offense, which is what we needed.”