The change wasn’t a result of anything IU Coach Tom Crean or his staff said. It was a player decision, sophomore forward Troy Williams explained, to put ?defense first.
The defense, which ranked dead last in the Big Ten in points allowed by more than three points per game, had been prodded and questioned all season heading into the Big Ten Tournament.
The Hoosiers didn’t like that.
Because when a team’s defense is questioned, freshman guard Robert Johnson said, it’s a direct question of players’ toughness.
“Defense is just another sign of showing how tough you are,” Johnson said. “When somebody says you’re not good defensively, they’re basically saying you’re not tough enough.”
The Hoosiers wouldn’t allow their toughness to be questioned in a 71-56 win against Northwestern in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday.
The defense, which had hindered IU all season, laid the foundation for the win.
IU’s 56 points allowed was the second-fewest against a conference opponent this season. The only team to score fewer points against the Hoosiers was last-place Rutgers.
“We’ve had a few lapses and we know we’re better than that,” sophomore forward Collin Hartman said. “We got our edge back in the last few days of practice defensively. We dug in and got stops. That made the difference. Now we’ve got to keep doing it.”
IU kept Northwestern to 33.3 percent shooting from the field in the first half to take a 36-22 lead into ?halftime.
Hartman credited IU’s early defensive success for rejuvenating an offense that had been struggling in recent games. His explanation for how the defense helped the offense was nearly a complete contrast of how it had hurt the Hoosiers down the closing stretch of the season.
Being able to force bad shots turns into long rebounds. Long rebounds turn into fast break scores and uncontested shots.
“Easy looks,” freshman guard James Blackmon Jr. said. He finished with a game-high 25 points.
Freshman forward Max Hoetzel said the defensive effort was “completely different” from how IU played against the Wildcats in a loss just 15 days earlier.
Northwestern’s Alex Olah, who had 17 points in the first game, had just 12 off 3-for-10 shooting. The Hoosiers constantly hounded the 7-footer, regularly double-teaming up and forcing him away from the basket.
Northwestern’s Tre Demps, who had 23 points in that game, had just four. IU’s perimeter players made an emphasis on not allowing Demps to even catch the ball.
He had five shot attempts, two of which he air balled.
“It was just all on us to get out there and get stops,” junior guard Yogi Ferrell said. “We felt like we had the mental will to go out there and get stops and play for one another, and everything else falls into place.”
The emphasis on defense worked Thursday. Now the challenge is doing it again.
IU will play Maryland at 6:30 p.m. today in the Big Ten Tournament’s third round. The Hoosiers gave up an average of 69 points per game to the Terrapins in two regular-season matchups that the teams split.
“We’ve just gotta bring it,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to keep it rolling and come out with that same intensity we did today. It all starts on the defense. When we’re playing good there, we’re tough ?to beat.”
