OMAHA, Neb. — IU knew Fred VanVleet was coming. The Hoosiers just couldn’t do much about it.
The Wichita State guard matched a career-high with 27 points in his team’s 81-76 win in the NCAA Tournament’s second round.
He did most of his damage off the pick-and-roll, where he exploited the Hoosiers’ mistakes in coverage to create opportunities for both himself and teammates.
By the time the Hoosier guards had figured out how to defend him, it was too late.
“The pick-and-roll coverages, sometimes, we failed to do it,” sophomore guard Stanford Robinson said. “When we failed to do it, he got some confidence. We just helped him basically when we were failing in our coverages, and I think that’s what got him going.”
VanVleet scored 19 points in the first half to keep his Shockers team within striking distance while some of his teammates were struggling.
Adjustments in the second half — among them, moving freshman guard Robert Johnson to be his primary defender — helped limit VanVleet to just eight second-half points.
But by then, fellow guard Ron Baker and forward Darius Carter were starting to heat up.
“He’s really tough, he’s tough to guard,” Johnson said of VanVleet. “He’s quick and really crafty. On a couple of our coverages on the pick-and-roll, we didn’t execute it properly, and they always took advantage of it.”
Sophomore forward Collin Hartman said what made VanVleet even more effective was his ability to get IU into foul trouble.
IU was called for 26 personal fouls on the day. IU’s three forwards who spent time playing center — Hartman, junior Hanner Mosquera-Perea and freshman Emmitt Holt — combined for 10 fouls.
Fellow forward Troy Williams also had three of his own.
Hartman credited VanVleet, who was 9-of-10 from the free throw line, for getting the Hoosier big men in trouble.
His penetration off the screen forced them into fouling. As the fouls piled up, the big guys in the paint were forced to be less active in blocking and altering shots.
“It was pretty hard for us because I knew how we were supposed to play,” Holt said. “When you get into foul trouble like that, it makes the situation harder for us.”
It was the big men’s hesitation that allowed VanVleet to get to the rim.
He didn’t bother to shoot from beyond the arc — where he only had two shot attempts — because he didn’t need to.
“I just wanted to be aggressive, honestly,” VanVleet said. “I found opportunities in ball screens with the bigger guys. I could use my quickness against them.”
Guarding VanVleet became a double-edged sword of sorts. Defend him and risk getting fouled, or pick up fouls and be forced to slack off.
Either way, VanVleet had his way all day.
And he cost IU a chance at Kansas in the Round of 32.
“It was crystal clear what they wanted to do,” Johnson said. “Everything they did matched the gameplan ... We just couldn’t stop him.”
