IU Coach Tom Crean often praises his team for making in-game adjustments.
They got away from doing that in a loss to Michigan State on Sunday. But it became the difference in an 80-64 win over Nebraska four days later.
“Collectively, we had a better mindset coming out this game,” sophomore guard Rob Johnson said. “And when they made a little run, we came together and made sure we got a stop right there.”
Crean said those adjustments actually started with Johnson, who suggested they begin switching everything on defense.
“I think we had six straight possessions where they didn’t score in that,” Crean said. “That was absolutely paramount to the game.”
IU didn’t win with its typical formula. Senior guard Yogi Ferrell scored just 11 points.
Freshman forward Juwan Morgan, who earned bigger minutes than he has all season, finished with a career-high 12 points.
After leading 7-5 at the start of the game, the Hoosiers trailed for the majority of the first half.
This didn’t change until senior guard Nick Zeisloft tied it with his second 3-pointer of the game.
Then, Ferrell knocked down a pair of free throws at the 2:25 mark, which were also his first points of the game.
Junior forward Troy Williams helped carry some of the scoring weight in the first half with nine points.
He bounced back from a game in which he had zero points and two turnovers in 20 minutes.
On Wednesday night, Williams led the Hoosiers with 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
Morgan also gave IU some good minutes late in the second half.
He got the ball down low on consecutive possessions and willed himself to the foul line both times.
He was just what the Hoosiers needed after freshman center Thomas Bryant, who scored just four points, left the game with two fouls on a controversial over-the-back call.
Morgan finished with 12 points, including 5-of-6 from the line, and added five rebounds.
He gave credit to his teammates for finding him both from the perimeter and on drives to the basket.
He said he likes to watch film with Ferrell because it helps him see the court from a guard’s perspective.
“It was just my teammates setting me up and putting me in the position to get easy baskets,” Morgan said. “When they’re in that attacking mindset, everyone’s focusing on them, and it’s easy to just get behind somebody and run to the open spot.”
Crean compared Morgan and fellow freshman forward OG Anunoby to a younger Ferrell.
He said the two freshmen forwards can guard almost anybody that they face.
“Those two have that — they’re quick, they’re athletic, they’re long,” Crean said. “That versatility that they have defensively is huge.”
IU ended the first half on a 17-4 run and went to the locker room with a 41-34 lead.
That run became 26-6. Then 30-6.
Williams scored six of the Hoosiers’ first nine points to open the second half.
They then pulled away, leading by as many as 20 points toward the end of the game.
After Penn State upset No. 4 Iowa last night, IU now moves back into a tie with the Hawkeyes atop the Big Ten standings.
When asked about being in first, Johnson wasn’t yet aware of what the Nebraska win meant.
“Well, that’s a good thing,” he said, letting himself smile.
Then he reiterated the same strategy they’ve played with all season.
“We just try to take it one game at a time, one play at a time,” he said, “and let the results come as they may.”
