The IU men's basketball team will look to match its longest winning streak of the season Saturday afternoon with a home matchup against the University of Louisville Cardinals.
The Hoosiers won consecutive games to open Big Ten Conference play, defeating Northwestern at home and Penn State on the road, ahead of this weekend's nonconference game. A third straight win would match the 3-0 start that IU Coach Archie Miller's team had to the season.
Louisville heads into Saturday afternoon's game having won three straight games itself, including a home upset win against Michigan State.
Before the Cardinals and Hoosiers take to the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall court at 2:30 p.m., Miller, along with senior forward Juwan Morgan and sophomore point guard Al Durham, met with members of the media to discuss this weekend's game, as well as the season so far.
Despite being a sophomore, Al Durham has brought a veteran presence this season.
The Hoosiers have a young team this season, in particular in the backcourt, where players like Durham and freshman guards Romeo Langford and Rob Phinisee are in control of the IU offense. It's been an emphasis for these three players to have mature performances on both ends of the court, and Durham has delivered so far.
"He's been good, working hard on both ends of the floor," Miller said. "He gives us an added weapon, three-point shooter. He's shooting the ball really well. He's an attacking guy off the bounce, can make plays."
Durham has started in seven of his eight game appearances this season, averaging nearly 26 minutes per game and almost 10 points per contest. Of IU players who have attempted more than four three-pointers this season, Durham has been the most successful player on the team when it comes to making shots from distance, as 12 of his 25 three-point attempts have gone in.
"He's a more confident shooter than he was a year ago," Miller said. "I think he feels really good about his confidence level offensively. Scoring the ball on all three levels, he can do that for us."
Defensively, though, Miller said he needs Durham to not get beat and stop reaching in for the ball and committing fouls when there is no need to do so.
But Durham said the confidence he's gained from teammates and coaches, along with the practice repetitions that go with spending another year with the team, have allowed him to play both the point guard and shooting guard positions effectively for the Hoosiers.
"I think this year he's just one of those guys that's been through it," Morgan said. "He's been through the fire. He was with us when we were finally getting it to click, and he was there at the beginning of it when things were going bad. I just think once you go through those things, you should be considered a veteran."
Juwan Morgan has his own process in the post on offense.
So often this season, the Hoosiers have relied on Morgan to carry the team to victories.
Against the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of California at Davis and for all but four minutes against Northwestern, Morgan was healthy, willing and able to lift the Hoosiers out of lethargic performances to ensure wins.
The secret, at least on offense, to Morgan's game comes in the post and the decision-making process he uses once he receives the ball from teammates.
"I would say I kind of go through a list of things as quick as I can," Morgan said.
Morgan said the first thing he does is assess whether he can attack the defenders approaching him, moving to the outside and trying to get a foul call. Next, he said he tries to identify other IU players cutting through the lane, players like Langford, senior guard Zach McRoberts or sophomore forward Justin Smith, to try and pass the ball to them so the Hoosiers get a shot near the basket.
Lastly, Morgan said he looks for IU's perimeter players, like Durham and senior forward Evan Fitzner, who can knock down open shots from distance.
"I look for whoever's man came," Morgan said. "I look for that guy and to be open for the shot."
This simple three-step process has worked wonders so far this season for Morgan and the IU offense. Morgan is second on the IU roster, behind only the primary ball-handler Phinisee, with 21 assists this season.
"With the confidence that all the other players have, they're just knocking down the shots," Morgan said. "They're the ones making me look good, all I'm doing is throwing a simple chest pass."
