With less than six minutes remaining in the first half, freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis already had 13 points.
Junior center Joey Brunk saw him posting up on the smaller defender in University of Arkansas guard Jimmy Whitt Jr. Once Jackson-Davis caught the ball, he didn’t need to dribble.
He swung the ball below his waist and jumped straight up toward the basket. Jackson-Davis slammed it over Whitt Jr. He was only 6-foot-3-inches, and Jackson-Davis converted most of the opportunities he was given during those chances with Whitt Jr. defending him. Arkansas had four guards in its starting lineup, giving Jackson-Davis had a clear advantage around the basket.
Each time Jackson-Davis would grab an offensive rebound or score over Arkansas, some players would throw their hands in disbelief of what he was doing. It was the type of plays Jackson-Davis abused Arkansas with in the first 20 minutes.
That’s until IU couldn't find Jackson-Davis in the second half. The Hoosiers didn't feed him and most of the other IU big men in the paint.
It resulted in a blown 11-point second half lead for IU and a 71-64 loss to Arkansas in the final nonconference game of the season Sunday night.
“Tough night for us, just a tough feeling,” IU head coach Archie Miller said. “Didn't feel like we played really well there for a stretch. It was disappointing for our team to finish the nonconference that way.”
After 22 points in the paint in the first half, IU only had 12 in the second. Arkansas made up for its lack of height with a zone defense that swarmed Jackson-Davis anytime he tried to post up. The Razorbacks put their lone starting forward on him instead of a guard because of Jackson-Davis’ ability around the basket.
Over the final nine minutes of the game, Jackson-Davis had zero field goal attempts. IU wasn’t finding him in the post and was trying to match the 3-point shooting of Arkansas.
“I think we turned the ball over at key points, and I think they just made more shots than we did,” senior guard Devonte Green said.
Arkansas attempted 31 3-pointers while two players had 26 shots themselves. When IU couldn’t widen the lead, Arkansas continued to hit shots. Due to the sheer amount of 3-pointers attempted by Arkansas, the crowd would hold its breath each time one was in the air.
Green tried to help IU maintain the lead with multiple 3-point attempts of his own, but he only went 4-12 on such shots. With junior guard Al Durham out of the game due to a flagrant-2 call on a thrown elbow, there was no one able to match the timely shots Arkansas was hitting.
As the clock ticked, Arkansas continued to hit shots and IU continued to miss shots. Arkansas went on a 19-3 run over the last 7:49, and IU only made one of its last 11 field goal attempts.
In the prior game against the University of Notre Dame, IU saw a 17-point second-half lead vanish and still won the game. But this time IU couldn’t pull off the victory.
As the amount of touches for Jackson-Davis in the paint dwindled, so did the lead and the game for IU.
“It was a winnable game,” Miller said. “We just didn't do enough.”
