Late in the second half, sophomore forward Trayce Jackson-Davis gave a slight nod to freshman guard Khristian Lander before breaking to the rim. Lander lobbed the inbounds pass from the baseline as Jackson-Davis leaped above the unaware Cardinal defenders before throwing down the one-handed alley-oop.
As IU’s bench jumped to its feet in celebration, Jackson-Davis smiled and pointed a “thank you” to the young guard while backpedaling on defense.
“Today I felt like that was really the first game I had fun,” Jackson-Davis said. “I got to play with joy, and energy and passion. It was good, and to see the ball just go in was really good for me as well.”
Coming off a disappointing game against the University of Texas on Tuesday, Jackson-Davis responded with a career night in the team’s 79-63 win over Stanford University in the final game of the Maui Invitational.
After the Hoosiers’ loss to the Longhorns the day before, IU head coach Archie Miller said Jackson-Davis didn’t have the same “pop” on offense that they’ve been accustomed to seeing. He said he believed Jackson-Davis was allowing missed shots to disrupt his play by lingering in his mind and that it was affecting his confidence and aggressive playstyle.
“When he doesn’t have his best game, I hold him to a point letting him know that we need you and that you got to bring it tomorrow,” junior forward Race Thompson said. “You don’t even got to say it, you just look at him and he knows.”
On the final day of the tournament, Jackson-Davis returned to his dominant self.
He said he knew his teammates and coaches were looking to him to be “the guy” for IU and that he needed to start playing at the star-level which has become expected of him.
The pre-season Third Team All-American carried the Hoosiers’ offense scoring a career-high 31 points, grabbing six rebounds and making 11 of his 14 free throw attempts. Jackson-Davis either scored or assisted on nearly half of IU’s made shots in the game.
“Trayce needed to be lit up and get going,” Miller said. “We’re not going to be where we need to be unless he plays at an extremely high level and he answered the bell today.”
The Hoosiers made a point to feed Jackson-Davis in the paint early and often in the game, and he repaid their faith with bucket after bucket, scoring 10 of the team’s first 16 points. With each time the 6-foot, 9-inch forward saw the ball go through the basket, the confidence and grace returned to his game.
When Stanford started double-teaming Jackson-Davis each time he touched the ball below the free throw line, he consistently was able to receive the pass, and with a quick spin beat the oncoming defender to the weak-side for an easy layup.
Even when Jackson-Davis missed a shot — which wasn’t often, making 10 of 16 shots from the field — he was determined to get the ball back and finish the play.
With just more than 16 minutes remaining in the game, Jackson-Davis missed a hook shot off the front of the rim that ricocheted right back into his hands for the putback back layup. As soon as he released the follow-up shot, he knew it wasn’t going in as he tipped the miss up to himself and heaved it towards the basket while being pulled to the ground by a Stanford defender.
After one high bounce off the back iron, the ball innocently dropped through the net. Just another highlight to cap-off Jackson-Davis’ afternoon.
“It doesn’t come as any surprise when I see him doing this,” junior forward Race Thompson said. “I guard him every day, so when he goes off like this, I know what he’s capable of.”
