From the opening tip, IU wasn’t ready to play. In fact, sophomore forward Trayce Jackson-Davis wasn’t even ready for the tipoff and was caught off guard as the referee tossed the ball into the air, barely leaving the ground before junior forward Myles Johnson tipped the ball back to Rutgers.
Three days after IU men’s basketball upset No. 4 Iowa — the biggest win in head coach Archie Miller’s four-year tenure in Bloomington — IU fell flat on its face in a 74-70 defeat to Rutgers.
The Hoosiers’ performance Sunday afternoon was the ultimate letdown following a dominant second half against the Hawkeyes, shutting down the country’s most efficient offense. Heading into the game, there was genuine excitement surrounding IU and the newly realized potential for the program, but as soon as the opening whistle rang through Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall that excitement vanished.
Rutgers entered the game shooting 46% from the field, but had no problem getting to the basket with ease and knocking down open shots while converting on 51% of its shot attempts.
“Every single game in this league requires you to play hard, tough and smart, but you have to play well too,” Miller said. “Rutgers did a really good job today with dribble penetration and we had a hard time off the bounce, in particular on the perimeter.”
After holding Iowa’s senior Jordan Bohannon scoreless and junior Joe Wieskamp to 1 point in the second half Thursday night, IU had no answer for Rutgers’ guards.
Following the Iowa game, Miller praised his guards’ defensive play and said junior guard Rob Phinisee played his best defensive game while at IU. But against the Scarlet Knights, none of the Hoosiers’ guards could stay in front of their assignments, allowing Rutgers to shoot 61.2% on 2-point shot attempts.
Sophomore guard Armaan Franklin said coming into the game the team knew Rutgers was a driving team, but they just did a great job getting into the paint and IU needed to just have better on-ball defense.
Throughout the season Miller has emphasized the idea that IU’s commitment to defense will feed its offense easy buckets. Against Rutgers, the defensive deficiencies led to one of IU’s worst offensive performances of the season.
IU was never able to find a rhythm on offense, falling into a series of ebbs and flows as the teams traded scoring runs throughout the game.
After committing just three turnovers in the first half, IU struggled with ball security in the second, committing nine turnovers leading to 14 points. In the opening three minutes of the second half, IU committed four turnovers, sparking a 7-0 Rutgers run.
But even when the Hoosiers weren’t turning the ball over, nothing was easy for them on offense.
While IU made 10 3-pointers, its interior offense left much to be desired. The Hoosiers only made 14 2-point shot attempts, shooting just 35% as Rutgers’ size and speed bothered IU’s forwards all game as they repeatedly rushed their shots near the basket.
The Scarlet Knights were able to shut down Jackson-Davis, limiting the Preseason All-American to 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting, and IU’s role players couldn’t pick up enough slack to overcome the star’s down game.
“I don’t think (Jackson-Davis) did a good job being physical around the basket,” Miller said. “Trayce didn’t have his best offensive performance just in and around the rim and our guards didn’t finish.”
IU will have nine days off before getting a chance to prove that its win over Iowa wasn’t just a fluke after Michigan shut down all athletic activities following a COVID-19 outbreak involving a new strain of the virus.
“It’s just one of 20 (games),” Miller said. “Just like I told them after the Iowa game, everyone is going to talk about how great it is, but the bottom line is Rutgers is just as good and the next one is going to be just as good and they all count the same.”
