IU men’s basketball was stunned as it watched a 15-point first half lead vanish within eight minutes on Wednesday night, leading to a 74-63 loss to Rutgers. Head coach Archie Miller called the team “fractured” after the game, saying they didn’t know how to compete once they got into trouble.
Looking back on the game, sophomore guard Trayce Jackson-Davis was at a loss for words Friday while trying to explain what happened.
“We don’t have any answer honestly,” Jackson-Davis said after a short pause. “Just know that it won’t happen again.”
Related: [IU men’s basketball’s loss to Rutgers threatens its NCAA Tournament hopes]
The Karl Malone Award finalist — given to the top power forward in the country — said the best way to move past the disappointment from IU’s last two games is to continue having great practices in preparation for its next game.
That next game comes against one of the hottest teams in the country, No. 3 Michigan.
The Wolverines come to Bloomington on a six-game win streak and have suffered only one loss this season at the hands of Minnesota over a month ago. Michigan has four wins over the AP Top 25, including most recently a 79-57 rout of No. 9 Iowa on Thursday and a 92-87 win over No. 4 Ohio State on Feb. 21.
Almost no team has found any success against the Wolverines this season on either side of the ball as they rank inside the top 10 in both adjusted-offense and adjusted-defense, according to KenPom.
Michigan’s defense ranks fourth in the country, holding its opponents to just 38.4% shooting, while also forcing 10.2 turnovers per game — the eighth-most in Division I men’s basketball. On offense, the Wolverines have made 50% of their shots this season and are shooting just shy of 40% from 3-point range as well.
While the Wolverines are led by three outstanding players — freshman forward Hunter Dickinson, senior guard Isaiah Livers and sophomore guard Franz Wagner — they have six players averaging more than 8 points per game.
Dickinson appears to be the runaway Big Ten Freshman of the Year candidate, averaging 14.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. The freshman phenom has been nearly unstoppable, being held under 10 points only three times all season, and ranks third in the Big Ten shooting 62.6% from the field.
“Our guards got to be physical and be able to get over [their screens],” Jackson-Davis said. “Hunter gets a lot of his points coming down on wraparound passes when their guards are getting downhill off-screen. So taking away their screens are going to be one of the biggest keys in the game tomorrow.”
Saturday’s game marks one of the Hoosiers’ last opportunities to boost their NCAA Tournament resume and will also be the final chance for senior guard Al Durham to play in Assembly Hall.
Durham is the lone senior on the team who has seen consistent playing time this season and needs just 6 more points to become the 53rd player in IU men’s basketball history to score 1,000 points in his career.
“Al really brings out hard work and dedication every day. He’s a real leader on our team,” Jackson-Davis said. “He's going to be missed throughout Hoosier nation. He put his blood, sweat and tears into the program that didn't always result in wins, but just know that he always worked as hard as he could for every game, and now he's reaping the benefits.”
