Indiana Snuck by Minnesota 74-68 in a Frustrating Win

This game was close, but it shouldn’t have been. Consequently, now I’m mad on the internet.

Indiana (18-4, 8-1) snuck by Minnesota (6-16, 0-10) 74-68 in a game that shouldn’t be talked about ever again.

Indiana uncharacteristically started slow at Assembly Hall, giving up a 7-0 run to open the game. From there Indiana began to make some strategic adjustments and figure out how to properly defend Minnesota, leading to a 39-27 lead at halftime.

More from Hoosier State of Mind

Indiana is one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country, and everyone knows that, but today the entire team seemed to be remarkably off. I stress “remarkably”, because this team wasn’t just missing threes, they couldn’t even hit the side of Wells Library from five feet away. They finished the game 2 of 18 from behind the arc, and I’m genuinely ok with that. Every team is going to have bad shooting nights, but it’s about how you adjust to them.

Robert Johnson was one for six from the field with three points, Nick Zeisloft was zero for four from the field with two points, and even the legend that is Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell was two for nine from the field with 13 points.

I’m ok with all of that. Oddly, I was actually somewhat excited by it. If you’re going to have a bad shooting night, let it be against a team as bad as Minnesota. This provided Tom Crean with the interesting opportunity to adjust, and figure out what Indiana can do without their best shooting.

And you know what?

Jan 30, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Indiana Hoosiers center Thomas Bryant (31) slam dunks the ball in the first half of the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /

THIS THOMAS BRYANT KID AIN’T HALF BAD.

With the shooting not there at all in the first half, Indiana began doing everything they could to feed Thomas Bryant the ball down low in the post. As Thomas Bryant got going, so did this Indiana Basketball team. Indiana was down 15-14 with 10 minutes left in the first half until Thomas Bryant did what no even knew he could, and took one all the way coast-to-coast for a massive layup that then propelled this team. After the play, an oddly composed Bryant actually motioned to the bench to “calm down.” Yes, Thomas Bryant is now telling other people to calm down.

From there IU just kept feeding him the ball, moved to a 2-3 zone to cut down on Minnesota’s ability to drive, and ran away at the end of the half to lead 39-27.

Now, here’s where I get mad.

IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT!

Dear Tom Crean,

Please stop abandoning what works.

Sincerely,

Concerned Fan

In the first half:

-Minnesota seemed to have just as much trouble shooting as Indiana, so Tom Crean moved to a 2-3 zone

-Thomas Bryant and OG Anunoby became the focal points of the offense as the shooting stroke was nonexistent

In the second half:

-Indiana went back to a man-to-man defense

-Stopped feeding Thomas Bryant the ball

-Allowed all hell to break loose

When Thomas Bryant is hot, he needs the ball on every possession. Simple as that.

Thomas Bryant finished the day with a career high 23 points, eight rebounds, and an overall efficiency rating of 28. The next closest was O.G Anunoby with an efficiency rating of 12.

With all of that said, there is no justified reason why Thomas Bryant didn’t have over 30 points.

Nobody on Minnesota could guard him, even on the double team. Bryant was a monster, but IU’s choice to stray away from him allowed Minnesota to force bad shots, get on the transition, and come back in this game.

Indiana’s second half defense was a joke

Minnesota also shot 2 for 18 from the three point line in today’s matchup. Obviously, that would totally warrant a man-to-man defense that gave up 13 second half layups!

The transition defense was atrocious as no one seemed to get back and IU’s guards surprisingly were abysmal on that side of the ball.

Minnesota guards Nate Mason and Kevin Dorsey both had 21 points each and no one seemed to want to do anything about it until Minnesota took the lead 67-66 with 3:54 left in the game.

From that 3:54 mark, Indiana finally resorted back to what was working in the first half, but it’s frustrating that it took that long to figure out. Thomas Bryant got the ball more, they went back to a 2-3 zone, and finished the game on an 8-1 run.

Let’s not do this again.

Sidenote:

Nick Zeisloft’s ineffectiveness has started to become harmful. Four more missed threes today and some poor transitions were created as a result. He has to figure things out soon.

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