Indiana Basketball: Hoosiers show toughness in win against UConn

The Indiana basketball team was looking to rebound from their first loss of the year on Tuesday. They did just that with a hard-fought win against the UConn Huskies.

Indiana had the opportunity to play in front of a national crowd on Tuesday as they played the second game of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. A game after they saw the number one team in the country go down the Hoosiers took on the UConn Huskies in what was a sideshow to the main attraction.

The way the game started it looked like Indiana was going to show everyone that they were a fraud and they weren’t deserving of their 8-1 record. But instead, the Hoosiers dug deep and made a late first-half run and held off the Huskies in the second half to get the win.

Indiana did it in the most unpredictable way, not one player on the Hoosiers scored in double-figures. Not double-double machine Trayce Jackson-Davis or even Devonte Green.  It was an ugly game, but one the Hoosiers needed after they showed little life against Wisconsin in their Big Ten opener.

It didn’t look like it would happen when the game started. The Hoosiers came out flat and were staring at a ten-point deficit with 5:16 left in the first half. But then the shots started falling for a little bit and the Hoosiers picked up their defense as they finished the half on an 18-3 run to put them ahead 34-29 at the break.

The second half wasn’t much prettier but except for a brief period of time early in the half, the Hoosiers led. Neither team shot the ball very well all night, but Indiana was able to use their old friend the free-throw line to make the difference. The Hoosiers went 13-18 while UConn went just 6-10. The seven-point advantage was enough for Indiana to secure the 57-54 win.

The biggest sequence of the game happened at the 3:29 mark of the second half with Indiana leading 59-57. Josh Carlton was called for a flagrant one foul and Al Durham hit the free throw and then fed Justin Smith on an alley-oop. It turned a two-point game into a five-point game. It gave the Hoosiers some breathing room and while the Huskies did get it to two with 14 seconds left they could get no closer and Indiana came away with the ugly win.

Not every question was answered in the game for the Hoosiers because they still need to beat the really good teams of the Big Ten, but for one night they showed they are tough enough to grind out a win. When the shots weren’t falling the Hoosiers were able to lean on their defense and get a big win away from Assembly Hall.

Indiana now turns its focus to Nebraska. The Hoosiers host the struggling Cornhuskers in a game they must win. Nebraska is not very good right now and Indiana can’t afford to get behind any more in the standings.

If the Hoosiers play with the toughness they showed Tuesday night it shouldn’t be a problem.