Indiana Basketball: Hoosiers finally have something to hang hat on; defense

The Indiana basketball program got another signature win over No. 11 Michigan State on Thursday, winning on the defensive end of the floor.

It has been a wild ride throughout Archie Miller’s tenure as the head coach for the Indiana basketball program and one thing fans have always been disappointed by is the lack of identity that his teams have had in Bloomington. Well, if the past few games are any indication, the Hoosiers have found their identity and are relishing in the moment.

Most teams love to be the flashy offensive team that can put up 100 points any given night, or drain three after three, but it is the great teams that can hang their hat on winning on the other end of the floor.

At Dayton, Archie Miller’s success came from the defensive end of the floor, consistently ranking in the top 40 in defensive efficiency – even as high as 15 according to Kenpom in his last season before taking the IU job. Coming from a defensive-minded background, Miller has had an uphill battle taking over after Tom Crean, who consistently had his Indiana teams near the bottom of the top 100 – at worst-ranked 200 in 2015. He stressed it from day one on the job and continued to preach it up until where we are now. It sounded great, but the problem was, it wasn’t showing on the court, until now.

Ranked 31st in defensive efficiency now, Indiana has shown the grit and toughness needed to compete at the top of the Big Ten, and it showed no more than in Thursday night’s victory over No. 11 Michigan State. Holding four of their last five opponents under 65 points, the Hoosiers have also held those opponents to just 41.4 percent from the field, attributing to winning four of their last five games.

Something that has contributed to the defensive pressure is the toughness in the paint, led by Joey Brunk and Trayce Jackson-Davis. With Jackson-Davis’ ability to disrupt shots, averaging 1.9 blocks per game – 8th in the Big Ten – and Brunk’s rebounding and physical play, Indiana’s backline is finally intact. What does that lead to? More ball pressure from the guards due to the fact that they have less pressure to keep their opponent in front of them, with the size and length in the paint. None of that was shown more than the defensive ball pressure from Rob Phinisee against Cassius Winston on Thursday.

"“We’re better right now than we were a week ago, we’re way better than we were two weeks ago,” Miller said during his appearance on his weekly radio show on Monday. “When we started the month out at Maryland, I look back at what we were doing there and where we’re at right now, and we’re a more connected team.  We’re a more familiar team defensively.”"

Since that game at Maryland, Indiana is giving up just .904 points per possession in the past five games, a far cry from the over 1.00 points per possession IU was giving up in the few games prior.

Despite the success on the defensive end of the floor, they are still not where Archie Miller wants them to be.

"“If we’re pretty good now, how good can we get by the end of the week? If we’re a little better by the end of this week, can we, as we get into February, can we start to get to that level of playing great on defense?”"

Indiana gets a chance to have some revenge against Maryland this weekend when the Terrapins visit Assembly Hall. If the defense is anything like it has been since the first matchup, Indiana should be walking away with another ranked win, winning its sixth of the past seven they have faced.