Indiana basketball got a much-needed resume-building win against Minnesota Wednesday night. The Hoosiers have just one more regular-season game before postseason play begins.
Indiana basketball struggled to get out to much of a lead for most of the game but were able to do enough to get a critical home win against Minnesota, 72-67.
The Hoosiers actually went into the half down two and seemed to be getting outworked on both ends of the court for the last five minutes of the half after being up double-digits early on. For every run Indiana went on, the Gophers seemed to answer with a big-time three-pointer or run of their own.
It was an especially frustrating game for the majority of the full forty minutes considering Indiana held the edge in just about every statistical category outside of three-point shooting, which continues to plague the Hoosiers game in and game out.
Indiana struggled mightily to contain Big Ten player of the Year candidate Daniel Oturu, as the big man went off for 24 points and 16 rebounds.
Fortunately, the Hoosiers were able to get explosive games out of the frontcourt duo of Joey Brunk and Trayce-Jackson Davis which ended up providing the spark Indiana needed to pull away.
Joey Brunk, who has struggled of late (six points in the last four games combined), had one of his best games in conference play. The junior big man tallied 12 points and eight boards. His running mate Trayce Jackson-Davis had another stellar game against the Gophers, pouring in 18 points and nine rebounds.
All five Hoosier starters got into double figures as Indiana managed to put together one of their most impressive all-around team performances offensively.
The Hoosiers (19-11) take on Wisconsin (19-10) at home to finish out Big Ten play before the conference tournament next week.
Currently, a 10-seed in most projections, the Indiana basketball program could use a win or two to help secure their spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Archie Miller’s tenure, but the Hoosiers should feel comfortable as of now.