Don’t let that final score fool you. This one was tight for 35 minutes. For the second straight game IU got a scare from a team that could have severely damaged its resume in March, and once again, it took a late IU burst to put UC Davis away.
The Hoosiers move to 5-1 on the season and will face a major test on the road next Tuesday night at Duke. Just in time for next week’s big contest, IU appears to be rounding into shape. Al Durham, De’Ron Davis and Romeo Langford all returned from injuries tonight, and Zach McRoberts and Devonte Green both participated in warmups and appear ready to return very soon.
Below we look at the three keys of the game along with the final box score and specialty stats. Look for the Report Card tomorrow morning.
THREE KEYS TO THE GAME
1. UC Davis had more energy at the start. By just about any measure, UC Davis was the aggressor early in this game. At halftime UC Davis had more rebounds and had forced more turnovers. All of the hustle stats favored the Aggies, and IU was poor at defending straight line drives to the basket. Archie Miller called it the team’s poorest defensive effort of the season thus far, and it nearly cost them.
2. Morgan takes over again. For the second game in a row, Juwan Morgan took over. Archie Miller called them “two senior games.” Morgan set a career high with five three-pointers, and was three points shy of his career points mark with 31. This was the Juwan Morgan that took over games last year. Combined with a strong finish from Romeo Langford, this is the lethal combination that had Hoosier fans energized going into the season.
3. A big second half run seals it. IU was down 54-48 with 8:27 remaining in the game, and it legitimately looked like an upset was brewing. From there the Hoosiers went on a 28-3 run to close it out. Archie Miller credited the run to better on the ball defense to shut down driving lanes, and some key three pointers by several different players.
Also see: Post game interviews with the players and Archie Miller
FINAL BOX SCORE AND SPECIALTY STATS
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