IU basketball: Indiana 81 Merrimack 49 — Three keys | Highlights

Indiana defeated Merrimack by a final score of 81-49 on Sunday afternoon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind.

The Hoosiers led 36-30 at halftime and were led by Trayce Jackson-Davis with 16 points. Race Thompson added 14 and Jordan Geronimo had 13 and team high 13 rebounds.

IU (8-2, 1-1) will return to action on Saturday when they face Notre Dame at The Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis.

THREE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. Domination on the glass / in the paint. Indiana had absurd margins in rebounding, 54-16, and points in the paint, 34-8 against the undersized Warriors. Merrimack played a zone defense, which added to their rebounding challenges. IU actually had more offensive rebounds (18) than Merrimack had total rebounds. Rotation regular forwards Miller Kopp, Race Thompson, Jordan Geronimo, Michael Durr and Trayce Jackson-Davis made 20-of-29 shots and outscored Merrimack with 56 points between them.

2. Nothing from two. Merrimack made just five 2-point field goals for the entire game. Indiana had more blocks than Merrimack made twos with seven. The Warriors were just 5-of-25 from two on the afternoon, but they did make 11-of-29 (37.9 percent) from three to keep things interesting for a while. Indiana only led 44-36 with 16:33 left in the second half. The Hoosiers have the No. 2 two-point field goal defense in the country at 38.5 percent.

3. Forwards effective in the paint vs. zone. Indiana was led in scoring by the trio of Trayce Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson and Jordan Geronimo, with 16, 14 and 13 respectively. Geronimo had career highs in both points and rebounds with 13 and 13, while Thompson was a perfect 6-for-6 on the day. The three attacked throughout the afternoon from catches in the paint against the zone and via put backs off of misses. IU had 21 second chance points. The Hoosiers also got to the foul line for a season-high 32 attempts.