Canada review: Devin Davis Jr.
Devin Davis Jr. didn't waste any time in making an impact during the team's
trip to Montreal. On the opening game of the tour the 6-foot-7 forward came off
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the bench to yank down 16 rebounds in just 19 minutes of playing time.
Two nights later in Indiana's only tour loss against Ottawa, Davis was a
little more human, grabbing just three boards and scoring eight points in 22
minutes of play.
Despite the drop off in production, Davis got his first start of the trip the
next night at Carleton.
The sophomore responded in a big way, hitting all six of his shots from the
floor, grabbing six boards and scoring 13 points to help Indiana knock off the
four-time defending national champs of Canada, 95-85.
"It was actually (IU assistant) Tim Buckley's recommendation, and it was a
good one," said Tom Crean after the Carleton win.
Davis knew he needed to regain some of that game one effort or focus.
"The one thing coach Crean preached to me was being more consistent and just
being tough the whole game," said Davis.
Like fellow soph Troy Williams, Davis pointed out that his added offseason
strength has really helped him on the court.
"It helps me a lot in being able to guard the post," said Davis. "Coach (Je'Ney)
Jackson has done a good job of keeping me conditioned so I can still switch on
to some guards and smaller people and be versatile to guard the forwards and the
bigs."
Crean continued to start Davis over the final two games and he played well,
including a 10 rebound game in the finale win over UQAM.
"I think he has worked hard at (improving), but there is a lot of room for
him to work even harder and develop," said Crean after the McGill win. "What he
wants to erase is having 16 rebounds in 19 minutes the first night and then
getting three rebounds in 22 minutes the next night. Those are the
inconsistencies that he wants to erase."
After the trip was over the Indianapolis native led the Hoosier team over the
five games in both field goal percentage (77.8 %) and rebounding (7.6 rpg).
Obviously with Noah Vonleh and Will Sheehey gone, Davis has an opportunity to
become a fixture this season in the Hoosier frontcourt. As a freshman last year
his time was limited (8.8 minutes per game). He shot 52.9 percent from the floor
while averaging 2.4 points and 2.6 boards per game. He had some solid
performances late in the season including a nine point (4-for-4 FG), six board
game in a March 8th loss at Michigan.
By the numbers
A look at Davis's cumulative or five game numbers in Canada:
