Indiana muscled away a 85-74 victory over Portland State. Head coach Archie Miller said the defense needs to get better, but a total of 16 offensive rebounds jumpstarted the team.
The Hoosiers scored 52 points in the paint against the Vikings and saw significant contributions from the team's forwards. Freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis filled the stat sheet and earned his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Indiana’s Junior guard Al Durham found himself with enough separation early in the first half to attempt a comfortable, routine three point shot. He didn’t miss a shot against Western Illinois in the team’s season-opener. However, unlike last week, his shot was off target.
Reaching up for the rim, grabbing the rebound and immediately following up with a shot of his own was junior forward Justin Smith. His basket gave the Hoosiers the lead in a game that would go back and forth against Portland State.
“It's a big focus for this team to win the rebounding battle against anybody you play, especially the teams we're going to play in conference play,” Indiana head coach Archie Miller said. “Our rebounding has to be a strength. Our depth has to be able to help that.”
Only two players were unable to come away with rebounds during the game. Outside of senior De’Ron Davis, who only played four minutes, every forward that saw the floor snagged at least three rebounds.
“It's something we harp on every day in practice,” redshirt sophomore forward Race Thompson said. “Coach told us go hard to the glass, it changes the game. That's something we do every day.”
Miller’s team put together a poor defensive effort, allowing the Vikings to score 74 points, catapulted by junior guard Holland Woods’ 27 points.
Woods and his senior teammate Matt Hauser each scored four threes, accounting for the entire team’s successful buckets from beyond the arc. Miller said there were a number of alarming statistics from this game.
He stated that the team has to grow up faster and get a whole lot tougher.
“To be honest with you, first week, if we don't get our defense going in another direction here, we're going to experience some really hard moments in games,” Miller said. “We can't get stops.”
It was boxing out and crashing the boards on the offensive end of the court that counteracted the defensive shortcomings. Indiana outrebounded Portland State 41-24 and came away with 16 offensive rebounds.
The myriad of players that contributed to the Hoosiers’ frontcourt in the game were essential, as the Vikings schemed various full-court pressure and defensive switches that made it tough for guards to get easy looks.
Indiana wasn’t able to take advantage of mismatches at times. Instead, the team took its offense into the paint. Of the 85 total points that the Hoosiers scored, 41 were at or around the rim.
Smith led the Hoosiers in scoring a week ago, and this time accrued a team-high 36 minutes. He and Thompson each muscled away five offensive rebounds.
Thompson finished just one board away from a double-double as he put up 10 points off the bench, while a healthy dose of posterizing dunks got Smith to 16.
“Race, in his 16 and a half minutes, was very impactful. Offensive rebounding, huge,” Miller said. “Some of his baskets we needed because we were playing ugly for most of the game offensively.”
As much as the two athletic forwards filled the stat sheet, freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis was putting up numbers of his own. In his second career game for Indiana, he put together 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, resulting in his first collegiate double-double.
Jackson-Davis credited the practices that prepared him for game-time situations and his teammates for having the awareness and vision to find him under the rim. He said his game was about taking advantage of the opportunities that put him in position to score.
He constantly found a way to be around the ball and at the basket, though there were times when the ball just escaped his grasp. Had he kept control, he may have had an even more impressive afternoon.
At 6-foot-9, he has no shortage of ability, but this early in his career he lacks pure strength and experience as a freshman.
“Trayce has got to be more forceful,” Miller said. “ He's got to play with more energy and speed. He's so gifted and so talented, when the ball finds him around the basket, he's got great hands, he's going to be able to finish.”
Jackson-Davis is coming into his own as he’s made his way into the starting lineup for the second straight game, but there is still plenty of room for improvement in his young career.
“I'm watching Trayce so I can continue to watch him grow up and develop,” Miller said “He knows he's got to get better. He's very coachable. He'll continue to work at it.”
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