Passing through the post opened by three-point shooting
In the first handful of minutes, Indiana struggled to get the ball inside, especially to Trayce Jackson-Davis, but the Hoosiers, while taking some ill-advised threes, weren't afraid to shoot from beyond the arc Saturday, against a team that also shoots plenty of threes. Whether they made those shots or not was fairly inconsistent, but once multiple contributors began knocking down some of those shots, the court began to space out in halfcourt sets for Indiana.
After shots began to go down and Nebraska struggled on the offensive end near the back half of the first half, the Husker defense began to spread out, and passes in and out of the post became crisp with the widening passing lanes.
Suddenly, the offense was smoothly moving the ball on offense, and, even though the movement didn't result in as many scores inside as Indiana is used to, it resulted in a wide range of scores, including threes from five Hoosiers, a mid-range De'Ron Davis jumper and two scores from Jerome Hunter, all in the first half.
That same offensive flow carried into the second half as well. Joey Brunk began hitting mid-range shots, and Indiana didn't get to the line often but didn't need to. Eventually, Indiana matched its season-high in total assists. Its previous best was 21 against Troy.
Bench scoring aids Hoosiers
Indiana received just two points from its bench at Rutgers, but that wasn't the case Saturday night. By halftime, Indiana's bench contributors had already totaled 18 points.
Typically, that would mean Devonte Green had a good scoring outing, but he was 1-of-6 from the field at halftime. Jerome Hunter had six, Armaan Franklin had five, De'Ron Davis had four and Green had three.
Of the contributors off the bench, Franklin was the most productive, particularly defensively. He took two crucial charges and drew two of Cam Mack's first half fouls. He also connected on multiple threes and found himself filling in the second guard spot that has been paired with Rob Phinisee as of late.
The scoring off the bench wasn't as profuse in the second half as it was in the first half, but Indiana hit a nine-minute field goal drought and it's guards got into foul trouble across the board.
Defense goes a long way
Indiana allowed 41 points in the first half, but there was flashes of defensive potential that shown themselves in the second half.
After an 11-0 run that would have buried previous versions of this Indiana team, the Hoosiers answered with a 32-18 run of its own to end the first half. Indiana began to cut off drives to the basket and contest three-point shots that were left open in the beginning of the half.
Defensive rebounding for much of the beginning of the second half limited any easy buckets for Nebraska and maintained possession for Indiana, as the Hoosiers built up a massive lead by the midway point of the second half.
Cam Mack threaded 17 points in the first half but didn't score his first point of the second half until a free throw at the eight-minute mark. That defense held off Nebraska long enough for the lead to swell to as many as 19 points but gave just enough to keep Nebraska in the game.
A nine-minute field goal drought for Indiana allowed Nebraska to get back into the game, and the Hoosiers needed to rely on their defense. Unlike the last matchup that became a shootout, Indiana didn't allow the game to get close enough to trade baskets with Nebraska, and it went a long way in taking pressure off the offense that couldn't uphold the momentum it began the game with.
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