There aren’t many games played in Bloomington when freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis doesn’t make a considerable contribution to Indiana’s efforts. The only game Jackson-Davis struggled to produce in was the Hoosiers’ win over Ohio State in January, when he went for six points and three rebounds.
But his performance – six points and eight rebounds – in Indiana’s 60-56 loss to Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon goes down as another one of few games played in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall where Jackson-Davis could not find ways to contribute in the ways he’s proven to be able to contribute at home.
While his struggles Saturday were not the sole reason why Indiana lost to Wisconsin and, given his recent ankle sprain, aren’t indicative of how Jackson-Davis consistently adds to the 2019-20 Indiana team, his disappearance contributed to a day when Indiana failed to find reliable ways to score inside.
“I don't know what you guys want me to tell you inside,” Indiana head coach Archie Miller said in response to being asked about scoring in the paint. “There's no magic wand to score on 6-10 or 6-11. You have to score the ball a couple times.”
The closest thing to a magic wand Indiana has had this season in the post is Jackson-Davis. The four-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week is averaging 13.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in conference play, and the stretch he provides defensively has been leaned on by Indiana throughout several of its conference matchups.
But Jackson-Davis is currently in a lot of pain. Miller said Friday that the freshman’s ankle has undergone “all the testing known to man” and that Jackson-Davis is fine but will need to rely on his pain tolerance, as the upcoming schedule doesn't allow for rest in March.
Now that Indiana has completed its regular season schedule, it looks ahead to the Big Ten Tournament, which Indiana will begin Wednesday, and then on to the NCAA Tournament shortly after. While Indiana was able to score 52 points in the paint against Minnesota on Wednesday – Jackson-Davis had 18 – Saturday’s game was emblematic of the struggles Indiana can have when JAckson-Davis isn’t involved. It isn’t anything new, but on the season finale, when that magic wand has a known injury, it raises concern.
“I didn't think they played soft around the rim,” Miller said of his own team. “I thought they were able to pound us and be able to take their dribbles when they can and shoot jumpshots and go in. It wasn't as if everything was just a missed wide open layup. You're talking about -- that's the way Wisconsin has won eight in a row. They make threes. They have a difficult style to play against, and defensively, they keep their bigs back and they make things hard. You gotta to shoot in between the big and the rim, and that's why for about 20 years, they have been pretty good. They have got unbelievable size and skill.”
Wisconsin is typically hard to score on, and that’s been no different in 2019-20, as the Badgers surrender the second-fewest points per game in conference play and the 16th-fewest nationally. Nate Reuvers and Micah Potter – who wasn’t available for Indiana’s Dec. 7 game at Wisconsin – presented a lot of issues for Indiana’s interior, limiting the Hoosiers to six points in the paint in the first half, 22 in total.
When Indiana has struggled inside this season, for example: at Purdue, its guards have often struggled to score from outside, but that wasn’t the case Saturday. Indiana shot 40 percent form three. The Hoosiers also out-rebounded Wisconsin and only turned the ball over seven times. But shots werent’ falling inside, as has been the case for multiple consecutive games.
Joey Brunk has picked up the slack on occasion – 12 points, eight rebounds against Minnesota – bu tRace Thompson has cooled down, though he had a team-high four offensive rebounds Saturday. De’Ron Davis has scored eight points in five games since his 18 at Michigan.
As Indiana dug itself out of the hole it squarely placed itself into with the home loss to Purdue, it found a new identity – or at least, a rejuvenated sense of identity – through Jackson-Davis in the paint and regular contribution from other frontcourt players. But when Jackson-Davis is limited and those other contributors struggle to find anything, the Hoosiers drop games like Saturday’s game, which was reminiscent of losses to Arkansas and MAryland at home – three losses that all boil down to different shortcomings but are losses that present warnings for what could lie ahead for the Hoosiers in elimination settings.
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