There is a common theme to Indiana’s success this season that has nothing to do with basketball. There are plenty of reasons why the Hoosiers have struggled at various points in this season. People will be quick to identify factors like poor shooting or subpar guard play for the team's woes, but it goes deeper than that.
All of Indiana's problems exist under one giant umbrella: attitude.
The Hoosiers demonstrated their need for attitude against Maryland on Monday night. They started off the game with an abysmal first half of basketball. Indiana shot 9-of-30 from the floor, 0-of-9 from three, and only scored 21 points. The best player on the court, Trayce Jackson-Davis struggled, just 2-of-9 and, in the words of his coach, played about as weak around the rim as possible.
There was no life in the Hoosiers -- no joy in the way they played the game. It was lined up to be one of many performances that leave viewers baffled at how a team can look so lifeless at that end of the court.
Jackson-Davis commented on his team’s tough opening to the game.
"You start to get self-doubt, especially in the first half. With missing shots and not being able to have easy ones fall. You start to get lackadaisical," Jackson-Davis said.
Then everything changed in the second half. Indiana maintained their solid defensive performance from the first half and doubled their offense from the first half with 42 points.
Archie Miller focused on one word when describing his team’s mid-game turn around: “Physical”
“Offensively in the second half, we were a much different team," Miller said. "We were more physical around the basket. It started with Trayce. We were much more physical on the offensive glass.”
