After a flat outing on Saturday against No. 4 Ohio State, Indiana came out with a much stronger performance against Minnesota on Wednesday.
The Hoosiers had their struggles, but still put together a very well-rounded outing in the win.
Indiana now moves to 13-9 (7-7) on the season and looks to continue its better play of late with a win over Michigan State this weekend, which would make it four wins in the last five games.
Here are the main takeaways from Indiana's win over Minnesota on Wednesday.
Jerome Hunter coming on at right time: After his two-game absence from the lineup, Hunter has come back a totally different player for IU. He is averaging 11 points and has gone 5-of-9 from three in the past three games, including a career-high 16 points on Wednesday. His added physical play has given Indiana a much needed boost in the frontcourt.
Al Durham rounding into a consistent scorer: In the last 12 games, Durham is averaging 13.2 points per game on 12-of-46 shooting from three (45.7 percent). He continued his good play with 16 points on Wednesday. His ability to create on the wing has increasingly become better and more consistent. His scoring punch has given Indiana a nice combo on the wing with he and Armaan Franklin.
Turnovers continue to hold IU back: Indiana had an efficient offensive outing on Wednesday, scoring 82 points. Despite that, the Hoosiers still coughed the ball up 17 times. They were outscored 25-8 on those turnovers. IU's backcourt contributed to 10 of the 17.
Great team effort... best of season?: This could have been Indiana's best offensive performance of the season and most well-rounded. Five players scored in double figures, with three scoring between 16-20. Overall, IU shot 57.8 percent from the field and scored 1.281 points per possession on 64 total possessions and went 23-of-30 from the free throw line.
Physical play, toughness win out: Indiana has spent too much time listening to all of the naysayers calling them 'soft' and for the most part that was the right word. But, IU made multiple winning plays down the stretch and more importantly, made the little plays that mattered to come out on top.
Rob Phinisee bounce back performance: After struggling for most of the past month, he came out on Wednesday and played his best overall performance in quite some time. Phinisee went for 10 points, four rebounds and six assists in 32 minutes. He also put together a rather solid performance guarding Marcus Carr. Despite his 19 points, he was just 3-of-8 in the second half and attempted just three 3's overall, which was a major point of emphasis for IU. He also went nearly 13 minutes without a point in the second half.
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