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Indiana took down a tough St. John's squad last night in the Gavitt Games, winning 76-74 in Assembly Hall.
It was IU's first real test of the season and although a bit shaky in the second half, it came out with a win.
Indiana improves to 3-0 and got big time performances from multiple players on Wednesday.
Here are the main takeaways from the Hoosiers' win.
Tamar Bates is so smooth: It was expected that Bates would be a productive player this season and someone who would play an important role... but if Wednesday showed anything, he is a star and going to be a star a lot earlier on in his career. The freshman guard had 11 points -- all in the first half -- and played 27 minutes. But, he played the last seven minutes of the game in a critical, high moment game. Bates will have more big games and may find himself in bigger moments throughout the rest of the season.
IU responds to punches thrown: The Hoosiers failed to do this last year but so far in two games when IU lost double-digit leads, it was able to pull out a win. It wasn't pretty, especially in the second half, but the Hoosiers responded to every run by St. John's with a run of its own. That was not the case in the past.
Indiana's defense is legit: St. John's came in averaging over 100 points per game and shooting 48 percent from the three-point line. In the first half, the Hoosiers held St. John's to 33.3 percent from the field and 25 percent from three. In total, they held the Johnnies to just 43.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from deep on the game. IU also forced 15 turnovers and had five blocks. But, holding a team that gets a ton of possessions and was 2nd in the country in average time per possession to just 74 points is something to write home about.
The youth movement: We already touched on Bates, but IU would not have won if it weren't for Jordan Geronimo and Khristian Lander in the second half. It was a tie game after a 7-0 run by St. John's at the 8:49 mark... then Geronimo had a three, Lander a driving layup, Geronimo a steal and another jumper. That 7-0 run sparked IU and got the crowd back into the game. Without that lift, IU would have been looking at a loss. Look for those three to be key pieces moving forward, but more specifically, playing very key and specific roles.
Miller Kopp breakout: Everyone was waiting for it and Kopp finally showed why fans were so excited for him. Throughout the middle parts of the second half, it was Kopp who made some big time shots. He wasn't always consistent throughout the game, shooting just 4-of-10, but he hit two 3's and a few shots to counter a quick run by St. John's. He's not always going to need to take double-digit shots, but he will need to hit timely shots like he did tonight and it's good to see his confidence is back.
Assembly Hall is back: After a year without fans and two games to begin the Mike Woodson era against non high-major teams, Wednesday was a different story. The Hall was rocking last night and showed why it can be the toughest place to play when it is in full effect. The players -- on both sides -- said how the crowd played a huge role in the outcome and that is something the Hoosiers didn't have last year when trying to pull out a few games. That is a big deal for IU that will surely have games come down to the wire on other occasions this season.
Trey Galloway goes down: Mike Woodson said he wasn't sure to the extent that Galloway was hurt, but after going down hard on a layup in the first half, Galloway didn't return to the floor and had ice on his wrist throughout the rest of the game. We should know more over the next few days, but I would expect Galloway to miss at least some time. And as Woodson and the players say, it's time for the next man up to help this team win some more games in his presumed absence.
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