Down five at the half, Indiana got back to the backbone of its team; defense.
After scoring 37 points in the first half, Butler was held to just six points in the first 10 minus of the second half. During that period, the Bulldogs went just 1-of-9 from the field and had six turnovers.
In the blink of an eye, Indiana went from down five to up seven, thanks to a 13-0 run that later grew to a 21-5 run.
Midway through the second half, Butler was just 2-of-16 from the field.
"They kind of maneuvered and manhandled us inside. They really did. They controlled the game," IU head coach Archie Miller said. "They were able to post us from the perimeter, they were able to post one-on-one, and really they just had a lot of success playing one-on-one in the post. They took advantage of our lack of help and they took advantage of our lack of physicality. I thought that was pretty much the main part of the game."
Indiana's identity through Archie Miller's tenure has been defense. And early this year, that identity remained the same. After a first half in which Butler shot 53.8 percent from the field including 5-of-7 from three, IU went back to the drawing board and made the necessary adjustments.
