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Indiana sophomore guard Tamar Bates entered his second season in Bloomington with high expectations following an inconsistent freshman season. His role was going to be highly important for Indiana if the expectations of winning a Big Ten title and advancing in the NCAA Tournament were to be met.

During the course of the first month of the season, you could see the potential. He was playing at a more consistent rate than a year before, but there was still some wait-and-see until the competition began against power-five opponents.

And since then, Bates has raised his game even more and provided terrific consistent minutes off of the bench for Indiana.

“No doubt, and that’s what the team expects from me," Bates said last week. "So you know, being able to make shots and spread the floor and making that much better routine. I just take it more seriously in terms of making shots and stepping up to help my teammates out when I can.”

The 6-foot-5 guard was averaging 5.8 points per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 25 percent from three on just 0.6 makes a game in the first five games of the season. In the last five games, he is up to 11.8 points per game on 54.8 percent from the floor and 50 percent on 2.2 made 3s per game.

“It’s just putting the work in and putting the time in," Bates said. "There's not really a secret recipe or a formula. It’s just about taking your craft seriously and putting the work in and doing it with a purpose.”

Bates has scored in double-figures in three of the last five games. He had four such games all of his freshman season. Bates scored 13 points twice last year -- a season-high. This season, he had his career-high of 22 points against Jackson State, 19 against Nebraska and 13 against Arizona.

He also already has four games with at least four made field goals, tying his total from a season ago.

Coming into his freshman year, it was his ability to create shots on his own and off of the dribble that was so appealing. This season he is not only able to create his own shot, but he is making them now. Whether it is off of the dribble or becoming a very good shooter off of the catch, his scoring ability is becoming increasingly important for Indiana.

"These five months that we've been together after coming back, you know, he has shown some signs of maturity," IU head coach Mike Woodson said following Bates' career night a few weeks ago. "We're going to need that from him because he can make shots, and he can do things from an offensive standpoint that I want him to do.''

With Jalen Hood-Schifino missing the last three games and having an uncertain timeline for his return, Bates continues to take on an even larger role for this team. But, it's what he expected and has prepared for.

“Just really taking care of (my) upstairs, just being strong mentally. Because, coming in and having all of this hype and then things taking a few different turns than I expected," Bates said. "It’s okay. I had some adversity. So now I just go about things. I was really able to find myself more."

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