After scoring just three points in the first half, Indiana's freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 22 combined points in the second half and overtime to lead the team to a 96-90 victory over Nebraska.
His 25 points and 15 rebounds were career highs, and the Hoosiers needed the full extend of his effort to life them past the Cornhuskers in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
In its second Big Ten conference matchup of the season, Indiana led Nebraska 40-39 after the first-half buzzer sounded and the team trotted off the floor. A forgettable start to the game loomed over freshman forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, and he wasn’t satisfied with his performance.
It was a tale of two halves for the 2019 Indiana Mr. Basketball Award winner, but a stellar second-half may have saved the Hoosiers from defeat as they won their first game against a Big Ten opponent.
The Cornhuskers crowded the paint all game, leaving the Hoosiers’ leading scorer reluctant to assert his presence in the paint. His scoring total suffered, and Jackson-Davis settled for two assists instead.
Even though the 6-foot-9 freshman led the team in rebounds and contributed one block and one steal on the defensive end in the opening half, he had just three points to his name as he sat in the locker room waiting for the next 20 minutes of basketball.
“In the first half, I didn't really try to put an emphasis on running the floor very hard, and I thought I could beat my man down the floor,” Jackson-Davis said after the game. “In the second half, I tried to run past him and get as deep as I could and try to leg whip over him.”
When time started ticking again, It was as if a new game tipped off in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Jackson-Davis recognized his lack of production and was conscious to amend the lapses. He charged the basket and attempted more shots than any of his teammates in the second half.
Indiana head coach Archie Miller said he ran hard down the floor and made a better effort running to the rim when he had the ball in his hands. He said Jackson-Davis started backing down his defender, setting him up for spin moves in the post — one of several offensive techniques he has in his arsenal.
The momentum of Jackson-Davis’ aggressiveness carried into his positioning. He now began to settle himself in traffic to reach up and snatch rebounds on the offensive side of the court alongside his contributions on defense.
“He was trying to get himself going, and he was also on the offensive glass,” Miller said of Jackson-Davis after the game. “He was big. He had good touches around the basket on a couple of tough shots, too, that he made. But he played big in the second half.”
Adding to his inflating point total, Jackson-Davis found himself in the low post with time running down on the shot clock. Rather than kicking it out to a guard as he did in the first half, he instead faded away from his defender and nailed a mid-range jump shot over the top of his defender.
He only missed one shot in the second half, leading to a jump from three points to 20 in the game’s regulation minutes.
“I didn't necessarily think he was great in the first half, or as aggressive,” Miller said. “But he turned it up a notch in the second half. And every single basket that he made we needed.”
His newfound scoring efforts against Nebraska, coupled with consistency on the boards lifted Jackson-Davis to his fifth double-double of the season. He notched a total of 15 rebounds, six of them on the offensive glass.
“That resulted in a ton of free-throw attempts which saved us in a night where we weren't very confident shooting the ball or just didn't go down a ton,” Miller said.
Better yet, he didn’t turn the ball over once after the first half.
The Hoosiers needed all he could offer as they shot just 47% from the floor, including 20% from three-point range. The Cornhuskers’ junior guard Dachon Burke Jr. took advantage of the struggles and sent the game into overtime on a three-point shot that left just one second on the clock.
Nebraska was 12-32 from beyond the arc against Indiana. Half of those shots were converted in the second half and three came from Burke.
His final two came within the final 36 seconds of the period, forcing the Hoosiers to play extra time on their home court. A fast start on the shoulders of sophomore point guard Rob Phinisee lifted Indiana its tenth victory of the season.
Phinisee scored seven of his 16 points in overtime, but Jackson-Davis was right on his tail with another five of his own. The freshman ended up with two career highs with 25 points and 15 rebounds which led the team — consistent with what he’s done all season — as the Hoosiers narrowly escaped with the victory.
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