Indiana Uses Big Second-Half Run to Pull Away From Butler in Crossroads Classic
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Trayce Jackson-Davis and Armaan Franklin have known each other for a long time growing up in and around Indianapolis, and they've become an important one-two punch now as teammates at Indiana.
For the second game in a row, Franklin tore it up from three-point range, making 5-of-7 long balls and scoring a career-high 20 points in Indiana's 68-60 win over Butler. Jackson-Davis, the Hoosiers' best player, delivered as well, scoring a game-high 21 points and grabbing eight rebounds as the Hoosiers moved to 5-2 on the season. Butler, which has missed four games this season because of COVID-19 issues, is now 1-2.
There's no question that Indiana is a different team when Franklin, a sophomore who's played the best games of his career here at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, is hitting shots on the perimeter.
"Make no mistake, those were big shots that Armaan hit there,'' Indiana coach Archie Miller said. ''The ball going in the basket makes things easy. Armaan has given us an outside weapon these last few games, and that opens things up inside. We got a lot of rhythm shots. That's very important for our team, and Armaan has benefited from that.
''He's definitely one of the most improved players in our league.''
Franklin was hot early, hitting three three-pointers in the first six-plus minutes of the game, which had to be a big confidence booster for him, as it is for any shooter. This was basically a one-score game for most of the first half, but then then a five-minute stretch late in the half allowed Butler to make a run.
Indiana led 25-24, but then then scored just one basket on 11 possessions and Butler pulled ahead 37-28, its largest lead of the game.
Jackson-Davis wasn't happy, and let his teammates know about it. Miller wasn't happy either, but said that his halftime talk focused more on effort than X's and O's.
Indiana responded immediately. Jackson-Davis scored on their possession of the half and then the Hoosiers went on a run of their own, scoring 13 unanswered points over a six-minute period that blew the game open. Race Thompson added a lot of the offensive end, but it was really all about Indiana's defense, which has carried them through the early parts of this season.
"We weren't ready for the physicality in the first half and they manhandled us inside. We really had to come together at halftime.'' Miller said. "We challenged ourselves and came out with a much better approach in the second half. It started on the defensive end and that led to us getting some easy ones. We were able to do a much better job and they didn't shoot any uncontested layups in the second half like they did in the first.''
Thompson, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, was much more active in the second half, and he scored six straight points during that nice run.
''Race was really amped up and ready to go in the second half,'' Jackson-Davis said. ''We were just so much better defensively in the second half. For us, it's really just getting in the passing lanes and getting deflections. In the first half, I thought we were lackadaisical and were letting their bigs do whatever they wanted. Then we started getting stops and getting out in transition, and that helps us play our game. We wear teams down when we start playing like that.''
Indiana got its lead into double-digits and led by as much as 15 points with 3:07 to go. Butler never threatened from there. Butler was just 5-for-27 shooting, only 18 percent, in the second half until hitting a few shots in the final minute.
The victory helped Indiana raise its record to 7-3 in this event, the best overall record of any of the four teams in the field. Indiana has won four in a row in the Crossroads Classic, and six of its last seven.
Indiana finishes its condensed nonconference schedule with a 5-2 record, and the level of competition should have them well prepared for Big Ten play. The Hoosiers played five potential NCAA tournament teams, beating Providence, Stanford and Butler, and losing only to No. 11-ranked Texas and No. 15 Florida State.
Big Ten play starts on Wednesday, with a home game against Northwestern.
Franklin's perimeter shooting has been a huge boost for the Hoosiers this week. He's gone 5-for-7 from deep two games in a row now, which is a rapid departure from how he started the season. He was just a combined 2-for-12 from three-point range over 151 minutes of playing time in the first five games.
He's also been great at Bankers Life. He had 17 points, including the game-winning three-pointer in a win against Notre Dame in this event a year ago, and he had 13 points in Indiana's one win in the Big Ten Tournament in March. In three career games at Bankers, Franklin has averaged 16.7 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the 3-point line. That's 71 percent, and Indiana is 3-0 in those games.
Home sweet home for the Indianapolis native.
''I still don't know why this gym gives me good shooting performances, but it's just my teammates giving me open looks '' Franklin said. ''I saw the first one go down, and for any shooter, it gives you confidence when you hit that first one. My teammates kept finding me and the big did a good job of screening for me,''
Miller said better ball movement has led to the better perimeter shooting.
'Here in the last few games, most of our threes are coming off unselfish driving,'' Miller said. ''They know where they're supposed to be getting them, and they're hitting them on time. The more we do that, the better we're going to be.''
Jackson-Davis sees Franklin maturing right before our eyes. It doesn't surprise him any, because he's seen all the work he had put in.
''Armaan has always been a great player,'' Jackson-Davis said. ''Last year he started the first 10 games and he was really confident, but the back half of the season he didn't play as much. I know he wanted to prove himself this year what kind of player he is. All that hard work is really starting to show now. He's a really good guard and he's one of our best defenders.''
And now the gauntlet begins, a 20-game Big Ten schedule over 67 days, with a game basically every three or four days. Indiana still has a lot to improve on, but this tough schedule has shown them a lot.
They're ready.
''We're playing in the fiercest league in the country, and there's going to be no time off,'' Miller said. 'We're going to need other guys to continue to get better and step up.''
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- LIVE BLOG: Follow all the news and views of Indiana's victory over Butler in realtime. CLICK HERE
- SACRIFICES MATTER: Indiana's players are doing everything right to be able to play every game this season, with early morning testing and not leaving their apartments other than to practice and play. It's worth it, they say. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is Indiana's complete schedule, including links to all the game stories this far, plus Tom Brew columns. CLICK HERE
