Hoosiers Dominate Inside, Rout Merrimack 81-49
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana knew it had a decided edge inside against undersized Merrimack on Sunday, and the Hoosiers took advantage from start to finish in an easy 81-49 win.
Starting forwards Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson found gaps in Merrimack's 2-3 zone and got good looks inside. Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers with 16 points, had nine rebounds and made all six of his free throw attempts. Thompson was 6-for-6 from the field, and had 14 points and seven rebounds.
"I think against Syracuse, we shot a lot of threes,'' Indiana junior Trayce Jackson-Davis said of doing a better job of attacking a zone defense on Sunday. "Today, Race and I were playing really well and we were getting a lot of good looks inside.
"We were patient, and the guys did a great job of getting the ball to us inside. Race played great today finishing at the rim.''
Off the bench, Jordan Geromino continued the trend and had a career day. He finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds in 20 minutes, both career highs.
Even freshman center Logan Duncomb contributed at the end of just his second career game. He had his first career basket, plus made two free throws and had a blocked shot in four minutes of action.
"The holes were there tonight in the zone,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "If we got the ball into them they were basically one-on-one with the defender. We were trying to take advantage of our length and height, and I think we did a good job of that.''
The Hoosiers (8-2) had a dominating performance on the glass, outrebounding Merrimack (4-8) by a crazy 54-16 edge. Indiana had more offensive rebounds (18) than the Warriors had total rebounds.
Indiana is still perfect at home in the Mike Woodson era, winning all eight games at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall so far this season. Their two losses were both on the road, a two-point defeat in double overtime at Syracuse on Nov. 30 and a five-point loss on Wednesday at Wisconsin.
Merrrimack, a team from Massachusetts that plays in the Northeast Conference in its third season of Division I basketball, hung around for a while, hitting six first-half three-pointers and trailing just 36-30 at the break. They took 17 of their 29 first-half shots from deep.
A lot of that had to do with the fact that they don't have much size and couldn't attack Indiana with any sort of inside game at all. That was really obvious in the second half when the Hoosiers blew the game open. Merrimack scored only 19 points in the half and had just ONE two-point field goal in the entire half.
Miller Kopp hit back-to-back three-pointers early in the half to get the Hoosiers rolling. Then they . We're at the first media timeout, and the Hoosiers have a 46-36 lead. Then they went on a 13-0 run to finally add some distance to its lead. Thompson and Jackson-Davis got good looks and converted to build the lead to 57-39.
Another big run, this time 14 straight points, pushed the lead to 30 at 75-45. Geronimo had 11 of the points in the rally.
It was clearly his best game as a Hoosier.
"He played extremely well for us,'' Woodson said. "He has improved from his play a year ago. It's my job to steer him in the right direction."
Indiana shot 51.9 percent from the field, and was just 5-for-16 from three. There were still two concerns, though, free throw shooting and turnovers.
Outside of Jackson-Davis' perfect night at the line, Indiana was just 16-of-26 from the line. Indiana had 17 turnovers, far over Woodson's comfort zone of no more than 12 a game.
"Those are things we got to clean up and figure out,'' Woodson said. "That's something that I've got to stay on them about and try to fix. The thing about offense is you have to get shots.
"We've just got to continue to work. I've seen some good play with my ballclub, I've seen some bad play, but that's part of it. At each practice, we just have to keep improving."
Indiana plays again next Saturday against Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- HEAR FROM RACE THOMPSON AND JORDAN GERONIMO IN MERRIMACK PRESSER: The Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Merrimack Warriors 81-49 in a nice bounce-back game after falling to Wisconsin on Wednesday. Here's what forwards Race Thompson and Jordan Geronimo had to say in the post game presser. Feel free to read along or just watch the attached video. CLICK HERE.
- HEAR FROM COACH MIKE WOODSON IN MERRIMACK PRESSER: The Hoosiers claim another victory beating the Merrimack Warriors 81-49. Read Coach Mike Woodson's full press conference transcript, or just tune into the video attached if you'd rather see it for yourself. CLICK HERE.
- LIVE BLOG INDIANA VERSUS MERRIMACK: Indiana is perfect at home so far this season, and the Hoosiers will try to keep that mark intact on Sunday when they take on Merrimack in a non-conference game. Here's our live blog, where we'll keep you updated in real time. CLICK HERE.
- HOW TO WATCH MERRIMACK AT INDIANA: Indiana has been perfect at home so far this season, winning all seven games in the comforts of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers get another chance to protect that perfect mark on Sunday against Merrimack of the Northeast Conference. Here's how to watch, with gametime and TV information, plus the latest on the point spread, starting lineups and nuggets to know. CLICK HERE.
