LIVE BLOG: Follow Indiana's NCAA Game With Saint Mary's in Real Time
PORTLAND, Ore. — If it's Thursday, it must be Portland, as Indiana's whirlwind tour in the postseason continues with a huge NCAA Tournament first-round game with Saint Mary's in the Moda Center, home of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers.
Welcome to our live blog, where we'll keep you up to date in real time right from row 2 at center court. We'll get you all the news and views in real time, plus highlights and opinion as we go. The newest items are on top.
The game will tip off about 7:25 p.m. ET. Here's how to watch, with TV information and bios and lineups and more. CLICK HERE
Enjoy the game!
9:30 p.m — The benches are emptied with about 4 minutes to go in this one. The lead has been 30 or more for a while now.
9:05 p.m. — We're at the under-12 media timeout and this one is slipping away for sure. Indiana is now behind 61-33, and the 28-point deficit is the largest of the year.
9:01 p.m. — Indiana 1-for-8 shooting to start the second half, Saint Mary's is 7-for-11 and this one is turning into a rout. Saint Mary's leads 59-33 with 12:59 to go.
8:45 p.m. — When the ball got stuck between the top of the backboard and a shot clock, there was a problem getting it down. Saint Mary's center Matthias Tass, who's 6-foot-10, couldn't reach it with the short mop stick, and Indiana's Trayce Jackson-Davis thought about it, but couldn't reach it either. The referee grabbed a chair, but he couldn't reach it, either. Tass tried to step on the chair, but the ref wouldn't let him. To the rescue came the Indiana cheerleading squad. A woman went up on a guy's shoulder and knocked it right down. The game continued ...
8:40 p.m. – Trayce Jackson-Davis misses a floater on Indiana's first possession, and Tommy Kuhse hits a three on the other end. Saint Mary's quickly up 15.
8:30 p.m. — On Indiana's first possession, Parker Stewart hit a three-pointer. Then neither he nor Miller Kopp ever scored again. Kopp played 16:20 and went scoreless, missing all four shots. Stewart played 15:30 and missed his only other shot. Lack of production from those two spots has hurt this team all year.
8:25 p.m. — The last time Indiana was in a 12-point hole was last Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament against Michigan, with 10:30 to go in the game. You know what happened next.
8:20 p.m. — We've reach the half, and Saint Mary's leads 40-28. They Hoosiers led 18-14 at the 11:14 mark but it got really tough to score the rest of the way. Indiana was 6-for-11 shooting early, but then just 5-for-16 the rest of the way.
8:13 p.m. — The Saint Mary's lead grows to nine on a nice move by guard Tommy Kuhse. Their guards are very quick, even with the ball in their hands. They've been a tough cover, and it's leading to Indiana defensive breakdowns.
8:09 p.m. — Saint Mary's with another three and the lead grows to seven at 33-26.
8:04 p.m. — Indiana got outscored 12-3 with most or all of the starters off the floor. An ongoing problem. Not sure why Mike Woodson has been so stubborn with that substitution pattern all year.
7:59 p.m. — Saint Mary's had made four three-pointers so far. They've pulled ahead 26-21 now. All the starters now back in for Indiana, and Trayce Jackson-Davis scores immediately.
7:52 p.m. — Indiana has the entire second unit in right now, and that often doesn't go well. A basket from Trey Galloway helps, and Indiana leads 21-19 with 8 minutes to go.
7:50 p.m. — Brad Davison was right in our pregame talk about Saint Mary's. They come off screens hard, and are very physical. He had a great breakdown on. the Gaels. CLICK HERE
7:49 p.m. — Rob Phinisee and Trey Galloway into the game for Indiana.
7:45 p.m. — Jordan Geronimo comes in for Race Thompson and, imagine that, he has an immediate impact. He knocks down a three from the left elbow extended and then scores on a fast break after the Hoosiers forced a turnover. Indiana leads 18-14 with 11:11 to go.
7:40 p.m. — Saint Mary's jumps back ahead on back-to-back threes from Logan Johnson and Alex Ducas. Johnson's doing a lot of woofing at the Indiana bench. Saint Mary's leads 14-13.
7:30 p.m. — The all-important screen/roll game for Indiana pays off on the first try, as Xavier Johnson hits Trayce Jackson-Davis with a perfect lob. Trayce scores again on a nice post move, and Indiana leads 7-6 at the first media timeout.
7:25 p.m. — A very positive sign right out of the game that Parker Stewart hits his first three-point attempt for Indiana. He's been very quiet lately, and Indiana could use some perimeter production here.
7:15 p.m. — Weird set-up here in Portland. Being on Pacific time, they've jammed the afternoon and evening session less than an hour apart, and with just 10 minutes before tipoff for Indiana's game, they are just now letting fans into the building. So there won't be a lot of people in the stands when this game starts.
7:11 p.m. — Same starting lineup for Indiana, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson, Miller Kopp, Xavier Johnson and Parker Stewart.
7:10 p.m. — Saint Mary's hasn't played a game in nine days. During that time, Indiana has played four times, winning three games and building a lot of momentum. Let's see how much the rest vs. rust argument comes into play on Thursday.
7:05 p.m. — Don't sleep on Saint Mary's just because they're in a small town in California and play in the West Coast Conference. They are a veteran team that's been ranked in the top-25 for a month now. Wisconsin played them early this year, and Badgers guard Brad Davison had a lot of great things to say about them in our preview. Here's the link to Tom Brew's column with Davison, breaking down the Gaels. CLICK HERE
7:01 p.m. — Trayce Jackson Davis had 29 points against Wyoming on Tuesday and is now No. 15 in Indiana's all-time scoring list. He passed Randy Wittman in the game. Wittman, a former teammate of Indiana coach Mike Woodson, is on the trip with the team, and he caught some ribbing about Jackson-Davis passing him. Jackson-Davis now has 1,576 points. Next up is For the complete list of 1,000-point scorers, CLICK HERE
6:55 p.m. — Indiana is the top-rated defense in the Big Ten according to KenPom (18th, nationally). IU is first in the Big Ten in field goal percentage defense (39.1%) and first in conference games only (41.3%). They are second in blocked shots (4.97). In the Big Ten Tournament, the Hoosiers held Illinois to 35.7% shooting and won its first game in nine tries when it trailed with 5:00 minutes to go (57-54). The Illini did not make a field goal in the final five minutes. Against Michigan, from the 12:52 mark until 1:42 remaining, the Wolverines did not make a field goal. In that time, Indiana went on a 28-6 run.
