Indiana defeats Gannon in exhibition game, 84-54

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The biggest purpose of an exhibition game is to kick off some rust and get the freshmen acclimated to playing in front of crowd for the first time.

For Indiana freshman Armaan Franklin, he got thrown right into the fire immediately when Indiana played Gannon Tuesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. With guards Devonte Green and Al Durham in street clothes and starting point guard Rob Phinisee on a minute limit, Franklin was forced to play 35 minutes, most at a point guard spot that he's mostly unfamiliar with.

He had 12 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists in guiding the Hoosiers to an 84-54 win over the Division II school from Erie, Pa.

"We had a shootaround this afternoon and ran through a few things for him,'' said Indiana coach Archie Miller, who admitted that Franklin hadn't run many plays at the point all month in practice. "He's smart. He's intelligent enough to know how to figure it out a little bit. It's not like we're running a thousand things.

"And in the second half, to make it simpler on everybody playing out of position, we really didn't run a ton (of plays). We kind of just relied on our passing game and moved it, and I thought that actually looked pretty good for this time of year with that many guys out there.'

The Hoosiers had five players in double figures, and junior Justin Smith was the leading scorer with 18 points. He stuffed the box score all night. He was 5-for-5 from the field and 8-for-9 from the free throw, with 2 rebounds, 3 assists and zero turnovers in 24 minutes.

"I just let the game come to me and didn't force anything,'' Smith said. "The way our offense is organized, it's very free-flowing.''

The Hoosiers struggled through much of the first half, and even trailed 29-28 with 1:53 left in the half. But the Hoosiers scored the last nine points in the period to take a 37-29 lead to the locker room.

"The first half was definitely a little awkward,'' Smith said. "Once we got settled down at halftime, we really got in a groove and got it going.''

It was a bit of a surprise to see Phinisee on the floor. Miller had said Monday that he hadn't been able to practice most of the month, but he was able to get through Monday's workout successfully. Miller put him on an 8- to 12-minute limit.

"He practiced (Monday), with very little restriction, and he did really well in practice,'' Miller said. "His comfort level with what he's dealing with from his abdominal injuries and whatnot was increased.

"But for us, if Rob doesn't play tonight or get a little bit of action, we're really starting to set him up where we're not going to know how he feels after a game or whatnot. Obviously he's a big part of what we're doing, and it was really big (that he played).''

Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana's other true freshman, got his feet wet, too. He had 12 points and a team-high 9 rebounds.

"They played confident,'' Smith said of the two freshmen. "They were aggressive and they really didn't really shy away from the competition or really be a little bit passive, so they really went at it.'

Jerome Hunter and Race Thompson, two guys who missed last season with serious injuries, mad their first appearances at Assembly Hall. Thompson had 10 points. Hunter missed all five of his shots and fouled out, but was active on defense in his 16 minutes.

"Early on, I think everyone kind of realized, boy, there's a lot of new guys out there, even for myself being from the sideline looking out there,'' Miller said. "At times I was seeing — you're seeing — Trayce and Joey (Brunk) and Armaan and Damezi and Jerome, and those guys are relatively really new to what we're doing and what's going on in terms of the game. So you have to put it in perspective a little bit.''

At least the Hoosiers can build off a solid second half, where they scored 47 points and put the game out of reach.

"The second half, it was definitely much better than the first half,'' Smith said. "In the second half, we really got into our offense, really got moving, really got screening moving the ball.

"And once we made a couple passes it's easy to get inside, it's easy to capitalize on defensive mistakes.''

The Hoosiers open the regular season on Nov. 5 against Western Illinois. There's no telling if Durham and Green will be back, but that would surely help a team with a limited backcourt right now.

"Once we get Al and Devonte back, that will really help us even more.''

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