Indiana Wins Season Opener With Rout of Tennessee Tech
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Well, that was worth the wait.
Indiana finally got its college basketball season started Wednesday night and after a sluggish first few minutes, the Hoosiers ran all over Tennessee Tech, winning 89-59 Wednesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis, a preseason All-American candidate who led the Hoosiers in scoring and rebounding a year ago, picked up right where he left off, dominating inside. He had 26 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. He had 11 double-doubles last year.
'It was good to get back out on the floor,'' Indiana coach Archie Miller said. 'We knew it would be different without a crowd, and the energy level was different. It really stood out not having that competitive advantage that our fans give us.
'It was a different feel, but we needed this game bad. We played a lot of guys, so we have some feedback now.''
The Hoosiers struggled to score early, and let the Golden Knights hang around. Halfway through the first half, Indiana led only 20-17. But then the Hoosiers got hot, playing the final 10 minutes on a 28-2 run to blow the game open.
The added emphasis on playing faster and pushing the ball upcourt quickly was clearly event during the run. Indiana started three guards — Al Durham, Rob Phinisee and Armaan Franklin — and played a smaller lineup most of the night. Part of that was because Joey Brunk (back) did not play and Race Thompson, who started for him, was in early foul trouble.
Aside from Jackson-Davis, the night was highlighted by the debut of Indiana's heralded freshman class, and all four played well. Trey Galloway was the first freshman off the bench, and he had a big night. He finished with 13 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists with no turnovers in 19 minutes.
Khristian Lander added five points, and Jordan Geronimo had two. Anthony Leal didn't score, but he three assists and a rebound. The freshmen played a combined 56 minutes and had only two turnovers, both by Geronimo.
"We've got a good relationship on and off the court and that carried over tonight,'' Galloway said. "We've played a lot together, Khristian and Anthony and I, in AAU. It was nice to be out there with them.''
Junior point guard Rob Phinisee was the only other Hoosier in double figures, finishing with 12.
Despite the 30-point victory, the Hoosiers didn't really shoot well. They were just 5-for-19 from three-point range (26.3 percent), and made only 10 of 22 free throws.
"We've still got a lot of work to do over Thanksgiving to get ready for that field,'' Miller said. "We have to shoot better. We're going to need to make more threes going forward, and we weren't good from the free throw line at all.
"We had some guys do some good things. We haven't played since March 11, so it's going to be fun to watch film again. I'm glad to see that college basketball is back.''
The Hoosiers are back in action on Monday, when they play Providence in the Maui Invitational, which is being played in Asheville, N.C. Tipoff is at 2:30 p.m.
"That field is tremendous,'' Miller said. "Providence is a tough, strong physical team that can win the Big East. There's a lot of terrific teams (North Carolina, Alabama, Stanford, Texas) in that field. It's great competition.''
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- LIVE BLOG: Follow the Hoosiers' win in real-time. CLICK HERE
