My Two Cents: Indiana's Loss Identical to Thursday's Win
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. —The pass was perfect, as was the decision and the footwork, too. He slid across the lane like a seasoned veteran and got off a shot that he's made more than he's missed all year long.
Trayce Jackson-Davis, a 6-foot-9 true freshman who is Indiana's best player, was the guy with the ball in his hands at the end of Sunday's game with No. 17 Maryland, which is exactly what everyone wanted. He got a good look, and made a good shot.
And it didn't go in.
Because it didn't drop, Indiana was a one-point loser instead of a one-point winner, falling to the Terrapins 77-76. It was a devastating defeat, because Indiana played great — like best-all-year great — in erasing a 14 point Maryland lead and even getting up by six points themselves with just a minute and change to go.
It all unraveled in that final minute, of course, with Maryland hitting all three of its shot and Indiana missing theirs, plus turning it over once. But still, there were the Hoosiers, taking blow after blow from a team that was once ranked No. 3 in the country, and on the verge of winning at the buzzer with the ball in their best player's hand.
You can't ask for more than that. Except asking it to go in, of course.
"We tried to get Trayce and (point guard) Rob (Phinisee) in a two-man game in the middle of the floor, set Rob up for a drive downhill, set Trayce up for maybe a quick lob, pick-and-roll,'' Indiana coach Archie Miller said. "They denied Rob the ball back, and Trayce kept it right from the free-throw line area, all the way into the basket.
"I asked, just thinking back on it, did he get a good enough look? Was it a clean look? Would you even feel good if he got that shot again? I think everybody said he had a decent look at it. It was a pretty point-blank good look. He stepped around on the shot fake, stepped through, and he got a clean two-point look. So we got a shot. It didn't obviously go down, but that's the way it breaks.''
There's no blame to be cast toward Jackson-Davis in any way, even though the Twitter trolls will do it anyway. Despite dealing with foul trouble early, he still had 13 points and 8 rebounds in just 20 minutes.
He's practiced that move and that shot thousands of times. It just didn't go in. And here's what the trolls don't get. It happens.
Need a reminder? Rewind just a few hours, to Thursday night. Michigan State's Xavier Tillman, who's easily one of the top 15 or 20 players in the Big Ten, missed a short shot at the buzzer too, and because he missed, Indiana.
Even Steven. Win some, lose some.
Sure it would have been great to win both games during this brutal week. Michigan State and Maryland have both been ranked in the top-5 in the country this year. If either of them — or both — reach the Final Four, I won't be a bit surprised, They're that good.
And Indiana played with both of them, step for step, shot for shot, blow by blow.
If that shot falls in, it's Indiana that has the best overall record in the Big Ten. It didn't, but it's also not the end of the world. It's one game out of 35 or so, but it's still just one game.
Does it hurt? Damn right it does. But the only place that hurt matters is in that Indiana locker room, with those kids. The rest of us go back to work today and do our things. Those kids go back to work, too, learning from what went on this week and getting ready for a road trip to Penn State and Ohio State. It's the Big Ten, so get over it and move on.
"Well, that was a really tough loss, one of the tougher losses I think you could probably imagine a locker room setting having for our group,'' Miller said. "We did enough to win the game. We also did enough to lose it there at the end, and that's what really hurts.''
"This one stings. The other one the other night felt great. The week is what it is. We're on to the next one. This league is brutal, and you have to be able to find ways to keep getting better, which I think, if you watched our team this week, or if you've watched our team over the last few weeks, we continue to do a better job, and we're getting better.''
There is no question about that. As the Big Ten is start to shake out a little, I see three elite teams in Michigan State, Maryland and Illinois. Then there are nine others — including Indiana — that can beat anybody, especially at home.
Indiana survived an early onslaught on Saturday and fought back from 14 down. Maryland was insane from 3-point range, making 12 long balls, including four from 6-foot-10 CENTER Jalen Smith, who had the game of his life with a career-high 29 points and 11 rebounds. It was the 17th double-double of his career.
Maryland was ranked No. 3 in the country for a reason, because they can hurt you in a lot of ways. They have a senior point guard in Anthony Cowan who's played in 119 games. They have two-year and three-year guys all over the floor, making big plays.
Indiana's coming, but they aren't there yet. Jackson-Davis, who missed the last shot, is a true freshman. Jerome Hunter, who made a key turnover late that took away from the overall great game that he played — 12 points in 27 minutes, including three 3-pointers and great defense during IU's comeback — is basically a true freshman, too, after not touching a basketball for an entire season.
His turnover while being pressed helped Maryland reel off the final seven points of the game to pull out the win, Because he's played so well the past few weeks, he's earned his minutes.
But he's also never — I repeat, never — been in that kind of intense situation in a college game. And when you try to argue that Indiana should have had its five best ball handlers out there — they did. Hunter is one of those five, certainly better against the press the the Hoosiers' other big guys.
He made a mistake. and he'll learn from it.
"We had our press break basically set up, and we executed perfectly. The ball came in, trap was there, we had our outlets and got it right to the middle of the floor,'' Miller said. "That's a first-year player in Jerome, who's never in that situation, where he's just got to be strong with the ball, either bring it across half-court and tuck it, or he's just got to chin the ball and be strong with it. You're in a minute-some situation there, and I just talked to him a little bit about it.
"It's one of those things as a player you've got to go through, but to be able to throw it ahead to your big guy down the floor, it's about time and scoring in that situation, and that's part of getting better and learning. Not that that one play was the name of the game. It obviously was a big play, but there are a lot of big plays.''
Learn, and move on. It's the Big Ten gauntlet. There's no doubt the Hoosiers are passing the eye test lately. Now they need take that improved play on the road and get a win — or two — this week.
The challenges never stop.
"As you head toward February, you've got to continue to stay focused, and you can't get too high and low,'' Miller said. "As good as it felt on Thursday, it probably feels this bad, but you probably could have felt this way on Thursday, and you probably could have felt this good on Sunday. That's what it is.
"We're off to Penn State. ''
Related stories
- GAME STORY: Maryland stuns Indiana in final minute. CLICK HERE
- MILLER ON KOBE BRYANT: Lots of family ties for Miller and Bryant from their days in Pennsylvania together. CLICK HERE
- Follow Tom Brew on Twitter @tombrewsports
- Like our Facebook page at Sports Illustrated Indiana
