Rapid Reaction: Jackson-Davis Leads Hoosiers to Huge Road win at Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Trayce Jackson-Davis said it best himself a week or so ago. By the time mid-February rolls around in the Big Ten, you're not a freshman anymore.
He knows that from both sides, the good and the bad. And knowing that he needed to bounce back from a bad game and carry his team on his shoulders, he did just that on Wednesday night. He had a career-high 27 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Hoosiers to a huge 68-56 victory over Minnesota.
Indiana has never lost this season when Jackson-Davis has had a double double, raising its record to 8-0 in such games. The Hoosiers did it by finishing, winning only their second conference road game all year with huge plays on both ends of the floor.
"We had a great attitude and the guys responded pretty well from our performance on Sunday. "We were able to get Trayce involved early and we kept our turnovers down on the road, too.''
The win will do a lot for Indiana (17-9, 7-8 in the Big Ten) and its NCAA tourney hopes.
It didn't start well for Indiana, which has been forced to play from behind all season on the road. Wednesday night was no different. The Gophers had a double-digit lead at one point (23-13) in the first half, and that's the seventh time in eight games that Indiana had trailed by at least eight points in the half.
Here's what this team has done on the road in the first half in the Big Ten this season:
- Wisconsin (-2) …. trailed by 20 .... LOST
- Maryland (+6.5) …. trailed by 8 .... LOST
- Rutgers (+5.5)…. trailed by 12 .... LOST
- Nebraska (-6.5) …. trailed by 9 .... WON
- Penn State (+4) …. trailed by 4 .... LOST
- Ohio State (+7.5) …. trailed by 14 .... LOST
- Michigan (+8) …. trailed by 12 .... LOST
- Minnesota (+6) .... trailed by 10 .... WON
But what was different — dramatically different — for Indiana was that the Hoosiers didn't start dropping heads when they fell behind this time. They kept pounding the ball inside to Jackson-Davis, and he answered with 10 first-half points. After that 10-point deficit, Indiana got to within three points at the break (31-28) by getting a basket from seven different people.
Indiana actually grabbed a lead early in the second half, Durham hit an early three-pointer to tie it at 31—and the Hoosiers went ahead 37-36 after two free throws from Race Thompson, a Minnesota native who was playing in front of a lot of friends and family. Thompson had a huge night on the board, finishing with 10 rebounds and 9 points, and also did a great job defensively on Minnesota's bigs.
The lead continued to swap back and forth for the next four minutes, and when Devonte Green hit a three-pointer, the Hoosiers had a four-point lead, 42-38. It quickly went to six when Jackson-Davis made a great back-cut and scored on a dunk. Minnesota coach Richard Pitino was forced to call a timeout. During Indiana's run, Minnesota made just 1-of-10 shots.
Daniel Oturu scored for Minnesota to make it 46-43 at the 11:13 mark to finally get into double figures. He was averaging 19.9 points per game coming in.
Race Thompson scored and was fouled to put Indiana ahead 60-54, and after a Minnesota score, Durham knocked down two free throws at 2:12 to give Indiana a six-point lead at 62-56. Rob Phinisee then got a steal and pushed the ball downcourt quickly, drawing a foul. He made both.
Oturu missed a floater on the other end, and Jackson-Davis was fouled on the rebound. He made both, tying his career-high with 25 points and Indiana led 66-56. He then blocked an Oturu shot and scored again on a put-back for Indiana to go up 68-56.
Indiana's defense, a question mark oftentimes lately, was very good in the second half. The Gophers were just 8-for-30 in the second half.
"My teammates really did a great job of getting the ball inside tonight,'' said Jackson-Davis, who took only three shots in that 24-point loss to Michigan on Sunday. "Every road game is tough, and we needed this one.''
The Hoosiers will see Minnesota again on March 4 in Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers have three home games remaining, with Penn State on Sunday and Minnesota and Wisconsin (March 7) the final week of the season. Road games await at Purdue on Feb. 27 and Illinois on March 1.
