Indiana Rallies Late to Steal Ugly Road Win at Minnesota

Trayce Jackson-Davis led Indiana with 25 points and 21 rebounds, and got a huge offensive rebound and basket in the final minute to give the Hoosiers a 61-57 win at Minnesota on Wednesday. It was the first 20/20 game for an Indiana player since D.J. White in 2008.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — There's that age-old phrase about ''winning ugly,'' and Indiana did exactly that on Wednesday night. The Hoosiers pulled out a 61-57 win at Minnesota, coming from behind in the final 47 seconds to beat the last-place team in the Big Ten.

It was ugly. Very ugly, in fact. But it was also a win, the fourth straight for the Hoosiers. It was a great escape, to be sure.

"At the end of the day, we found a way to win,'' Indiana senior Trayce Jackson-Davis, the current Big Ten Player of the Week, said. He led the Hoosiers with 25 points and 21 rebounds. It was the first 20/20 game for an Indiana player since D.J. White in January of 2008,

He was the first player since Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet in 2009 to have at least 25 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in a game. Jackson-Davis had six blocks, breaking his tie with Jeffrey Newton to become Indiana's all-time leading shot blocker.

Digging deep into the record books has become a regular thing with Jackson-Davis the past couple of weeks. In the past four games, he has scored 109 points and grabbed 56 rebounds, a whopping average of 27,1 points and 14.0 rebounds per game.

Indiana never had control of this game, though. They trailed more than they led, and this was against a Minnesota team that's now 1-8 in the Big Ten and had only seven scholarship players available. They trailed 24-18 at one point in the first half, but went on a 15-6 run to lead 33-30 at half. 

Jackson-Davis had nine first-half points, as did Miller Kopp. Malik Reneau had 10, but played only one minute in the second half.

Indiana led by seven with 12:30 to go, but Minnesota kept fighting back behind Jamison Battle, who finished with 20 points and made four three-pointers. 

But in the final 6:22, Minnesota couldn't make a shot and Indiana had a chance. The Gophers were just 1-for-11 down the stretch and never scored again after Jamison made two free throws to give them a 57-54 lead with 3:20 to go.

Jackson-Davis scored on a dunk off a nice pass from Race Thompson, who got the start after missing two-plus weeks with a knee injury. That made it 57-56.

Thompson got fouled on a drive of his own with 43 seconds to go. He made the first to tie the game, but missed the second. Jackson-Davis was there to grab the rebound, though, and he put it back in to give the Hoosiers the lead.

At the other end, Ta'lon Cooper missed a shot for Minnesota, and Kopp went to the floor to chase down the loose ball. He grabbed it and called a quick timeout. Indiana got the ball inbounds, and Trey Galloway made two free throws to ice the game. 

Kopp, who finished with 11 points, got that big rebound to seal it.

"Credit Miller. He's had some clutch baskets for us and he was really engaged,'' Jackson-Davis said. "He's a great leader and he came here to make shots. He hustles, he plays defense, he's diving on the floor and he's so much more than just a catch-and-shoot shooter.

"At the end of the day, it was a group effort and we made a lot of stops when we needed to.''

The Hoosiers played without coach Mike Woodson, who had to miss the game because of COVID. Yasir Rosemond took over, and he got plenty of help from fellow assistants Kenya Hunter and Brian Walsh

"It's part of what Coach Woody preaches every day, that next man up mentality,'' Jackson-Davis said. "We didn't even know that Coach wouldn't be there tonight until this morning, but we all stuck together and got it one.

Indiana is 14-6 now and 5-4 in the Big Ten, the first time they have been over .500 in league play all year. 

This was a game they would have lost the past couple of years, so even winning ugly was a good thing.

The win was what mattered.

"Throughout my career we've struggled in games like this, and not closing them out,'' Jackson-Davis said. "We got it done, and that's what matters.''

The other three starters struggled to get much going offensively. Jalen Hood-Schifino was just 2-for-11 from the field and finished with six points. Galloway had five on 1-of-5 shooting and Thompson had four points on 1-of-4 shooting. Tamar Bates, who had 17 points on Sunday after two scoreless games, went 0-for-3 on Wednesday and failed to score.

Indiana is back in action again on Saturday night, when they take on Ohio State at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The game starts at 8 p.m. ET. 

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• WOODSON OUT WITH COVID: Indiana basketball will be without head coach Mike Woodson on Wednesday night at Minnesota as he recovers from COVID. CLICK HERE
• WHAT YASIR ROSEMOND SAID: For the first time in his college coaching career, Indiana assistant Yasir Rosemond had to call all the shots on Wednesday night at Minnesota after head coach Mike Woodson couldn't go because of COVID. He helped guide the Hoosiers to a 61-57 victory. Here is the transcript and video from his postgame press conference. CLICK HERE
• WHAT JACKSON-DAVIS SAID: It was another epic night for Indiana senior Trayce Jackson-Davis, who had 25 points, 21 rebounds and six blocked shots in the Hoosiers' 61-57 victory over Minnesota. Here is the video and transcript of his postgame press conference. CLICK HERE
• LIVE BLOG: Relive all the action in real time in Tom Brew's live blog straight from press row at Williams Arena. It was a nail-biter, for sure, but in the end the Hoosiers got their fourth-straight win. CLICK HERE
• WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS ALLEY-OOP: Trayce Jackson-Davis showed impressive athleticism to catch Jalen Hood-Schifino's alley-oop and slam it home in the second half against Minnesota. Watch the video highlight here. CLICK HERE
• WATCH HOOD-SCHIFINO'S REVERSE LAYUP: Indiana freshman point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino beat the Minnesota defense with an impressive up-and-under layup in the first half. Watch the video highlight here. CLICK HERE
• WATCH KOPP'S THREE-POINTER: Miller Kopp knocked down a pair of three-pointers to give Indiana an early lead over Minnesota on Wednesday. Watch the video highlight here. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is the full Indiana men's basketball schedule for the 2022-23 season, with dates, gametimes, TV information and more, plus links to all the stories for games played so far. CLICK HERE
• JACKSON-DAVIS SCORING LIST: Indiana senior Trayce Jackson-Davis continues to move up the Hoosiers' all-time scoring list. Here's the latest on where he is now, and who he's about to pass. We've got all 54 guys who've scored 1,000 points for more in their IU careers. CLICK HERE