LIVE BLOG: Follow Indiana's Game with Texas in Real Time
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Hello everyone and welcome back to the Harrah's Cherokee Center here in beautiful downtown Asheville. It's time for the semifinals of the Maui Invitational, with Indiana taking on No. 17 Texas in the first semifinal.
It's No. 14 North Carolina and Stanford in the second game, which should start around 4 p.m. ET. Both games are on ESPN. We'll keep you up-to-date on everything that goes on through the game, with the news and some opinion thrown in.
So here we go:
Here's the link to Tom Brew's column after the Texas game. Sure, that offense was horrible, but it's also just one game. ––— CLICK HERE
Here's the link to the full game story –—— CLICK HERE
3:30 – It's a final. Texas wins 66-44. Horrible offensive effort from the Hoosiers.
3:20 — Here's a bad sign. Senior guard Al Durham goes down hard on a drive to the basket. Looks like he rolled his ankle pretty bad. He's scored eight points today on 2-for-7 shooting and he's 4-for-5 from the line. Losing him would be tough. Indiana's guards haven't really done much so far this season, but he's been the best of the bunch.
3:16 — Lead up to 23 now. Not good.
3:05 — Indiana just can't find a way to score easily. Trail by 17 now, 46-29. Just 2-for-8 in the second half now, and everything is tough to come by.
2:53 —First media timeout of the second half, and Texas leads 38-27. This next little four-minute stretch is going to be big. Need to get it back into single digits. All 27 of Indiana's points have come from the starting five. Bench guys — Trey Galloway, Jerome Hunter and Khristian Lander — are a combined 0-for-6 from the field.
2:50 — Finally, a transition basket for Indiana as Trayce Jackson-Davis scores to make it 36-24. This is a game where the Hoosiers really need to get some easy baskets, and it hasn't been happening. Only two points in transition in the first half.
MY TWO CENTS: When Indiana was at its worst last season, it was in game where no one could make a shot. That's happening here so far against Texas, a quick and long team that's not giving them any easy looks. IU is just 5-for-23 from the field for just 21.7 percent, and 0-for-4 from the three-point line. Also, nine turnovers don't help. First five minutes of the second half are going to be critical.
HALFTIME: We're at the turn and it's Texas 31, Indiana 19. It's the worst of five halves that the Hoosiers have played thus far this season, and it's not even close.
2:13 — The first two games of the season, it’s been the Trayce and Race show for Indiana. But today both big men are struggling and their numbers are ugly so far. They are a combined 1-for-7 so far. Need to finish better at the rim. Texas leads 25-13 with 3:39 to go in the half.
2:08 — Texas starting to pull away here after a three-pointer. Archie Miller calls timeout with Texas up 23-11. Indiana getting decent shots, just not making them.
2:02 - Indiana is just 4-for-17 from the field so far only 23%. And they have missed all four three-pointers. No wonder they’ve only scored 11 points in the first 12 minutes. Amazingly they are only behind 15-11.
1:50 — indiana’s defense has been very good. They have already induced three traveling calls with good on-ball pressure. Both team struggling to score right now and at the second media timeout, with 11:45 to go in the first half it’s Texas 8 and Indiana 6.
1:44 — If you were wondering, here’s my view of the game.
Indiana-Texas semifinal.
1:37 — Indiana is very sloppy early here out of the gate. Turning it over a few times too many. At the first media time out it’s 8-3 Texas. The Longhorns are much more aggressive defensively than Providence was yesterday, and that might take a little getting used to. Al Durham as Indiana is only basket.
MY TWO CENTS @ 1:20 — The first two games this season have been about Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson dominating, but this game is about the guards for Indiana. Texas has an experienced and explosive backcourt, and it's going to be up to the Hoosiers to match them stride for stride. Rob Phinisee's been a little quiet so far, and it'll be a good day for him to get going. Al Durham got hot in the second half, and Indiana needs that to carry over.
1:10 – There's been enormous response to my column this morning ripping Bill Walton and wondering why ESPN still has him doing games. The best line from a reader? "Great column, Tom. I'm deaf, but he is so bad that I even have to turn off my closed captioning.'' The link to the column is below.
1:05 p.m. ET — Indiana is the home team on the bracket today, so they'll be wearing the white uniforms. Here's the link to my story earlier about how to watch and some notes on what I'd like to see. CLICK HERE
1 p.m. ET — It's another beautiful day in Asheville. Chilly, but plenty of sunshine and just the occasional snow flurry in this western North Carolina mountain city. I didn't know it was the childhood home of North Carolina coach Roy Williams until I got here. They've done a nice job of hosting and running a tight ship in terms of keeping everyone safe and COVID free. That, I appreciate.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- BILL WALTON NEEDS TO GO: Publisher Tom Brew wonders why ESPN still has Bill Walton doing games. He was awful on Monday's broadcast and he needs to go. CLICK HERE
- THOMPSON CHANGES HIS GAME: It's Race Thompson's fourth year at Indiana, and his time has finally arrived. He has a new body and, even more importantly, new-found confidence that he can play at a high level. Tom Brew column. CLICK HERE
- GAME 2, INDIANA BEATS PROVIDENCE: Indiana dominates on the boards and runs away from Providence in the first round of the Maui Invitational. CLICK HERE
- GAME 1, INDIANA BEATS TENNESSEE TECH: In the Hoosiers' season-opener in Assembly Hall, Trayce Jackson-Davis scores 26 points to lead IU to an 89-59 victory over Tennessee Tench. CLICK HERE
- COMPLETE INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is the full Indiana basketball schedule for the 2020-21 season, including links to stories on games already played. CLICK HERE
