Rutgers Continues Mastery Over Indiana With 63-48 Beatdown in Big Ten Opener
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PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Indiana has made it look easy during its 7-0 start to the season, but everything was hard on Saturday when the Hoosiers opened their Big Ten campaign with an ugly 63-48 loss to Rutgers.
Every. Darn. Thing.
The No. 10-ranked Hoosiers did very little right on Saturday. Playing without freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, who was out with a lower back injury, the Hoosiers struggled mightily to shoot the ball, and got crushed on the boards, especially early in the game. They couldn't figure out double teams in the post and got nothing from their bench — and even a couple of starters.
It all added up to the sixth-straight win for Rutgers over the Hoosiers in this series, and it was the sixth straight year that the Hoosiers have dropped their first Big Ten road game.
It hoisted up the first red flag of the season that this team will still have their struggles shooting the ball. But what was even worse was getting crushed on the glass so bad, especially early. Rutgers won the boards battle 47-33 and had 17 offensive rebounds, including 13 in the first 13 minutes that set the tone for the game.
Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (23) passes the ball against Rutgers forward Mawot Mag (3) on Saturday. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)
''We just got out-toughed from start to finish,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "It was just the extra opportunities that we gave them. It's tough to win on the road, and we need everybody well to win.
"We've been shooting it pretty well, but tonight we couldn't throw it in the ocean. We just didn't knock them down. It's not the first time we've seen defenses like that. We just didn't make them tonight. It takes effort to block out and rebound the basketball and we just didn't do that tonight. That's an area where we've got to get better as a team.''
There was really nothing positive about the entire afternoon, outside of Miller Kopp's shooting. He led the Hoosiers with 21 points, who 8-for-12 from the field and 5-for-9 from three. Trayce Jackson-Davis, harassed constantly with double- and triple-teams, had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The rest of roster was downright brutal. The other eight players shot a combined 4-for-33 from the field and 1-for-16 from three. That's 12.1 percent from the field and 6.2 percent from three.
Stunningly horrible.
"Our offense was awful tonight,'' Woodson said. "I thought we had some good looks. Teams are going to play Trayce that way and we've got to make shots. This is my first trip to Rutgers, and it wasn't real pleasant. They have great fan support here, but it's that way everywhere you go in the Big Ten. We have to muster up a way to get some wins on the road.''
Junior guard Trey Galloway started for Hood-Schifino. He played 30-plus minutes and didn't score a single point. He was 0-for-3 from the field and missed both free throw attempts. Starting forward Race Thompson, a sixth-year player, played 17 minutes and didn't score either, missing four shots, including three three-pointers. He's now 2-for-16 from the season from deep.
The bench was completely ineffective, too. The five bench players were a combined 2-for-15 shooting. Tamar Bates was 1-for-7 from the floor, and Jordan Geronimo was 0-for-5. The bench played a combined 48 minutes and scored only six points
''This is the first time we've played a game without (Hood-Schifino) and we had guys fill in,'' Woodson said. "My theme has always been next man up, but we just didn't have it tonight. You've got to give a lot of credit to Rutgers.''
Kopp hit three threes early to keep Indiana close, but Rutgers went on a mini-run and led by seven at halftime.
Indiana got back-to-back threes from Xavier Johnson and Kopp to tie the game at 33-33 with 15:04 to go. Kopp hit another jumper to give the Hoosiers a 37-35 lead, but then Rutgers went on a 17-0 run where Indiana went more than six minutes without scoring. The Hoosiers never got closer than nine the rest of the way.
Rutgers was very aggressive in going after Jackson-Davis. It made for a long night for the Indiana offense. The 48 points were the fewest in the Mike Woodson era.
"Its tough because I'm used to doubles really, but they were really honing in,'' Jackson-Davis said. "They were sending two guys there and then they had one at the rim and I think I rushed things a bit sometimes, a few turnovers, but at the same time I just feel like shots just weren't falling tonight for us.
"We had a lot of in and outs and sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way, but I think that overall, it wasn't really our offense. Our offense did kill us, but at the same time, defensively rebounding the ball was the biggest factor in the game."
No one expected Indiana to win every game this season, but this loss was hard to swallow because of the way it looked. The Hoosiers lost 14 games in Woodson's first season a year ago, and this looked eerily familiar. Xavier Johnson did some nice things, but he was also 2-for-11 shooting with six turnovers against Rutgers' stifling defense.
And when he was out, Indiana had no chance of running any kind of offense, Throw in the ''effort'' issues on the boards, and there's a lot to learn from this loss.
"I think it's just how we respond,'' Jackson-Davis said when asked about what they'll learn most from the loss. "We have Nebraska on Wednesday (at Assembly Hall), and so we just have to have a good week of practice because we cannot compound these things.
"A loss hurts, but at the same time what you love about college basketball is that you've got another game three days away."
