It will go into the record book as a victory.
For much of the game in Evanston, Indiana looked like it was going to fall to a Northwest team that had lost nine consecutive games.
After defeating No. 8 Iowa on Sunday, the statistic that continued to resurface was Indiana’s 2-9 record after defeating an opponent in the top 25 in Archie Miller’s term. Everything about Indiana’s game on Wednesday pointed to 2-10, with the Hoosiers falling into deficits at the end of the regulation and in the first overtime.
If Indiana had been in the same situation for a month, they probably would have fallen short.
Instead, the Hoosiers escaped what would have been an atrocious defeat and achieved a 79-76 victory in the double overtime. It was a game that Indiana shouldn’t have won anyway. But they did, thanks to the clutch moves in the final stretch of Armaan Franklin, Al Durham and a huge 3-point game by Jerome Hunter.
“This one puts a smile on my face more than any of them, just because we had to go to find out to do that,” said IU coach Archie Miller after the game. “You don’t win today if you’re not together, if you’re not brave, if you’re not obstinate.”
Here are five lessons from victory:
• Armaan Franklin and Al Durham lead Indiana to victory: Indiana’s defense court of Armaan Franklin and Al Durham combined 47 of Indiana’s 79 points, including 7 of 13 beyond the 3-point line. Franklin and Durham hit one shot after another, while the rest of Indiana’s attack fell.
When the Hoosiers fell by seven, with less than two minutes to go, Durham hit five free throws in less than a minute to pull Indiana to two points. Durham then launched a shot with 24 seconds remaining to tie the game and eventually send it into overtime.
In the first extra period, Franklin scored ten points, including seven free throws. Durham also recovered, hitting a shot just inside the three-point arc to tie the game with less than two seconds to go and send him into double overtime.
“I really think that lately we have been doing a better job of execution at the end of the game just so that we can have a chance,” said Miller. “I think that so many times in overtime in previous games that we had difficulty executing, we had difficulty getting a quality kick.”
Appropriately, Durham hit four free throws in the second overtime and froze the game with three seconds remaining.
“We needed this victory,” said Durham. “I feel that this victory was very important for us because we were unable to add two. We were unable to tie two. “
• Free throw shooting becomes a deciding factor: Indiana has had its share of line fights this season. Earlier this year, Miller compared the lack of free throws to essentially a spin.
To start the game, the Hoosiers were terrible at the line, making only 2 of 8 in the first half. Trayce Jackson-Davis and Rob Phinisee lost a pair.
But Indiana improved in the second half, making it 10 of 14 attempts from the track. Then, Indiana appeared in both overtime.
Franklin made 7 of 8 in the first overtime. In the second overtime, Phinisee and Jerome Hunter hit two and Durham knocked down four more. Towards the end of the game, the Hoosiers converted 14 of the last 15 free throws.
One of Indiana’s downfalls in the first half became its redeeming quality in the clutch.
• Indiana has a horrible offensive performance: This offensive performance may have been the worst in Indiana since the game against Texas, where he scored just 44 points. If it wasn’t too bad, it was close.
The Hoosiers scored just 20 points in the first half with only four players contributing. Franklin and Durham had eight each and Jackson-Davis and Jordan Geronimo each had two. Indiana was only 7 out of 29 on the field.
The second part was not much better. Indiana hit 11 out of 33 on the field and scored 2 out of 6 out of 3 points. Race Thompson scored seven points, while Franklin and Durham carried the load. But in addition to these three, there were many mistakes.
The Hoosiers ended the game with 8 of 16 layups and scoring just one point for possession.
• Trayce Jackson-Davis does not dominate and Rob Phinisee continues to fight: Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds, but it was not a factor in most of the game. He was constantly chased by the great Northwestern men in situations of isolation.
In the first half, Jackson-Davis kicked just 1 out of 6 from the floor and had a plus / minus -5. He contributed six points in the second half, but was far from being the dominant player Indiana needs him to be.
There was nothing special about the Northwest frontline and Jackson-Davis couldn’t get into any kind of rhythm.
Then there was Phinisee, who was an enigma all season. In 32 minutes of action on Wednesday, Phinisee scored just two points and scored 2 out of 5 on the free-throw line and 0 out of 4 beyond the arc. He, however, had five assists and his two free throws were extremely important.
Phinisee’s veteran bodyguard in Durham has done his part recently, but Phinisee has yet to get the rhythm right.
• Turnover becomes a major problem: Indiana’s inability to take care of the ball almost made them lose the game on Wednesday. Miller constantly reiterated the importance of his team holding on to the rock.
In the first half, the Wildcats turned seven Hoosier turns into eight points. Indiana coughed six more times in the second half, leading to another 11 points from Northwestern.
Many of the losses have been corrected. There were many wrong passes and communication failures. Franklin ended with four turnovers, while Jackson-Davis, Durham and Khristian Lander each had a pair.
In the end, however, Indiana was able to overcome all mistakes.
“We kind of fight it all the time defensively,” said Miller. “Even when we gave up on some late runs, we managed to find a way to get it back.”
(Photo: IU Athletics)
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