It sort of ended how I figured it would. The 15 point win is not indicative of how close the game was throughout. I was expecting it to be closer though.
At the beginning, IU got off to a slow start, as has been their tradition this season, with the exception of the Evansville and NC State games. Michigan State had a 17 point lead at one point, and I was having strong urges to off myself. It seemed like IU was horribly failing at every aspect of the game -- they were stagnant on offense, they made poor decisions on both sides of the ball, they weren't aggressive enough defensively, and they couldn't hit any shot they took. It didn't help that Michigan State made essentially every shot they took, but that was in part due to IU's awful defense and in part due to the fact that Michigan State is a really good team.
Then, near the end of the first half, it was a complete reversal. IU had three straight unanswered three-pointers that was the beginning of a huge run to cut it to a seven point halftime deficit. All things considered, I liked the way they looked. They started playing aggressively, and they found ways to penetrate Michigan State's defense. The run continued into the second half, and at one point, IU was up by around 10. It was an incredibly impressive run -- the run was 25-2, and to do that anywhere is impressive, and to do it in the Breslin Center is even more impressive.
And just as quickly as it began, it was over. The roles reversed again, and MSU looked like the MSU from the beginning of the first half, and IU looked like the IU of the first half. No offense, lackluster defense, poor shooting. Like I said before, the 15 point victory is a little misleading, but it was still a convincing win for Michigan State.
Some positives from the game:
1. Christian Watford. He was IU's offense tonight, going for 26 points, four shy of his career high. He was 4-6 from three-point territory and added 10 rebounds for his second straight double-double. He was an absolute monster on the defensive glass and lessened Michigan State's second chance opportunities. I think that he has the potential to be first team All-Big Ten -- maybe not this year, but he has consistently produced for this team and is the guy that people should be talking about but aren't. He has vastly improved his inside game and his footwork, and he hits the open three-pointer with ease at this point. Watford needs to keep producing for this team to be successful.
2. Verdell Jones III. Verdell's stats weren't outrageously good, but he provided good leadership and hit big shots. He looked like the Verdell of his sophomore year (his most productive year) and hopefully this game can be a stepping stone to bigger and better things for the senior. His mid-range game, which is his strength, looked good tonight, and he handled the ball well for the most part. If Verdell can step into his role as a senior leader for the rest of the year and keep hitting mid-range shots, he will be successful and help this team.
3. Shutting down Draymond Green. Green has been the man for Michigan State this year, and Watford outplayed him on nearly every aspect of the game. Green was below his season averages in points and rebounds, which is mostly due to Watford's defense. This goes back to Watford having a good game, but shutting down Green is definitely a positive.
4. Rebounding. Again, this relates to Watford, but as a whole, IU matched Michigan State in rebounding totals and outrebounded them by 5 on the offensive glass. Michigan State was 6th in the nation in rebounding coming into tonight, so to match them is a good sign going forward that they are improving rebounding-wise, especially since Cody Zeller only managed 3 rebounds.
Some negatives from the game:
1. Cody Zeller. This is obviously the biggest reason why IU lost tonight. Zeller has averaged over 17 points and 7 rebounds so far this season, and managed only 4 points and 3 rebounds tonight. It was a wake-up call for the freshman, and maybe brought IU fans back to Earth a little bit. He's obviously an incredible talent, but he has a lot of work to do. It's going to be even more difficult next week, because I have to assume that he'll be playing against Jared Sullinger in a few days, which will be his biggest challenge yet. The biggest thing I'm noticing with Zeller is that he is not aggressive enough offensively. It seems like he is just waiting for someone to give him the ball instead of demanding it. He's a freshman, and he definitely has a lot of room to grow, but he needs to start upping his aggressiveness and intensity on the offensive end. Otherwise, the Big Ten is going to eat him alive.
2. Jordan Hulls. I think this was just one of those games where nothing went right for Hulls. None of his shots were falling, and he usually hits almost every shot he takes. It didn't really seem like he was doing anything wrong, but IU is not going to win any games where Hulls is only 2-10 from the field and doesn't make any three-pointers at all. I'm pretty confident he can bounce back, because he's too good of a shooter to make me believe otherwise. Hopefully he's back on his game against Ohio State.
3. The bench. Apart from Matt Roth for a brief period and Tom Pritchard defensively, none of the IU bench players did anything to impact the game positively for the Hoosiers. Elston was coming off an injury, but I'm not really sure how much it affected him and Remy Abell might as well have not played. They really missed Will Sheehey tonight, and hopefully he'll be back for the Ohio State game. Abell and Elston are a lot better than they played tonight, and I think they'll have a bounce-back game against Ohio State, assuming that Abell gets some minutes.
There are other negatives, but since nobody's going to read this anyway, I won't go into them. Basically, tonight has shown us a few things. First of all, IU needs Cody Zeller and Jordan Hulls to have good games in order to win. If Hulls isn't hitting jumpers and Zeller is a non-factor, it is going to be a long season for IU. But with all things considered, I think IU has a lot to take from this game. They were going toe-to-toe with a ranked team on the road with two of their starters being non-factors, including their best player. Will Sheehey, a key guy off the bench and one of IU's best scorers, didn't play. The bench was quiet. They made a lot of mistakes. But they fought back at the end of the first half and made it a close game. I think this game will help IU down the road, since they played in one of the toughest environments in the Big Ten. It will be interesting to see how they bounce back against Ohio State, especially Zeller.
The countdown to IU-Ohio State begins...now.
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