RECAP: Big wins for the Colts, Hoosiers, and Pacers
By TYLER SMITH, ADAM RIPBERGER, AND CALEB LYNN
Despite a late scare, the Indianapolis Colts got the job done to earn a playoff berth. The Hoosiers used a big second half to win their second straight game. And the Pacers put together an improbable comeback to defeat the Pelicans. Recap and thoughts:
Behind Trayce and Race, Hoosiers win. -By Caleb Lynn
In the Big Ten Conference, every win is a big win. For the Indiana Hoosiers, they need to win on the block with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson. On Monday, they were able to defeat the Maryland Terrapins 63-55 and win on their terms behind a huge second half.
Sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis, who Kenpom has as the third-ranked player for national player of the year, put on a show. He went for a 22 point and 15 rebound performance to where it seemed he was un-guardable.
“The rebounding was huge,” Head Coach Archie Miller said. “When Trayce and Race rebound like that offensively and defensively, we are a much better team.”
Race Thompson, Jackson-Davis’s frontcourt mate, also showed his tremendous development in this game. He picked up his second double-double in his career with 13 points and 11 rebounds which is always a sign the Hoosiers are playing well. Everything is moving in the right direction for him.
“Race Thompson probably had one of the best games of the season,” Miller said.
In this type of game, there was a potential for a lot of second-chance rebounds against Maryland. They have always been a strong team on the offensive glass according to Miller. This is a game where the boys needed to play like men, and Miller loved how the two played on the glass.
“Tonight, was a big guy rebounding game,” Miller said. “You know our big guys did a good job. Trayce had 11 defensive rebounds and Race had seven. Those guys got 18 defensive rebounds between the two of them and that was really important.”
Jackson-Davis did not play the greatest first half. He started the game shooting 0-4, and it looked like he was not going to get his way. But things changed in the 2nd half.
“He is a guy that really thinks about the game coming in,” Miller said. “He was worried about the doubles and told me it was coming, and he finished awkwardly. But halftime, he was fine. He basically said he was ready to go.”
After this win, the Indiana Hoosiers moved to 7-4 and they will play at Wisconsin Thursday. They will probably be without sophomore starter Armaan Franklin who suffered an ankle injury in Monday’s win.
Colts have “Taylor-made” day, earn a playoff berth. -By Adam Ripberger
Before any of the games started on Sunday, the Colts were on the outside looking into the playoff picture. They needed a win against the Jaguars, and then a loss from either the Browns, Ravens, Dolphins, or Titans. The Dolphins were the only team of that group to fall, but that’s all the Colts needed to be able to control their own destiny.
The Colts were able to defeat the Jaguars 28-14, after getting off to an early 20-0 start. The Jaguars made things interesting, cutting the lead to 20-14, but the Colts did enough to hang on in the end. The defense wasn’t great all day and Phillip Rivers didn’t have his best game, but they played well enough to get the win and bring the team back to the postseason after missing the playoffs last year.
The story of the game though, was the presence of rookie running back Jonathan Taylor. Taylor came out scorching hot rushing for more than 100 yards in the 1st quarter and proceeding to set the franchise record for rushing yards in a game at 253, previously held by the great Edgerrin James at 219 yards. Taylor slashed the Jaguars defense all day having multiple runs of 20+ yards and capping off his historic game with a 46-yard touchdown run to ice the game late in the 4th quarter. Taylor also eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark this season, something a Colts running back hasn’t done for quite some time. The Colts will certainly need his performance to carry over next week in the wild card round of the playoffs.
The Colts now know they will be the 7th seed in the playoffs and will travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills in the opening round of the playoffs next weekend. Buffalo finished as one of the best teams this year and with a record of 13-3. Bills quarterback Josh Allen has had a career year and the Colts defense will certainly have their work cut out for them in trying to stop the Buffalo offense. If the Colts have one thing going for them, it is their strong running game and defense that if they play well and cause some turnovers, they will have a chance to upset the Bills.
Noteworthy comments:
Earlier this week, Phillip Rivers was asked about this being his last game as a Colt and possibly last career game, and Rivers acknowledged that he had thought about it. He also noted that he hopes it would not be last game and for the time being, Rivers will get at least one more game as a Colt in his career. The Colts will have some tough decisions to make in the offseason, as both Rivers and backup Jacoby Brissett will be free agents, along with T.Y. Hilton and running back Marlon Mack. Albeit Rivers had a great season, he is 39 and isn’t the future in Indianapolis, Hilton came on late and played great, but injuries are a concern and with the emergence of Jonathan Taylor and production from Nyheim Hines, where does Mack fit in with the running game? All of these are question’s the Colts will have to answer sooner rather than later, but for the time being, they can focus on Buffalo and getting a playoff win next weekend. The game will kick off next Saturday Jan. 9th at 1:05 and can be seen on CBS.
Pacers stun Pelicans. -By Tyler Smith
The Pacers trailed by 10 with just over 2 minutes to play. They trailed by six with a little over 20 seconds remaining. And somehow… they came out victorious. Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner, and Malcolm Brogdon made multiple winning plays to end regulation and in Overtime, and the Pacers improved to 5-2 on the young season. Chris Denari shared an incredible stat after the game- Teams that trailed by six points or more with under 25 seconds left on the clock were 2-8014 in the past 10 seasons. Here were some of my favorite post-game quotes from the team after the big win Monday night:
