Hoosiers prevail, improve to 3-0
By TYLER SMITH
ISL Editor
BLOOMINGTON, IND — Mike Woodson and Dane Fife on the sidelines. The roar of the Assembly Hall crowd. Things felt right again in Bloomington on Wednesday evening. And despite a rough night at the foul line, the Hoosiers prevailed with a 76-74 victory over a good St. John’s team.
Trayce Jackson-Davis led the way as he often does. He had 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and he became the 54th Hoosier to reach the 1,000 point club in the process.
“That crowd was electric,” Jackson-Davis said. “Big thanks to them. Last year, we lost a lot of games like that. Having the crowd behind us helped a lot.”
The Mike Woodson era is off to a 3-0 start, and the new IU coach has liked what he has seen. “I’ve got to do a better job when we get big leads like this,” Woodson said. “Similar to the Eastern Michigan game. But the beauty of it all, we didn’t crack under the pressure. I’m happy with our ball club, and where things stand.”
The Hoosiers led for nearly 38 minutes of the game, and responded both times the Red Storm came back to tie things up. Jordan Geronimo gave Indiana a huge lift with seven big points in a two minute stretch. Race Thompson played well with 15 points. And freshman Tamar Bates continues to impress- he chipped in 11 points.
The Hoosiers were just 10-of-19 from the foul line, which nearly cost them the dub. They’ll clearly need to improve in that area for conference play. But overall, St. John’s was a great early season test for a team that figures to play lots of physical, and close games throughout the season.
The depth of this Hoosiers team will be a strength. Sophomore Kristian Lander only played because of foul trouble and injuries, and he provided a spark in his minutes. Indiana has been going 10-deep early in the season, and they still have very capable players behind that group (Lander, Leal, Duncomb.)
“Trey (Galloway) will see some doctors. But if he’s out, it’s next man up,” Woodson said. “That’s the way I see it. We have a lot of guys, and I trust all of them if they’re given the opportunity to play.”
Hoosier nation- you were electric on Wednesday night, and it was incredibly refreshing. Assuming Indiana can win on Sunday against LA-Lafayatte, we might just see the Hoosiers crack the rankings for the first time since the 2018-2019 season.
Purchase IU tickets here this season- OnlyBloomingtonTickets.com
