Freshman Tracker: St. John's

1. Thomas Bryant

Bryant had a season-high 19 points and was the second leading scorer for the Hoosiers, behind Yogi Ferrell with 22 points. Bryant went 7 for 9 from the field and 5 for 7 in free throws. In his five games with IU, Bryant is averaging 73.5 percent in field goals. He only had three rebounds in his 22 minutes of play, also adding an assist, turnover and block.

In the first half, Bryant led IU in scoring with 15 points. He played more aggressively and showed some hustle moving up and down the court that he didn’t have against Wake Forest. Overall, he looked more active on both offense and defense, again using his favorite move with the baseline spin. Bryant was out-rebounded by teammates Ferrell, Collin Hartman and Troy Williams but he seemed ready to play today. Most of his action came in the first half, but he was able to find the energy and emotion that he lacked on Monday night.

St. John’s didn’t have anyone for Bryant to really compete with, and after only scoring eight points against Wake Forest in IU’s first loss of the season, Bryant needed a game to pick himself back up before he could move forward. IU will face UNLV on Wednesday for fifth place. UNLV’s freshman center, Stephen Zimmerman, will be a tough matchup for Bryant and the Hoosiers will need Bryant to show up ready to go in terms of rebounds and scoring down low.

Although Bryant has high expectations and has proven he is a valuable piece to the team, he is still a freshman and he will have his fair share of good games and bad games until he is able to find a level of consistency through his offensive and defensive play as the season progresses.

2. Juwan Morgan

Morgan found himself checking in early as the second sub off the bench to play 11 minutes on Tuesday. He had two points, going 1 for 2 in field goals, and also added one offensive rebound. This is the most playing time Morgan has seen so far this season, however he still doesn’t have a huge presence on the floor.

Whether he played because he deserved it or he played because Coach Tom Crean was punishing Williams, he did well. He looked more relaxed on the court than he did last week against Creighton. Collin Hartman subbed in for Morgan, after being whistled for his only foul of the game. Morgan went back in the game for Williams six minutes later, in the first half.

In the second half, Morgan took James Blackmon Jr.’s place after Blackmon Jr. committed his third personal foul. It was in the second half that Morgan had his only shot attempts, points and rebound.

The fact that he was ready to go when called upon is something to be noted about Morgan. Crean sat two of his starters with Blackmon Jr. and Williams and this allowed for Morgan to have a chance in the game. Without much of an impact for the freshman, Morgan didn’t necessarily do much of anything that was either right or wrong.

3. IU freshman O.G. Anunoby, Harrison Niego and Quentin Taylor didn’t see any playing time against St. John’s.