Recap: A look back at Indiana-Bellarmine

So what did we learn from Indiana’s second exhibition game, a 73-62 victory over Bellarmine Monday night at Assembly Hall?

Quite a bit actually.

Here are a few of my observations following an IU victory that really wasn’t in doubt for more than about the first 5 minutes.

***** WHEN INDIANA IS COMMITTED ON THE DEFENSIVE END, THIS TEAM CAN BE REALLY GOOD: When Al Davis hit a jump shot with 14:31 to play in the first half, Bellarmine had cut the lead to 9-7. A couple of the Knights’ first buckets seemed a little too easy, and the Hoosiers were scoring their points early off of second chance points. A follow jam by Thomas Bryant off a missed James Blackmon Jr. 3-pointer was one of those buckets and another was on a follow shot by Troy Williams that was actually the fourth shot that IU got on that offensive possession.

But that’s when Indiana went on an 18-0 run. Over the next eight minutes and 14 seconds, Bellarmine wouldn’t score. It would miss all seven of its field goal attempts and turn the ball over five times. Indiana’s defense was turned up and the Knights were having difficulty getting off any kind of a shot. One of those turnovers, with 7:17 to play in the half, was a 30-second shot clock violation. Also included in that run was a tremendous blocked shot by Williams where he had the presence of mind to go and get the ball and throw a rifled pass to Blackmon streaking for a layup on the other end. That play made it 22-7. The lead would increase to 20 points at 27-7 before Rusty Troutman would score for Bellarmine with 6:17 to play in the half.

This is what Tom Crean had to say about IU’s defense in that 18-0 run.

“We challenged everything,’’ Crean said. “And when we were late in rotation we got great shot challenges. We rebounded the ball and we did a really good job of not over helping. We played the rules that we had on a couple of guys. We didn’t try and have it on midseason form with what our rules were on a couple of players. And I thought they did a good job of that. But I give Scott a lot of credit for what he did in the second half. He came out and spread the court. Our length and our quickness was more of a factor in the first half and then he really stretched us out which made our communication especially on the ball screen become a real factor. And it exposed us a little bit so we’ve got to get better. But I thought we did a very good job of being aggressive, we had a ton of deflections in that time span and we came down and got really good shots on the offensive end.’’

***** BELLARMINE IS ONE OF THE BEST NCAA DIVISION II PROGRAMS IN THE NATION AND IT SHOWED: This is a Bellarmine team that is ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation in the preseason rankings in one poll, No. 4 in another and No. 5 in a third. The Knights were 31-4 a year ago and in exhibition play this season are 0-3 with losses to Indiana, Louisville (71-55) and Cincinnati (81-60).

This is what Bellarmine head coach Scott Davenport had to say about the game.

“What a courageous effort,’’ Davenport said. “We outscored them by 12 points in the last 24 minutes of the game. I am so proud because our guys never stopped for one second. We played 40 minutes. … Our goal tonight was to play with great poise in one of the best venues in the country, and we did it for 40 minutes. It was an absolute A-plus for us tonight, they are really, really good. When they shoot the ball, and score with that kind of dynamic it makes it really tough to defend. These three games, I’m the luckiest coach in the world to have three institutions like Louisville, Cincinnati and Indiana allow us to play in their tremendous venues. But I know this, this made our basketball team better.’’

This is what Davenport had to say about Yogi Ferrell and Troy Williams, who combined to score 41 of Indiana’s 73 points. Ferrell led IU with 21 points and also had eight rebounds. Williams had 20 points and eight rebounds. The two combined to hoist 30 of IU’s 58 shots. They also had seven of IU’s 13 turnovers. Ferrell hit 5 of 9 from beyond the 3-point arc.

“You can challenge them,’’ Davenport said. “You can get them off a spot. You can try to get them. They make great shots. Yogi Ferrell played 33 minutes and you can tell his is a senior All-American. He is a great basketball player. He knows when to push the gas and when to back off. That basketball is in good shape when it is in his hands. They showed that down the stretch.’’

As for the IU defense, this is what Davenport had to say.

“I thought their perimeter defense was great,’’ Davenport said. “As for inside, we did not do a good job of getting the ball inside so I cannot answer that. I thought the second half we tried to make be more aggressive by making them chase after the basketball.’’

***** THERE ARE PLENTY OF AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT HEADING INTO FRIDAY’S REGULAR SEASON OPENER WITH EASTERN ILLINOIS: Indiana didn’t shoot the ball particularly well Monday, especially in the first half. IU was 12 of 32 in the first half, 37.5 percent. In the second half IU was 13 of 26 for an even 50 percent. The Hoosiers, with the exception of Ferrell, struggled from beyond the arc. IU was 8 of 25 from 3. Take away Yogi’s 5 of 9 and IU was 3 of 16 from distance.

Indiana also seemed to lose focus after getting out to the early 20-point lead. Bellarmine was able to climb back into it and actually cut the lead to seven at 38-31 early in the second half. This is what Ferrell had to say when asked what he thought was going well and where he thought IU needed to improve at this point.

“I feel like one great this we have is when we have a mindset to want to get a stop, we’re going to get it and that carries on throughout the whole game,’’ Ferrell said. “We take pride on getting three stops in a row. We had 11 stops in a row at one point in this game. So when we have that mindset that we need to get a stop, I feel like we can get it. But with that, you know, we don’t keep that same mindset the entire game and if we don’t keep that same mindset, then teams like Bellarmine are going to gain confidence and guys are going to think they can score on us and that’s definitely not something we want to do.

“I’d say offensively I feel like we’re doing a great job moving the ball but we definitely need to cut down on turnovers. But I feel like offensively we’re sharing the ball very well.’’

NOTE: Beginning this week at BtownBanners, we hope to start having daily basketball stories. Prior to game we’ll have a Scouting Report that Derek Dant will do on the opposing team. On game day, we’ll have a story from Larry Small that looks at the keys to that game. After every game we’ll have analysis from different people and different angles. Hopefully, we’ll provide you with the kind of content you’re looking for.