INDIANAPOLIS, Ind – The Indiana Hoosiers defeated the Butler Bulldogs in the Crossroads Classic 68-60 behind stellar performances from sophomore Armaan Franklin and Trayce Jackson-Davis. A strong second half defensive push allowed IU to take control of the game and walk away victorious.
“To start the game, we weren’t ready for the physicality,” head coach Archie Miller said. “We just had to really come together at halftime, not a whole lot of X’s and O’s … in the second half we came out with a much better approach.”
Sophomore standouts Armaan Franklin and Trayce Jackson-Davis led the way offensively for the Hoosiers as they combined for 41 of the total 68 points scored while both playing 36 minutes.
Franklin finished with a career-high 20 points while also racking up three assists and two rebounds.
Both players had high praise for one another after their career performances against the Bulldogs.
“Armaan has always been a great player,” Jackson-Davis said. “I already knew he was capable of doing all of these things and all of the work he has put in is starting to show out here. He’s become a really really good guard.”
“Being a dominant force in college basketball right now, I’m happy for him and I’m proud of him,” Franklin said. “We both know we still go things to work on to get better and get more wins.”
Indiana’s second half defensive pressure led to them outscoring Butler 36-23 after halftime. IU was able to force turnovers that led to easy transition baskets and open looks. Looks that they were able to knock down consistently.
“We were able to do a much better job of being tougher inside and we also did a much better job at giving correct help when we needed to,” Miller said. “I thought very early in the first four minutes of the second half we got our confidence going because we were able to get some stops.”
IU moves to 5-2 within the non-conference portion of their schedule and will open up their Big Ten conference schedule as they host the Northwestern Wildcats on December 23 at 8:30 PM EST.
