(Photo Credit: IndianaHQ)
BLOOMINGTON, IN — The Hoosiers walk away Thursday evening victorious 96-62 against the University of Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles. Indiana rolled with the punches even with a number of minor injuries that created novel lineups for Archie Miller. Devonte Green, Race Thompson, and Jerome Hunter were all held out of competition. Al Durham suffered a minor injury in today’s skirmish and was forced to walk into the locker room at halftime. He did not return back on the court.
Interestingly enough, the story of the evening was the play of Robert Phinisee, Justin Smith, and Damezi Andersonand less about senior Juwan Morgan and freshman Romeo Langford. (Not to take away from their performances.)
Robert Phinisee truly was the best player on the court for the first half. With Devonte Green sitting out, Phinisee conducted Archie’s offense and showed his maturity as a freshman. He played controlled, did not attempt any home run plays, and found seams to cut to the basket at opportunistic times. He finished the first half with a game high 10 points. For the game, he finished with 13 points, 4 assists, and most importantly 0 turnovers.
In the second half, the attack was much more balanced. A number of players hit a barrage of threes, led by freshman Damezi Anderson who hit 4 of 6 from behind the arc. Anderson ended up leading Indiana in scoring and made all 14 of his points in the second half.
McRoberts, Jager, and Fitzner contributed to the distance shooting.
Justin Smith and Juwan Morgan had incredible athletic plays during the game. Exposing the differences between a high major team like Indiana and a Division II team like Southern Indiana, the pair towered over opponents for blocks, dunks, etc.
