(Photo Credit: IndianaHQ)
BLOOMINGTON, IN — The ASUN’s Jacksonville University Dolphins visited Indiana after an offensive shootout with Notre Dame earlier in the week. The Dolphins put up 74 points against the Irish, which was unfortunately not enough to take down the 60% shooting Notre Dame team.
Tonight Jacksonville faced a much stingier Hoosier defense who held them to just 29 points in the first half and Jacksonville finished the game with 64 – good for 0.90 points per possession. Juwan Morgan led the Indiana offense and defense early in the game. After 7 minutes of gametime, Juwan Morgan racked up an efficient 4 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. He would then make Indiana history, scoring the second ever Indiana University triple-double behind Steve Downing. In his 30 minutes, he tallied the most efficient triple-double with 10 points (5 of 5 shooting), 10 assists, and 10 rebounds.
Morgan played like the captain and senior of the team. In the paint, Juwan cleanly battled and won against the frontcourt of Jacksonville University. In situations where Juwan received the double team, he relied on his court vision to facilitate the offense and open up for other players on the Indiana roster.
When De’Ron Davis got injured in the first half, Juwan Morgan had to settle with a quick breather, but he picked up right where he left off. He immediately joined the game and emphatically branded the game as his. After a quick interior feed, Juwan used his improved footwork to navigate towards an easy bucket.
Even without the ball, Juwan Morgan conducts the offense and is the vocal traffic conductor on the floor. He leads the team not only in his production, but he also acts as an extension of the coaching staff. For a team with such young players, that should not go under-appreciated.
One of those recipients was Al Durham this evening. While Al has recently struggled against specific match ups, Jacksonville was not a match up that would hold him back. He led all scorers with 12 points at the intermission and shot a perfect 4 of 4 from the field, including 2 important three pointers. He finished a career high 18 points.
For the most part, Al looked very comfortable this evening and did just enough. Al, including the rest of the entire Indiana team, has to clean up the turnovers and take care of the ball better if they are looking to have long term success in the conference schedule; however, today he played well enough to earn the trust of Archie Miller.
Devonte Green dropped his name to be considered one of the candidates for the open third scoring option on this roster. The polarizing guard had moments of NBA level passing and scoring ability. While not very successful beyond the three-point line, he had reasonable shot selection and created space for himself. Tamed with the understanding the Jacksonville did not shoot well as a team, Devonte Green controlled and locked down his assignment, which was one of the more important aspect of his game this evening.
