Indiana (3-1) responded to their first loss of the season against No. 17 Texas with a victory over Stanford (1-2) 79-63 in the third-place game of the Maui Invitational. Indiana led for nearly the entire game apart from approximately 2 minutes at the beginning of the game when Stanford started with a 4-0 lead. Indiana responded with an 11-0 run and never looked back.

Credit: Brian Spurlocki

After one of the worst losses in coach Archie Miller’s career, the Hoosiers responded by dominating the paint throughout the game. They relied heavily on Trayce Jackson-Davis to lead the charge behind his 31 points and 6 rebounds. He was the only player on both teams to tally over 20 points on the game. Armaan Franklin and Race Thompson reached double figures near the end of the game with 13 and 15 points, respectively. Franklin added eight rebounds and five assists. Thompson had four blocks on the day; he’s the first Hoosier to reach that mark since O.G. Anunoby in 2016.

Freshman Trey Galloway got his first start, in place of Al Durham who injured his ankle yesterday against Texas. Galloway did not end up with any points until near the end when he scored five, but he helped fill the void left by Durham. Indiana had to rely on Anthony Leal, Khristian Lander, and Jerome Hunter from the bench for over ten minutes apiece this game due to foul trouble on Rob Phinisee and Galloway.

Stanford is led by one of the top forwards in the country, Ziaire Williams, the No. 5 recruit in the country this year according to 247Sports. One of the biggest factors in Indiana’s success today was holding him to an abysmal 1-10 shooting (0-5 from three), with a total of 4 points on the day. He was forced into tough guarding situations that led to him being fouled out with five minutes left to play. This was Ziaire’s lowest scoring game on the season, with his previous low being 10 points against North Carolina. Instead, Stanford needed Oscar da Silva (18 points) and Daejon Davis (17 points) to fill the void, but were ultimately not able to keep up with the Hoosiers today.

Indiana still has much room to grow and develop before the start of conference play. Many of the previous years’ struggles including three-point shooting continue to bother Indiana. IU shot 5-for-15 from three on the afternoon, and players not named Rob Phinisee were 3-for-14. Still, Archie Miller deserves credit in his teams response to a tough, uninspired loss against Texas yesterday, who ranks fourth on KenPom.

Of note, Indiana only had 9 points from their bench today compared to Stanford’s 18. The paint was what ultimately allowed the Hoosiers to secure the win as they outscored Stanford 36-26.

Indiana Stats

Stanford Stats

Up next: The Hoosiers will head to Tallahassee to play No. 22 Florida State in the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge on December 9, 2020 at 9:15 pm ET. This marks the second year in a row the Hoosiers play the Seminoles for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. FSU’s first game of the season, and their only contest prior to facing IU, will take place tonight vs. North Florida (0-3).

Featured Image: Brian Spurlocki

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