Indiana 66, TCU 56.

by John M (The Crimson Quarry) on Dec 11, 2008 8:23 PM EST

The final score doesn't tell the story, but this was, at least for the first 38 minutes, IU's finest performance of the season. IU was ahead by 20 with 1:27 remaining, but turned the ball over on its last five possessions and allowed TCU to finish within 10. Certainly, a late-game collapse like that isn't to be completely ignored, but hopefully this young team learned some lessons in a win, for once.

As noted, IU played well for most of the game, particularly early in the second half. IU's 28.5 turnover possession (18 in a 63 possession game), isn't great, but still is above average for this team. Through the first 58 possession, IU had 12 turnovers, and that 22 percent rate would have been IU's best of the year against a D-I opponent. In addition to taking care of the ball better IU dominated the offensive boards, pulling down 50 percent of their own misses despite TCU's size advantage. TCU actually shot pretty well, but IU won on turnovers (TCU had 21), offensive rebounding, and free throw shooting.

The individuals:

Tom Pritchard was his reliable self: 15 points on 9 shots, 11 rebounds;
Devan Dumes scored 20 points on 12 shots;
Daniel Moore scored 4 points on 1-4 shooting, but had 7 assists to 4 rebounds;
Nick Williams scored 11 points on 6 shots and had 7 rebounds;
Malik Story couldn't reprise his Gonzaga performance: he scored 7 points on 2-9 from the field.

I'm afraid that false hope will be the main outcome of this game. This remains a flawed team. Still, I'm dreading the Kentucky game much less than I was a week ago.

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