The Hoosiers faced a solid opponent at home, and pulled away in the second half to move to 4-0. Stony Brook was exactly the sort of dangerous mid-major that tripped a number of college basketball blue-bloods up this week, and they were certainly game for the task. IU would start to pull away, but the Seawolves would bounce back to narrow the lead time and again. I thought the key moment when IU established its control of the game actually came early in the second half, after Noah Vonleh had put the Hoosiers' lead back up seven, the Seawolves couldn't convert on a layup attempt and Yogi came down and boldly hit a three in transition. After a couple of more layups, the Hoosier lead would stay at double digits for the last 15:54 of the game.The Hoosiers continued to hit the boards, outrebounding the Seawolves 45-31 as well as block shots (9 on the game).
This Hoosier team just drips with athleticism. As quick as a blink, they can turn steals into dunks, missed shots into putbacks, and are currently blocking more than 8 shots a game. That's twice as a many as last year's team. There's lots to like. And lots to improve upon.
The good:
- Yogi aka Kevin Ferrell: just keeps rolling: 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists. If he keeps playing like this, he could challenge for title of the conference's best point guard - which is saying something.
- Noah Vonleh: had 18 points, 15 rebounds (6 offensive) plus a couple of steals and a block. He also missed 8 of free-throws (going 6 for 14). But this guy is a straight-up force inside.
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Evan Gordon: He's been getting some criticism, but this game should reassure folks that he's going to be a solid contributor. 12 points on 6 shots, 3 boards, and assist and a steal with no turnovers.
- Troy Williams: 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. The kid can stuff a stat sheet
The Bad:
- Will Sheehey fouling out in 12 minutes. He moved well, scored 9 points pretty quick, and got victimized a bit by the refs, but he really didn't add anything else except the fouls (and a couple of turnovers) tonight.
- Turnovers: The Hoosiers had 17, which isn't as bad as it sounds in a 78 possession game. Still, a 21.8% turnover percentage could certainly be improved upon.
- Missed free-throws: the Hoosiers shot 49, and hit only 30 for 61.2%. They could've easily broken the century mark again if they'd done well at the stripe.
- Foul trouble: besides Sheehey, Hanner Mosquera-Perea picked up 4 in 8 minutes, Devin Davis got 4 in 11 minutes, and Luke Fischer picked up 3 in 12 minutes. This could hurt the Hoosiers down the road.
Overall, this was a good win that will pay off in the RPI better than it will look on the ticker. The Hoosiers have positioned themselves well to move up in the rankings this week, we'll see if the voters noticed.