Three Things We Learned: Louisville

Well, more like three things that were reaffirmed tonight.

1.     This team still needs to control the ball better. Louisville's defense was very good as usual, but regardless, 13 turnovers in the first half and 19 in total should be unacceptable. Obviously the team was excited to play in MSG, but at times they seemed a little too excited. Troy Williams and Stanford Robinson in particular were culprits, as the energy they bring to the court sometimes backfires. I enjoyed watching two teams going up-tempo - something that is becoming much less common in college hoops - but the turnovers forced by the Hoosiers were a troubling reminder of last season. This was a young team going into The World's Most Famous Arena and facing a more experienced one, and they certainly looked the part tonight.

2.     The offensive firepower will keep IU in most games. In the first half, IU was 7-for-10 from behind the arc. The Hoosiers were down 44-31 midway through the first half, but a couple of clutch three-pointers from Nick Zeisloft helped to bring down the margin before the end of the half. At one point in the first half, the Hoosiers had five three-pointers from five different players. With the wealth of shooting specialists available on this team, there's a chance that at least someone will get hot at a point in every game. On the other hand, Louisville's backcourt of Chris Jones and Terry Rozier had a nice night shooting to counter us, combining for 50 points, and we couldn't stay hot the entire game either, as we ended up 8-for-20 from behind the arc.

3.     Who will protect the rim and grab the boards for this team? Louisville flat-out dominated us on the glass tonight. The Cards had a definitive size advantage against us, and this helped out specifically for offensive rebounding. In our Q&A with Card Chronicle, Mike Rutherford said that Montrezl Harrell might be the best power forward in the nation, and he certainly looked the part of it tonight. Harrell seemed to get points and rebounds in the lane at every opportunity. And while Hanner Mosquera-Perea had a good game offensively, he still needs to improve on the defensive side of the ball. Indiana still needs to be more aggressive at the rim, and they need players to step up and get rebounds, even though it's a tough task for a team that will often be undersized against its competitors.

Overall, this was a valiant effort for IU but the Hoosiers still came up short against a team that is a legitimate NCAA title contender. The Hoosiers are now 7-2 and will return to Assembly Hall on Saturday to face Grand Canyon University.

On the bright side though, our free throw defense was once again on point, am I right?