Instant Observations From Indiana Basketball’s Win Over Tennessee Tech

Indiana basketball beat Tennessee Tech, 90-66, Thursday night in Bloomington.

The Hoosiers pulled away after halftime by slowing a high-powered offense and getting a scoring burst from Bryce Lindsay off the bench.

Here are three observations from the win.

Indiana’s second-half defense showed what could raise its ceiling

Indiana forced two shot-clock violations in the first four minutes, but its best defensive stretch came after halftime. At the 5:34 mark in the second half, the Hoosiers opened a 28-point lead and had held Tennessee Tech to 15 second-half points on 23% shooting and forced six turnovers since the break.

Indiana had the edge in size and talent, but Tennessee Tech’s pace and willingness to shoot from deep still presented a test. The Golden Eagles could spread the floor, pull Indiana’s bigs away from the rim and turn long misses into second chances. Shutting them down for that long was an encouraging sign, especially after a first half in which they gave Indiana trouble on the glass.

Advertisement

Markus Burton, Jaeden Mustaf and Darren Harris combined for five first-half points on 1-of-7 shooting, and Indiana still found ways to score. The Hoosiers got to the free-throw line when shots weren’t falling, then Lindsay scored eight early second-half points to help them pull away.

That’s why it’s more interesting how far Indiana’s defense can come. The Hoosiers have enough weapons to score even when several of their best options are quiet.

How consistently they defend will have more to say about their ceiling, and the jump they made from the first half to the second half on Thursday showed what that improvement can look like.

Indiana’s size advantage showed up in spots

Samet Yigitoglu scored at the rim on Indiana’s first three possessions and had 10 points in eight first-half minutes. After struggling to get going against Syracuse, he made quick moves before Tennessee Tech could send help.

When Indiana got him the ball near the rim, the Golden Eagles had few answers.

The…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/instant-observations-indiana-basketballs-win-020152675.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-11-13 02:01:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.