The Indiana Hoosiers came into Sunday’s game against the Temple Owls as the heavy favorite. Nearly all the experts had picked the Hoosiers to advance, even though most acknowledged it wouldn’t be cakewalk.
And it wasn’t. The Hoosiers defeated the Owls 58-52 in a hard-fought game, physical game in Dayton, Ohio led by Victor Oladipo’s 16 points and eight rebounds. I was fortunate enough to attend the game and here are my observations, both good and bad:
1. Mental toughness was on display
You can’t win a title without the mental fortitude to win games when you aren’t playing your best ball. That’s exactly what Indiana did against Temple. They were forced to play a slow, grind-it-out style of game that has been their achilles heal this season. For the first 37 minutes, it just seemed like Temple was destined to win. It felt like the Wisconsin games. I had prepared myself for a loss. After trailing by four with 2:56 remaining, Indiana finished the game on a 10-0 run. Points were hard to come by, but Indiana maintained its composure and made big plays down the stretch. Many will point to Oladipo’s three as the biggest play of the game, but it wasn’t. Watford’s block on Temple sophomore Anthony Lee saved the game. That is the most important play in Watford’s career. Yes, much more important than “The Wat Shot”. Watford also hit two free throws to ice the game.
2. Zeller and Watford must be tougher physically
Teams have a pretty straightforward gameplan when it comes to Zeller and Watford: be as physical as possible, don’t let them get anything easy. That seems simple, but it’s much easier said than done. At this point, Watford is what he is: a talented inside-out player, that causes mismatches and isn’t physically imposing. You can see the effort, but he really isn’t a power forward and against bigger players he can be pushed around a bit. It happens, and, quite frankly, his positives outweigh his negatives. However, I have a serious problem with the way Zeller played against Temple. He let Temple dictate his play. That should never happen with a player of his caliber. This Hoosiers team will not win it all if he does not start imposing his will on other teams. He is seven feet tall and not frail. He MUST have the mentality that he is the toughest player on the court and he should want to dunk the ball every time. He had a tough time finishing Sunday. He needs to stop laying the ball up and exposing the ball for blocks, something Syracuse will surely be aware of. I’m tired of hearing Zeller is young and his body isn’t filled out. He is 240 pounds. He can be physically dominant. He needs to start playing like the best player on the court, which he is.
3. Indiana’s defense deserves credit
All season long, Indiana’s defense has been overlooked. This is mostly because of how impressive the offense is. But, it’s time to give the defense credit. Temple star Khalif Wyatt had one of the more impressive individual performances I have seen, scoring 31 points and he single-handedly kept his team in the game. But, IU shut down everyone else. Temple’s second leading scorer, Scootie Randall, managed only three points on 0-for-12 shooting. Only one other player scored in double figures. In fact, outside of Wyatt, the entire Temple team scored only 21 points. That’s pathetic for Temple and extremely impressive for Indiana.. When a team has one star player like Temple, often times the best gameplan is to let him get his points and shut down his teammates. That’s exactly what Indiana did and they did it to perfection. Give Wyatt all the credit, he showed why he the A-10 Player of the Year, but holding a team of Temple’s caliber (they are a very good team) to 52 points is an accomplishment to be proud of.
4. Jordan Hulls must make more of an impact
I’m not even going to look up any stats. If you ask any Indiana fan, they will tell you Hulls has not been the same over the past few weeks. I’m not sure what is wrong with him, but he has disappeared from games. Of course, the intangibles he brings make him invaluable, but the Hoosiers need him to start producing on the court. He will always be a defensive liability, and Temple tried to expose him early in the first half. He will always be a threat to shoot the 3-pointer, and, thus, accounted for, but, at some point, he needs to start actually hitting threes again. He only had five points Sunday. Granted, he played limited minutes. Against Syracuse he will be vital. His shooting can expose the Cuse zone and will be crucial to opening up lanes and shifting the zone. Great shooting beats a zone and Hulls will have to impact that game if Indiana wants to win.
5. Indiana now has confidence
It was only the third round of the tournament, but the win against Temple was huge for Indiana’s confidence from a different standpoint. They already knew before the game they had enough pure talent to advance to next weekend and beyond. But now, Indiana has won a game that doesn’t suit their style. They won a game without dictating the pace. Winning a game in which they failed to score 60 points will give them the confidence that they can win playing multiple styles from here on out. That was only the fourth time Indiana had been held under 60 points all season, and they lost the previous three. On Sunday, they won a game in which the normal script wasn’t followed. That is big going forward, even if it is this late in the season.
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