Quick thoughts on a 74-67 loss to Northwestern:
How it happened: It was a nightmare start on Wednesday night at Assembly Hall for Indiana. Northwestern, confident from its blowout win on Sunday at home over Michigan State, was sharp offensively early and Indiana put up little resistance. By the 5:31 mark of the first half, the Wildcats led 33-18. With no home crowd to give energy, Indiana looked like a team on the ropes. Trayce Jackson-Davis gave Indiana a boost late in the first half and by halftime, Indiana had closed the gap to nine at 37-28. Northwestern couldn’t stop turning it over to start the second half. By the 12:51 mark, Indiana tied the game at 47. But just as Indiana opened a four-point lead at 54-50, Northwestern countered with a 9-0 run to grab a five-point lead. The margin grew to eight at 62-54 on a Miller Kopp 3-pointer with 5:32 to play, but the Hoosiers stormed back to get within two after a Trayce Jackson-Davis dunk and an Armaan Franklin 3-pointer. The Hoosiers would get within two one other time, but Chase Audige hit several tough shots down the stretch to lift the Wildcats to their second Big Ten victory.
Standout performer: Jackson-Davis was once again IU’s best player finishing with 22 points and nine rebounds in 36 minutes. However, he struggled at times with Northwestern’s double teams and committed five turnovers.
Statistic that stands out: Indiana’s defense inside the 3-point line was porous as Northwestern shot 67.7 percent on 2s and became the first team to score more than a point per possession (1.11) this season against the Hoosiers.
Final IU individual stats:
Final tempo-free stats:
Filed to: Northwestern Wildcats
