THE GOOD: A BIG WIN, SOME CONSISTENT PLAY.
First, the big picture: It got a little too close for comfort at the end of the game, and it took longer than some IU fans would have liked, but the Hoosiers finally have a signature win under Tom Crean. Yes, Pitt isn’t at full strength. Yes, they are projected to finish in the bottom half of the Big East this year. But this was still a team that came in to the game 7-1, and was favored to win the game on a court they’re far more comfortable with than IU. Congrats are also in order to Tom Crean, who notched his 200th career win with the victory.
The story of this one? IU outworked and out-hustled Pitt the whole night. They deserved to win this game. Their zone was active around the arc; they closed in quick on open shooters. But, the Hoosiers also seemed to have caught Pitt at the right time: they only scored 47 points Friday in a win, and tonight their offensive woes continued. Sure, IU’s D deserves some credit, but Pitt only shot 31.4 percent from the floor tonight. They were sloppy at points, and had 15 turnovers on the evening. It’s clear their halfcourt game is a work in progress right now, and the Hoosiers capitalized on it. They had a plan, and executed it.
Big ups to Verdell Jones. He had 20 points on the night, and hit some key shots. Sometimes Jones get lost in the shuffle when we talk about Maurice Creek and Christian Watford being able to score in bunches, but when Jones in on, when he’s pulling some crafty moves out of his pockets like he did tonight, he’s a joy to watch.
The Hoosiers only had 12 turnovers tonight, and they finally shot well as they hit 24-of-54 shots from the floor for 44.4 percent. (They were only 1-of-7 from three-point land, though.) Good things happen when you shoot a respectable percentage from the field and take care of the ball. They dominated in the paint, too: 40 points for them, while Pitt managed half that at 20. And they were able to dominate the free-throw game as well: the Hoosiers converted on 25 of their 34 attempts, good for 73.5 percent. Pitt had 17 foul shots on the night, and converted 12 of them.
This was the type of display IU fans were hoping to see in Puerto Rico and against Maryland, but didn’t get. If the Hoosiers can build off this win and the confidence they’ve gained from it, they should be able to stay competitive in Big Ten play, and maybe even surprise a bit.
A closer look at the four factors and Pittsburgh
Since we did an in-depth analysis of the four factors prior to the IU-Pittsburgh game, it’s only appropriate to look at how each of the factors played out on Tuesday night. As you can see below, with the exception of offensive rebounding percentage, Indiana dominated Pitt:
Free throw rate: The one factor that jumps out immediately is free throw rate. Indiana made a remarkable leap in this stat compared to the Maryland game (31.4%). The fact that it came in a game away from Assembly Hall is even more impressive. Not only did the Hoosiers get to the line at a much higher rate than Pittsburgh, they shot about nine percent higher than their season average. As Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said afterward, it’s tough to win when you’re outscored by 13 at the foul line.
Turnover percentage: With the exception of the Boston game, this was IU’s best performance of the season for this stat. And they did it against a program that’s known for toughness and playing solid defense. If not for five turnovers in the final six minutes during Pitt’s run, this number would have been even lower. Nonetheless, it was an excellent showing in terms of taking care of the ball.
Effective field goal percentage: This was Pittsburgh’s worse showing to-date for eFG% and for Indiana, it was their best performance against a major-conference opponent. (43.4% against Ole Miss and 37.9% against Maryland.) For the record, IU’s 45.4 eFG% isn’t particularly great and 37.1% from Pitt is dreadful.
Offensive rebounding percentage: This is a stat in which most of us thought Pittsburgh would have the biggest advantage going in, but despite their 19 offensive rebounds, they scored just 14 second chance points.