Indiana center Samet Yigitolu didn’t take long to assert himself in a 90-66 win against Tennessee Tech on Thursday.
In each of Indiana’s first three possessions, Yigitoglu used his 7-foot-2, 270-pound frame to find easy success at the rim in a different way. On the first, he rolled to the rim and laid it in off the catch. The second, a two-handed dunk on a cut to the rim from a bounce pass. The third, he backed his defender down from the elbow to the rim and finished a hook shot.
Three possessions. Three easy looks. Six points.
The intent was to get Yigitolu the ball. It required Yigitolu to command the ball. Indiana has desired that from him and he delivered right away. It did not last as long as Indiana would have hoped.
Moments later, he walked to the locker room with blood dripping down his face after getting hit near the eye. It was 6-3, Indiana. Soon after, it was 13-12 Tennessee Tech.
“Even when I was in the locker room, I was thinking I’m going to be back,” Yigitolu saidVideo: Darian DeVries, IU players react to win against Tennessee Tech. “I never think like I’m going to quit the game. So, I was ready to go.”
And he was. He returned with 8:36 left in the half and immediately started making a positive impact.
Yigitolu finished with 18 points and six rebounds on 9-for-10 shooting in just 17 minutes. It was, by a good margin, his best game as a Hoosier. He came in with just 20 points on 13 shots in the three prior games this season. His plus/minus was a +20 in just 17 minutes.
“He went back in the locker room, got stitched up, came back, and said I’m still big. I’m going to go post up,” Indiana head coach Darian DeVries said. “I thought he had a great game. I thought it was nice to see, and it was good to see us find him, too.”
His impact goes beyond scoring and rebounding.
“He’s not always scoring, but he’s still a force down there,” DeVries said. “He’s drawing fouls. We’re taking the ball out of bounds sometimes on those fouls, but it’s getting us closer to that bonus in the first half. The bigs with the physicality, they’re impacting the game, not just by scoring and rebounding, but by drawing fouls too.”
Indiana drew 28 fouls on Tennessee Tech and went to the free-throw line 36 times. Yigitolu went to the line only three times, but was crucial in setting screens and drawing defenders over to open up the paint for his teammates. The Hoosiers had 22 layup attempts and five dunk attempts in addition to all of the drives that drew fouls.
He also allows his guards to thrive.
“I can bring a double-team on the post. So, when they double the post, somebody will be open on the perimeter…” Yigitolu added. “…I’m just creating space for them in the low post.”
Markus Burton, Bryce Lindsay, Jaeden Mustaf and Trevor Manhertz all scored in double figures, along with both 7-footers, Yigitolu and Aiden Sherrell.
Indiana’s physicality and size went from a weakness last year to a strength this year.
“We’ve been winning the margins with free throws. We haven’t been fouling as much, where last year we did,” DeVries said. “This year we flipped that script a little bit to this point where we’re getting to the free-throw line. We’re trying to create driving opportunities, which long term now, we’ll be able to get some drive-and-kicks as teams start to collapse a little bit, getting our bigs established where we can throw it inside.”
Yigitolu led the charge on Thursday.
He established his presence early to draw attention. His presence created opportunities for his teammates. His teammates having success opened up more room for him, too.
That is the cycle Indiana has been looking for from Yigitolu. He does not need to score every time down the floor. He just needs to use his size and skills to positively impact the game in the best way possible.
He did just that on Thursday.
