The Indiana Hoosiers earned their second straight 20+ point win Friday night by defeating the Minnesota Golden Gophers 80-56 and they did it by sharing the ball.
The Hoosiers finished with 21 assists, their most in a Big Ten game this season. Devonte Green and Juwan Morgan led the way with seven and five assists respectively, both of which were career-highs for the players.
“We’ve really just been emphasizing sharing the ball and making the right read,” said Green about team’s improved passing.
Green and Morgan each added a game-high 19 points as the Hoosiers used their great passing to shoot 30 of 53 (56.6%) from the floor. All seven players that scored at least four points for the Hoosiers shot 50% or better during the game.
- Juwan Morgan – 19 points on 8 of 13 shooting
- Devonte Green – 19 points on 5 of 7 shooting
- Robert Johnson – 11 points on 5 of 9 shooting
- Justin Smith – 9 points on 4 of 7 shooting
- Freddie McSwain Jr. – 8 points on 3 of 6 shooting
- Aljami Durham – 7 points on 2 of 4 shooting
- Josh Newkirk – 4 points on 2 of 4 shooting
Johnson also had 4 assists as Indiana’s retooled starting lineup of McSwain/Morgan/Johnson/Green/McRoberts 17 of the team’s 21 assists.
“To me that five gives us the best chance,” said IU Coach Archie Miller. “That’s why we’re working with that five right now to start the game.”
The Hoosier defense also continued to lockdown the opposing team as the Golden Gophers made just 20 of 60 (33.3%) on the night. Over the past two games the Hoosiers have allowed just 99 points, the first time since January of 2002 that Indiana held back-to-back opponents to under 100 combined points (IU held Northwestern and Penn State to 98 combined points back in 2002).
The Hoosiers will look to see if they can make it three dominant wins in a row when they host Illinois on Wednesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
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