IU basketball improved to 4-0 with a 90-66 victory over Tennessee Tech on Thursday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Here are five takeaways from the win over the Golden Eagles:
This was IU’s best defensive performance in four games.
Tennessee Tech came into Bloomington as one of the top-scoring teams in the country through its first three games.
The Golden Eagles scored 88 points in a road loss to Mississippi State to open the season and scored 97 points against Western Kentucky last Sunday.
Indiana held Tennessee Tech to 66 points and 0.87 points per possession in its 24-point victory.
The Hoosiers only led by four points at halftime, but did a solid job throughout the game, contesting the majority of Tennessee Tech’s high volume of 3-point attempts. The Golden Eagles shot just 9 of 31 from 3, a mark of 29 percent.
Indiana also held Tennessee Tech to 15-of-39 shooting in 2 seconds (38.5%). Each of IU’s first three opponents this season had made 55 percent or more of their 2-point attempts.
IU still has plenty of defensive work to do, and its progress will be tested next week against Arkansas and Kentucky. On Thursday, he showed the Hoosiers could be better in that regard than in their first three games.
Markus Burton came alive in the second half
After struggling in the first half of Thursday’s win, Markus Burton was Indiana’s best offensive player in the second half against Tennessee Tech.
Burton went scoreless and committed two fouls in 10 minutes in the first half.
The 6-foot guard was one of the reasons IU pulled away in the final 20 minutes. The Indiana Mr. Basketball 2023 scored 12 points, dished out five assists and had three rebounds in 14 minutes after halftime.
Burton was one of six IU players to score in double figures and finished with a game-high seven assists. He was also 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
“He distributed, he scored, he put a lot of pressure on the defense,” Darian DeVries said of Burton. “He really bought into what we’re trying to ask for, and then he tries to execute it.”
Bryce Lindsay continues to make an impact off the bench
While Burton struggled in the first half, Bryce Lindsay once again showed his value to the Hoosiers by coming off the bench and providing valuable minutes in the backcourt.
Lindsay scored seven points in 15 minutes in the first half and IU was +5 with him on the floor.
While he only had one assist, Lindsay exerted relentless pressure on opposing defenses. He is constantly looking for openings to shoot from the perimeter or drive to the basket.
He finished the game with 15 points in 25 minutes, including a 4-for-4 mark from the line.
“I thought offensively, again, he opened it up,” DeVries said. “We didn’t really shoot well. We didn’t make a ton of 3s in the game, 20 for us, which isn’t a ton. I thought he made some really good ones in the second half and he kind of blew it open.”
Through IU’s first four games, he is the team’s leading scorer at 13.8 points per game.
A parade to the free throw line
Tennessee Tech applied relentless pressure, deploying a full-court press throughout the 40-minute contest.
Indiana struggled to withstand pressure at times, committing turnovers on 18.5 percent of its possessions.
As the game progressed, Tennessee Tech’s pressure became less effective. The Golden Eagles wore down in the second half and Indiana did a better job of breaking the press to score rather than just surviving.
More importantly, Tennessee Tech was reckless at times going after the ball, creating a huge foul gap.
Indiana finished the game with a free throw rate (FTA/FGA) of 66.7 percent. The Hoosiers shot 26 of 36 from the line (72.2%) and outscored the Golden Eagles by 17 points at the line.
Tennessee Tech had no answer for Samet Yigitoglu
Indiana had a huge size advantage in the frontcourt with 7-foot-2 Samet Yigitoglu in the post.
The Hoosiers found him early and he capitalized, scoring the team’s first six points.
Yigitoglu’s initial dominance was short-lived, however. After being hit just above the eye, he was forced to leave the game and required stitches above the eye.
He came back later in the half and scored two more baskets, giving him 10 points to lead the Hoosiers at the break. Yigitoglu finished with 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting.
With Tennessee Tech’s lack of size and soft interior defense, most of Yigitoglu’s looks were uncontested dunks or layups.
Long term, Yigitoglu should create gravity in the post and force double teams, freeing up IU’s guards for open looks on the perimeter.
“I can bring double teams to the post,” Yigitoglu said. “So when they double post, somebody’s going to be open on the perimeter. So our shooters like Markus, like DH, Bryce, I’m just creating space for them in the low post.”
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