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IU basketball improved to 6-0 with a convincing 86-69 win against Kansas State on Tuesday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Here are five takeaways from the win against the Wildcats:
Indiana’s defense disrupts Kansas State’s high-powered offense
The expectation entering Tuesday night’s matchup was a high-scoring chess match featuring two of the better offenses in college basketball.
Indiana’s defense had different plans.
The Hoosiers were engaged defensively from the opening tip and held a Kansas State team averaging 92.8 points per game to only 69 in front of 12,342 fans.
Indiana did an excellent job of limiting 3-point attempts from the Wildcats and forcing them into long, contested 2s. Kansas State shot a solid 8-for-20 on 3s, but came in averaging 11.3 made triples per game on 26 attempts. Kansas State shot just 16-for-37 (43.2 percent) inside the 3-point line.
In addition, Indiana’s on-the-ball pressure disrupted the Kansas State guards. All-American PJ Haggerty committed six turnovers and his backcourt mate, Nate Johnson, committed four. The Wildcats, who entered the game with an average turnover percentage of 18 through six games, turned the ball over on 25 percent of their possessions.
Kansas State managed just .91 points per possession in IU’s lopsided win. Through its first six games, the Wildcats had scored at least 1.11 points per trip in each contest.
It was a dominant defensive performance from an Indiana team that ranks 15th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency through its first six games, according to KenPom.com.
Reed Bailey showed grit and toughness in the second half
After a shaky first half where he shot 1-for-4 from the floor and committed three turnovers, Reed Bailey was a difference maker in the second half of Tuesday’s win.
The Davidson transfer scored 14 of his game-high 21 points in 16 second-half minutes.
Bailey didn’t back down in the post, was strong with the ball and aggressively attacked the rim. The 6-foot-10 forward was rewarded with nine trips to the line in the second half and he converted eight of those attempts.
He was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field in the second half and didn’t commit a turnover.
Bailey earned his first KenPom Game MVP honor of the season with his 21-point, four-rebound and two-assist stat line.
“I thought of the six games we’ve played, I thought by far, especially in that second half, this was the most aggressive he’s been and that was the thing that excited us about him as we saw him this summer and fall,” Darian DeVries said postgame. “He was doing those things in practice and tonight was a time I thought you really got to see some of the things he’s capable of.”
Conor Enright frustrated PJ Haggerty
In IU’s postgame press conference, Tayton Conerway revealed that Conor Enright had been looking forward to the opportunity to guard PJ Haggerty for several days.
Enright made the most of his time guarding one of the nation’s premier scorers.
Despite giving up three inches and at least 15 pounds, Enright never backed down from Haggerty and visibly frustrated him throughout the game.
Haggerty had just two assists to six turnovers and was an inefficient 7-for-17 from the field.
“He did a great job,” Kansas State coach Jerome Tang said postgame. “He took on the challenge and did what other teams have done, forcing him left and keeping two on the ball.
“But he didn’t back away from the challenge, and when, as a player, you’re more concerned about what a guy is doing to you than playing the game, you feed into what they want to do. Credit to Conor. We watched a lot of film on him, we knew he was a good defender and he doesn’t back down.”
Indiana did a better job attacking the paint in the second half
After a first half in which IU attempted just nine 2s compared to 22 3-pointers, the Hoosiers had far better shot selection in the final 20 minutes.
Kansas State opponents were shooting 57.2 percent on 3s entering Tuesday night and Indiana exploited that weakness down the stretch.
After a 5-for-9 performance on 2s in the first half, IU was 12-for-15 inside the arc in the second half.
For the game, the Hoosiers shot a sizzling 70.8 percent on 2s. While the 3-point shot is a clear weapon for this group, attacking the rim and finishing or getting to the line were strengths against an opponent that wasn’t connected defensively.
“Yeah, we talked about that at halftime,” Darian DeVries explained. “I think the first half we were a little anxious on a few of the threes. I think we shot 15 out of 18 shots or something like that. It was a lot, which is fine. We’re more than fine with that.
“We thought we needed to get more paint touches in the second half, so we wanted to run a little bit more of our stuff where we got Tayton going downhill, getting to the rim. And then if we got some kickout 3s, great, but we were able to create a little confusion when they were switching and I thought Tayton did a good job of capitalizing on that.”
Trent Sisley continues his solid play to begin his career
Through six games, Trent Sisley is proving to be one of IU’s most valuable pieces on both ends of the floor.
The Santa Claus native is always ready to make an impact when he enters the game and Tuesday was no different.
Just a couple of minutes after entering the game against the Wildcats, Sisley buried a 3-pointer that put the Hoosiers up 17-4 with 14:13 left in the first half.
In 21 minutes, Sisley finished with 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field to go along with five rebounds and an assist.
Defensively, his hands are always active, he understands positioning and his awareness is strong for a newcomer to college basketball.
Through the first six games of his IU career, Sisley is averaging a solid 8.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 20 minutes per game while shooting 51.1 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from the field.
See More: Five Takeaways, Kansas State Wildcats
