BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The day before Indiana squeezed the life out of North Carolina at Assembly Hall, preseason first-team All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis shared a moment with Bob Knight, who was attending practice with former Hoosier stars Randy Wittman and Ted Kitchel.
Knight had something he wanted to say.
“You’re not here to play,” he said. “You’re here to win.”
One day later, the 10th-ranked Hoosiers, playing in front of a manic, white-out crowd that included students who camped out all night in the wind, rain and frigid temperatures, turned back the clock and looked like the blue blood they used to be, knocking off No. 18 North Carolina 77-65.
This was a corner turned, a clear and present sign that IU basketball has returned to relevance. A statement victory? Mike Woodson scoffed at the notion, but this said a whole lot — all of it good — about Indiana basketball and where it stands.
OK, so maybe North Carolina, the No. 1 team in the nation that has fallen to No. 18 after losses in the Phil Knight Invitational last week, isn’t quite the team it was expected to be. But take nothing away from IU, which dominated in a manner that suggested it should have won by an even greater margin.
7-0. pic.twitter.com/m6vel0oztP
— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) December 1, 2022
This was a defensive clinic, the Hoosiers challenging everything, making simple perimeter passes difficult for the Tar Heels.
This is why Jackson-Davis returned, to cement his legacy, to be more than a player who put up massive numbers throughout his career, to be a guy who won at Indiana and took it places it hasn’t been in too many years.
We spend a lot of time trying to figure out how Jackson-Davis’ game will translate at the next level, maybe in the NBA, maybe in international ball or elsewhere. Just stop, at least for now, and acknowledge this is one of the finest college players we’ve seen in quite some time, especially here in Bloomington.
You’re not here to play. You’re here to win.
And this is how the Hoosiers won …
“Our defense was constrictive — like an anaconda,” Jackson-Davis said with a broad smile. “It was very, very constrictive. We just really sucked the life out of them early, and they couldn’t get any big shots, honestly.”
In the back of the media room, teammate Miller Kopp laughed. See, Kopp gives players at the postgame interview podium a keyword to utter during their meeting with the media. While we’re not entirely sure whether “constrictive” or “anaconda” was the magic word, they both worked — because that’s exactly what IU did to Carolina.
North Carolina shot 33.9 percent. Oof.
North Carolina managed just five assists. Oof.
North Carolina’s big three of Armando Bacot, Caleb Love and RJ Davis have averaged 50.4 combined points per game this season; Wednesday night, they scored 36 points on 13-of-37 shooting. Oof.
North Carolina got outscored 17-4 on points off turnovers. Oof.
The other player at the podium was mega-freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino, who was up to the challenge on the floor, scoring 14 points with six rebounds. But he had no chance after the game. His magic word was “jellyfish.” I mean, how do you work jellyfish into a conversation about basketball? The guy’s a freshman, for crying out loud. Give him something easier next time — and yes, there will be a next time, lots of times, for IU’s rising young star.
“A lot of it is just playing hard, man,” Woodson said. “That’s 90 percent of it. You figure out the other 10 percent through X’s and O’s and doing all the little things that help you win. He’s figured that out. I like everything about him because he plays hard.”
Point guard Xavier Johnson wasn’t at the presser, but man, he showed up for the game. Johnson has had his issues on and off the court since he’s been in Bloomington, but as he showed in the latter part of last season, he’s the one who makes the Hoosiers as good as they want to be. Jackson-Davis is clearly the team’s superstar, but Johnson is the head of the snake — maybe an anaconda, maybe a boa constrictor, we’re not sure.
He finished with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and just two turnovers.
Trey Galloway came off the bench and infused IU with a jolt of energy, not that the Hoosiers necessarily needed more juice. His line: 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and spectacular defense.
“Crazy man, we call him,” Jackson-Davis said.
The atmosphere? It was everything you might expect from IU and more. Students camped out all night. Cody Zeller was here. James Blackmon. Christian Watford. And more. This is an arguable point, but this felt like the biggest nonconference home game since the Wat Shot back in 2011 against Kentucky.
It was reasonable to wonder just what IU was all about, its only real challenge thus far coming at Xavier, where it won by two points. We got some clarity Wednesday night as the Hoosiers pounded last year’s national final runners-up.
“You’ve got to beat the best to be the best; that’s what coach Woodson always says,” Jackson-Davis said. “He’s not afraid of competition. That’s why we put teams like North Carolina, Kansas and Arizona on our schedule because you’ve got to go toe-to-toe with those teams.
“We’re going to fight and battle. We go at each other every day just to put on a show in front of these fans. I thought the crowd was electric.”
Jackson-Davis was asked what the Hoosiers are capable of with the meat of the season in front of them. He didn’t bite.
“What we’re capable of is playing our next game, which is at Rutgers,” he said. “I haven’t beaten Rutgers since I’ve been here. The RAC has always been a hostile environment. They’ve had our number there.
“That’s the biggest test. That what I said to our guys this week, (that) UNC is going to be a great team and a great game. Obviously, with this crowd, I liked our chances. But the real test is what we’re going to do on Saturday with that game because they’re a good team and they’re very well-coached.”
He’s right, of course.
But he can downplay the significance of Wednesday night’s game all he wants: IU turned a corner, and it felt like something seismic had occurred.
As The General told Jackson-Davis: “You’re not here to play. You’re here to win.”
(Photo of Trayce Jackson-Davis shooting on Armando Bacot: Trevor Ruszkowski / USA Today)
