Instant Observations From Indiana Basketball's Win Over Tennessee Tech

Indiana basketball beat Tennessee Tech, 90-66, Thursday night in Bloomington.
The Hoosiers pulled away after halftime by slowing a high-powered offense and getting a scoring burst from Bryce Lindsay off the bench.
Here are three observations from the win.

Indiana's second-half defense showed what could raise its ceiling

Indiana forced two shot-clock violations in the first four minutes, but its best defensive stretch came after halftime. At the 5:34 mark in the second half, the Hoosiers opened a 28-point lead and had held Tennessee Tech to 15 second-half points on 23% shooting and forced six turnovers since the break.
Indiana had the edge in size and talent, but Tennessee Tech's pace and willingness to shoot from deep still presented a test. The Golden Eagles could spread the floor, pull Indiana's bigs away from the rim and turn long misses into second chances. Shutting them down for that long was an encouraging sign, especially after a first half in which they gave Indiana trouble on the glass.

Markus Burton, Jaeden Mustaf and Darren Harris combined for five first-half points on 1-of-7 shooting, and Indiana still found ways to score. The Hoosiers got to the free-throw line when shots weren't falling, then Lindsay scored eight early second-half points to help them pull away.
That's why it's more interesting how far Indiana's defense can come. The Hoosiers have enough weapons to score even when several of their best options are quiet.
How consistently they defend will have more to say about their ceiling, and the jump they made from the first half to the second half on Thursday showed what that improvement can look like.

Indiana's size advantage showed up in spots

Samet Yigitoglu scored at the rim on Indiana's first three possessions and had 10 points in eight first-half minutes. After struggling to get going against Syracuse, he made quick moves before Tennessee Tech could send help.
When Indiana got him the ball near the rim, the Golden Eagles had few answers.
The Hoosiers didn't get the same payoff from their size across the board. They went 5-of-11 on layups in the first half and trailed 20-17 on the glass at halftime. Tennessee Tech grabbed six offensive rebounds to Indiana's three.

With Indiana's bigs chasing shooters around the arc, several misses turned into races for the ball.
Yigitoglu showed how much Indiana can get out of a size mismatch when it feeds him early. The rebounding numbers showed where the Hoosiers still have work to do, especially against teams that make their bigs defend away from the basket.

Trevor Manhertz bounced back without hesitation

Trevor Manhertz had a rough night against Syracuse on Monday. Thursday, he went right back to making the quick decisions that have earned him minutes as a freshman.
On his first possession off the bench, Manhertz attacked off the catch and delivered a bounce pass in midair to Sam Alexis for an assist. He later drove out of the same left corner for a dunk, then made a 3-pointer through contact from the same spot.

In the second half, he used a ball fake to get into the lane and stopped for a floater before he ran into help.
Four games into his college career, the encouraging part was how little the previous game seemed to affect him. He was still willing to shoot, drive or pass as soon as the defense gave him an opening.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/indiana as Instant Observations From Indiana Basketball's Win Over Tennessee Tech.