Hoosiers Now

Live Blog: Open Thread Indiana Basketball vs. Gannon

Follow along here as Indiana opens its basketball season with Gannon University, a Division II school from Erie, Pa.

Tom Brew

Live Blog: Open Thread Indiana Basketball vs. Gannon
Live Blog: Open Thread Indiana Basketball vs. Gannon /

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Hello and greetings from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, where the 120th season of Indiana basketball begins tonight with an exhibition game against Gannon University.

Follow this live thread all night long for running commentary and notes on the game. 

PREGAME: Don Fischer is in his customary chair doing IU radio. It's the start of his 47th year. 

PREGAME: Indiana's two captains, Devonte Green and Al Durham are in street clothes and won't play tonight. Sophomore Rob Phinisee is dressed by not expected to play

STARTING LINEUP: Joey Brunk, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Justin Smith, Damezi Anderson and Armaan Franklin. 

15:52 to go: Damezi Anderson is the top scorer at the first TV timeout. He has 5 points, including a nice 3-pointer on the right wing. 

After the timeout, Rob Phinisee and Race Thompson enter the game. Coach Archie Miller said Monday that “it would be unfair” to expect Rob to play but he’s out there and moving around just fine. He has a lower abdominal injury.  

10:03: Franklin doesn’t mind getting after people on defense. That’s good to see. 

9:30: There’s only one connection to Iu in this game and that’s Gannon senior guard Matt Johnson. He was a high school teammate of IU’s Justin Smith. Smith just blocked his shot big-time.

8:16: Phinisee returns, which is good. The first two minutes weren’t just a token appearance. 

7:15 to go: Its only 24-19 Indiana as the Hoosiers ate struggling to pull away. They are attacking the basket, but missing a lot of short-range shots. 

5:53: It’s a 2-point game, 24-22. Really?

3:51 to go: TV timeout. It’s 26-22. Hoosiers really struggling to find any kind of rhythm offensively. 

The place looks good.
The place looks good

2:51: Gannon takes the lead 27-26.

The last 2 minutes of the half might have been Indiana’s best. Phinisee hits a 3-pointer and got to the live at the end of the half, making one.

HALFTIME: Indiana leads 37-29, reeling off 9 points in a row to end the half.

The defense has been pretty good around the rim, getting their hands on a lot of shots. Here's one:

Indiana assistant coach Mike Roberts breaks down the first half for BTN-Plus:

START OF SECOND HALF

Starters for Indiana: Same as first half, Franklin, Anderson, Smith, Jackson-Davis and Joe Brunk. Since the first 18 minutes of that first half weren't very pretty, it would be nice to see some good things happen here in the final 20 minutes. 

14:24: Indiana is up 53-26 now. Armaan Franklin nailed a 3-pointer and IU's big guys are doing a better job of finishing inside this half. 

14:11: It's been really encouraging to see Phinisee playing as much as he has. He hasn't gone for long stretches at a time, but he has played 10 minutes so far and it looks like he's moving around just fine. He hasn't finished real well at the basket, but that might just be rust. He's hardly practiced all month.

11:44: It's also very good, obviously, to finally see Jerome Hunter and Race Thompson out on the floor playing for the Hoosiers. Those two have been through a lot in the past year dealing with serious injuries. Neither one is stuffing the box score so far tonight, but they've been active.

10:45: There's never really a benefit to guys being injured, but in this case with three Indiana guards banged up, it's definitely accelerated the learning curve for Franklin, the true freshman from Indianapolis. He guards and plays fast. He's turned it over too often, but that'll get better with time.

9:32:  Trayce Jackson-Davis gets an offensive rebound and put-back for a score to make it 62-45. Offensive rebounding is going to be key for this team. Bonus points per possession will help, especially in tight games. Seeing big improvement there this half.

6:26: Justin Smith heads to the bench after a 3-point play. He's got 18 points and is having a big second half. He's the key to this team being better this year, I think. If he has a big season, that's a difference-maker.

5:52: It's 74-45 now and the Hoosiers are cruising. A much better second half, which was needed.

3:25: Jerome Hunter fouls out. Still, a nice night out there for his first time out. 

3:00: The walk-ons are getting some run now as the Hoosiers push the lead to 28.

FINAL .... It's over, and now the countdown is on to the season opener on Tuesday, Nov. 5 against Western Illinois. 

Published
Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as a reporter and editor, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the Indianapolis Star and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered college sports in the digital platform for the past six years, including the last five years as publisher of HoosiersNow on the FanNation/Sports Illustrated network.

Home/Basketball