Hoosiers Sweat it Out, But Still Get Huge Road Win at Minnesota

Indiana gets a second-straight 24-point performance from point guard Xavier Johnson, and hangs on for dear life after blowing most of a 27-point lead in an 84-79 victory over Minnesota to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Indiana had several goals for Sunday in its road game at Minnesota, but there was only one that really truly mattered.

Get a win.

The Hoosiers did just that, winning 84-79 at Williams Arena to go to 18-10 on the season and back to ,500 in the Big Ten at 9-9. Thanks to two wins in four days after a five-game losing streak, Indiana is right back in the mix for an NCAA Tournament bid.

Those other goals? One was to get another solid outing from point guard Xavier Johnson, who was impressive in the win over Maryland on Thursday by scoring a season-high 24 points. He did it again Sunday, scoring 24 more on 7-of-16 shooting, with a season-high four three-pointers.

They also wanted to diffuse the crowd at Williams Arena on Senior Night and did that, too, dashing out to a 13-point lead in the first half. And they also wanted to come out of the break and play well — and they did that too. When Rob Phinisee — the senior guard who had been out since Jan. 26 with a foot injury — hit a three-pointer with 8:21 to go to put Indiana ahead 70-43.

A 27-point lead. Cruising.

And that last goal? To finish out a game? Well, that one we'll have to save for another day.

And with good reason, because that 27-point lead disappeared quickly. Minnesota hit eight three-pointers in a span of 7:36 to threaten down the stretch. They actually got the lead all the way down to three at 82-79 with E.J Stephens made the last of those three-pointers with five seconds to go.

Johnson was fouled on the inbounds pass and made both free throws to close out the game.

Finishing has been an issue all year for this team, and it was again. This time, though, they hung on — just barely — to get that much-needed win.

“It’s just learning how to win,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "We’ve been so competitive this year. I can count five games I wish we could have back that we gave away.

"This one, we had enough cushion. They made a lot of threes, and a lot of them, we defended pretty well. You've got to give them credit, because they made a lot of hard shots. We made enough free throws to stay ahead.''

All that's left now are two games in the final week of the regular season. The Hoosiers host Rutgers on Wednesday and finish the season at Purdue next Saturday. The consensus among bracketologists is that Indiana probably needs one more win to get in, so Wednesday's game is huge as well

"We played great and had a wonderful stretch. We were able to withstand it. I'm happy about that, that's what it's all about. We made the plays down the stretch that we needed to make sure to secure the win. Now it's all about Rutgers

“At the end of the day, we know what’s staring us in the face. We’ve got to win another game, and Rutgers is next.''

Johnson had 24 points in back-to-back games, and he made 4-of-6 three pointers, often getting wide open looks off of double teams. It's the first time he's hit four threes in a game this year. He hit three on Thursday, and it was just the second time he had done that this season. 

"He did a great job,'' Woodson said of Johnson. "I mean he's getting the ball where it's got to go. Guys are benefitting behind the pass. I mean. he was solid again, and I'm going to need that the rest of the way." 

Indiana also got a boost from the return on senior guard Rob Phinisee, who had missed seven games with a foot injury. He played nine minutes and scored eight points, knocking down two three-pointers during the Hoosiers' big run.

“Rob, the minutes that he played was solid as hell and he was a big part of our run,'' Woodson said. "He told us he was going to play, that he was ready. He hadn’t practiced, so I knew I had to limit his minutes. Five in the first half, five in the second was really all we could do''

Minnesota made 14 three-pointers in the game, including nine in the second half. Guard Payton Willis had four in the final seven-plus minutes and E.J. Stephens had three down the stretch. Willis finished with 28 points. At one point Minnesota hit 9-of-11 field goals while the Hoosiers went four-plus minutes without a basket.

Minnesota guard Payton Willis (0) shoots the ball over Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (23) despite being well defended. Willis hit seven three-pointers. (Harrison Barden/USA TODAY Sports)

Indiana made 10 three-pointers themselves, tying a season-high that was accomplished twice earlier this season. Outside of Johnson's four and Phinisee's two long balls, Miller Kopp hit two, and Parker Stewart and Tamar Bates had one each,

Kopp finished the game with 10 points, and passed the 1,000-point mark for his career, counting his first three seasons at Northwestern. Jordan Geronimo also had 10 points off the bench.

“It’s important, the long ball, and when we’re defending and we’re able to make the long ball, we become a pretty good ball club,'' Woodson said. "We were really good on the offensive end, I thought.''

Indiana shot 55.6 percent from the floor (30-for-54), their fourth-best percentage for the season. They shot 59.6 percent Thursday against Maryland, so that's 58-for-101. Efficiency matters, and hitting shots at a 57.4 percent clip is impressive.

Trayce Jackson-Davis had 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and he made 4-of-6 free throws and had eight rebounds. He also had three assists, two blocked shots and two steals. 

Your best player only getting seven shots it's a great stat line, but Woodson said he did a lot of good things in the win, on both ends of the court.

“Trayce, that’s what you guys see (the seven shots), but Trayce has been great all season for us,'' Woodson said. "At the end of the day, he’s played some really good basketball for this ball cub. It’s got to be everybody that’s contributing. Sometimes Race is the guy, sometimes it’s X that carries us like the last two games. X is starting to see things again. He’s seeing things, and playing extremely well.''