Tamar Bates Has Career Day, Scores 22 as Hoosiers Roll Over Jackson State

There was talk all offseason about how much Indiana sophomore Tamar Bates had expanded his game, and it all blossomed on Friday when he scored a career-high 22 points in the Hoosiers' 90-51 rout of Jackson State. Indiana is 6-0, with No. 1 North Carolina next on Wednesday in Bloomington.

Tom Brew | Nov 25, 2022

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — We never saw it, of course, but we heard all the stories about Tamar Bates' summer at Indiana. Players and coaches alike were raving about his play, and the jump he was making from his life-changing freshman year to his sophomore season.

We hadn't really seen it yet through Indiana's first five games, just occasional spurts, but we sure did on Friday. Bates was spectacular, scoring a career-high 22 points off the bench in leading No. 11 Indiana to a 90-51 win over Jackson State.

The timing couldn't be better, because next up for Bates and his running mates is No. 1 North Carolina on Wednesday. The preliminaries are now over for the 6-0 Hoosiers.

Having Bates playing at a high level is a big deal. A year ago, as a highly-touted flipped five-star recruit, the 6-foot-5 left-hander from Kansas City averaged only 3.9 points a game. It was a tough spot for him, because he had a baby during the season and was away from family every day for the first time.

It took a lot of adjusting.

"He finally had a break-out game, and I'm not surprised or shocked,'' Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. "When we started this journey with this team five months ago, he was probably one of our best players playing. Tonight he kind of put it all together. Boy, he made shots. I thought he defended well, too, and he just did a lot of good things in the (22) minutes that he played.''

Woodson was asked about what's made the difference with Bates. Another year of maturity? A clearer head? A comfort level from being here a second year?

All of the above, Woodson said.

"That all has a lot to do with it,'' Woodson said. "He went through some — I wouldn't call it truly personal issues. He had a baby last year, and that's a big responsibility for a young kid at his age. I thought this summer, he accepted what he was going through, which he had no choice, and he started to grow up.

"And these five months that we've been together after coming back, you know, he has shown some signs of maturity. We're going to need that from him because he can make shots, and he can do things from an offensive standpoint that I want him to do.''

Bates did all of that Friday night in the Hoosiers' sixth straight game over 80 points to start the season, the first time that's been done since 1969. He was 8-for-11 from the field and made 4-of-6 three pointers. He also made both free throws, had four assists and zero turnovers.

He provided a spark, too. It was just 9-9 when he came in about six minutes into the game. He scored nine quick points as part of a long 27-6 run by the bench, and then hit a three with five seconds left in the half to give Indiana a 44-28 lead at the break.

Tamar Bates had a career-high 22 points in Friday's win over Jackson State. — Tamar Bates had a career-high 22 points in Friday's win over Jackson State :: Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

In the second half, he made all four shots, including two three pointers as the Hoosiers ran away with things. It was a day for the ages, easily snapping his previous career high of 13 points, which he did twice a year ago.

He had his family in the stands, and even brought his daughter Lealani to the postgame press conference. Life is good.

"I'm just grateful that my family can be here,'' Bates said with Lealani on his lap during his postgame press conference.. "This was her first two games, so I was just glad that they could be in the building and actually make the trip. I see she's excited too. She's trying to play with the microphone.

"It means a lot just having my family here with me because last year was the first time I ever missed Thanksgiving, so the fact we were able to spend it together was special. I've got an army behind me. My family does a great job when she's back home with them, so it really just takes a lot of stress off of me.''

Indiana senior point guard Xavier Johnson had a huge game himself. He also hit four three-pointers and had 16 points, four assists and just one turnover in 24 minutes of action. ''Banged-up'' senior Trayce Jackson-Davis, who missed Wednesday's game against Little Rock, was back in the starting lineup on Friday but didn't look comfortable. He scored 11 points in 19 minutes, and now has five days to heal up before seeing North Carolina.

"He didn't play a lot of minutes today, and we'll go back and assess where he is,'' Woodson said. "He has these next few days to get ready for Wednesday's game, so like I told him when I broke huddle, you guys that are a little beat up, you've got to get in and get treatment and get yourselves ready for Wednesday because that's our next game.''

There's no doubt about that. Indiana is 6-0, but the Hoosiers have only really had one test. That was at Xavier, where they beat a very good team by two points. In these other five games, they have won by an average of 35 points. That's all impressive, but it doesn't say a lot about how they'll compete against No. 1 North Carolina on Wednesday, or at Rutgers, in Las Vegas against No. 14 Arizona and No. 5 Kansas.

Just how good are the Hoosiers? No one really knows, even Woodson.

"Only time will tell, man,'' Woodson said. "Xavier was the only really big team that we've faced so far. North Carolina is a big team, and they've got wonderful perimeter players. They're well-coached. So only time will tell, man. Come Wednesday we'll see where we are.''

Indiana coach Mike Woodson has the Hoosiers off to a 6-0 start, with No. 1 North Carolina up next on Wednesday in Bloomington, (USA TODAY Sports)

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