My Two Cents: That's the Jackson-Davis Indiana Needs Every Night

Indiana's star freshman had a career-high 27 points and 16 rebounds on Wednesday at Minnesota, and his timing was perfect.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Trayce Jackson-Davis had his best game as a Hoosier Wednesday night in Indiana's 68-56 victory over Indiana. 

It wasn't his numbers that say so, either. It was his timing.

Jackson-Davis, the 6-foot-9 freshman from Greenwood, Ind., is the Hoosiers' best player, and they really needed him to play like it Wednesday. The Hoosiers had been reeling — so and Jackson-Davis, to be honest — and they really him to answer the bell.

Answer? How about standing on top of the mountain, swinging that bell back and forth? That's exactly what he did, scoring 27 points and grabbing 16 rebounds — both career highs — in the big road win, reminding us all that he just might be the best freshman in the Big Ten this year.

“Twenty-seven and 16, those are serious numbers,” Indiana coach Archie Miller said. “He doesn’t get enough credit. Nationally, he doesn’t get enough credit. I think he’s the freshman of the year in the league. He’s my guy.

"That's typical if we're losing some games, but he's  been a bright spot for us all season.''

Only Kofi Cockburn of Illinois has won more Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards (7-4) and the debate likely will rage right up through the end of the season. But what Jackson-Davis did Wednesday night might have tipped the scales because of he enormity of the moment.

Let's face it, Indiana really needed to win a road game. The Hoosiers were just 1-6 on the road in the league, and they've been embarrassed more times that not away from home. That included Sunday's loss at Michigan, where they were beaten by 24 points, and their best player only took three shots.

They no-showed that game, Jackson-Davis included.

So, yes, bouncing back was critical. Miller was livid after Sunday's embarrassment at Michigan and everyone heard about it, even his highly touted freshman

"I told him after we got done at Michigan, you can't be the best player on any given night and don't feel like traveling with us,'' Miller said. "You have to travel with us to Minnesota. 

"Tonight he delivered. I thought we had some good matchups down there, and he's an unselfish passer, so he kicked it out well too, when he had to.''

Jackson-Davis did his part, being more aggressive in getting open and demanding the basketball. His teammates also made him the focus, and it paid off. 

"We had a main focus tonight to get Trayce going early. and he really responded,'' Miller said. "It was a little bit our night. We were a little bit fortunate with their shooting. They missed some good ones.''

Jackson-Davis won the showdown with Minnesota big man Daniel Oturu, who's one of the best players in the Big Ten. Jackson-Davis was 11-for-15 shooting, while Oturu was just 5-of-15 shooting and only scored 11 points.

Advantage, Indiana.

With the win, Indiana is now 17-9 overall and back to 7-8 in the Big Ten. A huge home game with Penn State awaits on Sunday at Simon Skojdt Assembly Hall, where the Hoosiers can get back to .500 in the league and solidify their spot in the NCAA tournament.

With five games remaining — including three at home with Penn State, Minnesota and Wisconsin — holding serve and getting to 20 wins should be enough to make the dance.

What we learned Wednesday what that the Hoosiers were well aware of the urgency in getting a win. They played like it, erasing a double-digit lead in the first half and finishing strong, something that hasn't happened hardly at all on the road.

"We didn't freelance as much to tonight and I thought our guards did a great job of keeping things under control,'' Miller said. "We only had 10 turnovers, and that's great on the road.

"We got a lot of second shots too, and  that's big. Real big.''

It sure was, because that hasn't been happening lately. The Hoosiers had been a pretty good rebounding team all year, but they've been getting pounded lately, including by 16 at Michigan.

Jackson-Davis had four offensive rebounds out of his 16 and scored off them three times. And Race Thompson, who had a huge Minnesota homecoming, and two offensive rebounds out of his 10 total boards in only 21 minutes.

This, we have to hope is the game we've been waiting for to push Indiana forward. This team is capable of making the NCAA tournament — and winning games — if it plays like this every time out.

They have a bit of a fragile collective psyche, so hopefully this will be a big confidence boost.