My Two Cents: Stopping Center Hunter Dickinson Key to Finally Getting Past Michigan

Must wins in the postseason have a certain finality to them, and Indiana's game with Michigan on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament certainly has that feel, as well. For the Hoosiers to get that first NCAA bid in six years, they have to win, and that starts with controlling Michigan center Hunter Dickinson.

Tom Brew | Mar 10, 2022

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — There is no room for excuses in college basketball. When you get your butt kicked, you simply have to take it like a man and move on.

That's a great reminder as Indiana prepares to take on Michigan on Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Because they last time they met, the Hoosiers definitely got knocked around, losing 80-62 in Bloomington on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 23.

There WAS an excuse, though, real or imagined. Just 60-plus hours earlier, Indiana had upset arch-rival Purdue at home in one of the most excited Assembly Hall games in years.

There was a hangover for sure, also real or imagined.

The loss to Michigan was really the only game all year where Indiana was never in it. Michigan did whatever they wanted to offensively against a Hoosiers defense that's been No. 1 in the league all year. It didn't matter. They got good looks, made their shots and left Indiana guessing most of the night.

It was bad. It was ugly. On all counts.

Indiana coach Mike Woodson agreed with all of that after the game, and he's been even more disgusted re-watching the game this week in preparing for the tournament game.

"You would think after the big game we had against Purdue, everybody would be sky high,'' Woodson said Tuesday. "I mean, I think we came out with great intentions to play hard, but we just didn't sustain it.

"After watching the film again, we did nothing right in that game, I mean, on both ends of the floor. Our defensive coverages were awful. It was one of those games where I just thought we didn't show up to play. They took advantage of it on both ends of the floor.''

Michigan came into that game ranked dead last in three-pointers made in the Big Ten, but they knocked down 11-of-17 long balls against the Hoosiers. Freshman guard Caleb Houstan, who came into the game having made just 1-of-17 threes during a two-week stretch, made five long balls.

Even worse, 7-foot-1 center Hunter Dickinson kept getting open too, and Indiana was awful in covering pick-and-rolls. He hit three wide-open threes himself, and dominated in the post and the mid-range game as well. He scored 25 points and had nine rebounds, and was the best player on the floor all day.

"Our bigs are going to just have to play him. I thought he had his way in that first game,'' Woodson said. "He was very boisterous about it. He came in and had a monster game. You're not going to beat that team if you don't slow him down. So we're going to have to do a better job on him to the point where he can't dominate like he did. I thought that was the difference.

"Yeah, they made threes, but I just thought he was the X factor. He did whatever the hell he wanted to do. We just can't let that happen again.''

The shocker that day was that the defensive effort by Indiana was so poor. It was ugly in real life, and even worse on film.

And the film doesn't lie.

"It wasn't pretty watching again (on Monday), I tell you that,'' Woodson said. "I think we've just got to start fresh and regroup.We hadn't had really any games like that. I mean, you think about it, we hit the first shot to start the second half, cut it to six. That was as close as we ever got again. You got to give Michigan a lot of credit, man. They came in here, made shots. The big fella was huge. We had no answer for it. We've got to eliminate the shots that they made here and we've got to do a better job on Dickinson.''

The stakes are certainly very high on Thursday. Michigan and Indiana are both on the NCAA bubble right now. For the moment, Michigan is probably in, but that's no guarantee. Indiana, as of now, is just barely on the outside looking in.

The winner, to be frank, is probably in the NCAA field. The loser? Probably not.

So this matchup is that big. So is finally getting over the hump against Michigan. The Hoosiers have lost nine straight games in the rivalry, dating back to 2016.

The two teams have been models of inconsistency this season. Michigan has lost nine games as a favorite, and Indiana has lost a bushel full of close games in the final minutes.

But six weeks ago is six weeks ago, and they are different teams right now. Michigan won a huge game Sunday at Ohio State without Dickinson, who missed the game with the flu, but they've had a few stinkers recently, too.

They are also playing their first game with Juwan Howard back on the bench after his five-game suspension, and no one has any clue how the Wolverines are going to react to his return.

Indiana is different, too. Point guard Xavier Johnson is playing with much more confidence lately, He is averaging 19 points and 6.4 rebounds in the last five games. Race Thompson has been good, and even Miller Kopp hit four three-pointers on Saturday against Purdue.

There are matchups aplenty that will have a big impact on this game, but nothing is bigger than Dickinson vs. Trayce Jackson-Davis. The two big men really are the most important pieces on both sides of the ball, and it's clear to me that whichever big man plays best is likely going to lead his team to a win.

Jackson-Davis had 17 points during that January loss. For Indiana to win, those point totals really need to flop. The Hoosiers could sure use a 25-point game out of Jackson-Davis — in Indiana's last 13 games, he's scored more than 20 points only ONCE — and they need to keep Dickinson in check, too.

Holding him to 17 and keeping Michigan from having another record day from three is the perfect formula for Indiana to get a win here.

It's a must-win game — again — for Indiana. No one on Indiana's team has ever played in the NCAA Tournament, so they really need to show up on Thursday and get a win.

They have to be better, and they know it. Especially against Dickinson.

"I think that's a big thing for us, stopping him,'' Jackson-Davis said of Dickinson. "I think our ball screen defense wasn't very good in that game. Then our veers weren't really good, either. Basically, when they came off screens, if our guards get hit, we were supposed to switch and we didn't switch, so it let them have wide-open shots, and he was hitting them.

"That's going to be big for us, taking him away, because he was hot from the three-point line that game, and he's been shooting the ball really well. Absolutely. I think everyone in our locker room knows how much we need this game, and they're willing to do anything to win. We know where we stand, and we know that we have to go get this one.''

Mission assigned.

Now, mission accomplished?

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