Hoosiers win big, UNC up next
By CALEB LYNN
ISL Contributor
BLOOMINGTON — After the Hoosiers disappointing loss to Fort Wayne last week, they returned to action to play Mississippi Valley State at Assembly Hall. Consider this one a tune-up game before the Big Ten/ACC challenge on Wednesday night against North Carolina. Playing without James Blackmon Jr., the Hoosiers had no problem with the Delta Devils, winning by a final score of 85-52.
Sophomore Thomas Bryant proved once again that he can take over in the paint. He finished with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Mississppi Valley State Coach Andre Payne was impressed by Bryant. “The big kid, he really impressed me,” Payne said. He also mentioned OG Annunoby, saying “I was shocked by how well he can shoot from the perimeter, and he has a strong inside game.”
Annunoby also turned in a pretty impressive game on Sunday night. He came out with 21 points and 8 rebounds, after missing most of the Fort Wayne game with an illness.
His teammate Robert Johnson talked about how it was good to see him on the floor. “I think it was good to see him out there,” Johnson said. “He’s one of those guys that, when he’s locked in, he makes the game easier for everybody.”
The Hoosiers led 40-28 at halftime, but really turned it on in the second half. Thomas Bryant talked about what changed. “What really changed was that we got our energy back,” he said. “The energy died down a little bit for us. We started looking at the pressure that they were giving us and started to realize what we could really attack.”
Despite the big win, the Hoosiers will need to play a lot better on Wednesday night if they want to knock off the highly ranked Tar Heels. But as we know, the Hoosiers have typically played very well against ranked opponents in Assembly Hall no matter how they’ve looked in recent games.
(This story was edited by Tyler Smith– @TylerSmith_ISL)
