You're listening to the back home network, presented by home field apparel, are folks. Welcome back, Scott here with you. I have Galen On Assignment. We'll get to him in a second. But real quick. We'll get some business out of the way, but don't Don't don't speed it up. Listen to what we're going to talk about because we might have some new partners to talk about or maybe not, but we definitely want to talk about hope-filled apparel.
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Tournament galen's laughing. Some do you like are you preemptively purchasing a scalp that you can put on your wall or something? I mean, you know, it's logic today of Wyoming apparel. That might be a better question. They they do not have why only apparel good things? Doesn't look like I've st. Mary, so we're good. But yeah, they do have UCLA. This launch UCLA, which I joked looks like great stuff. But again, hold off until after Sunday to purchase. But enough, joking.
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All right, there we go. We are done with the nuts and bolts. We are ready to talk about Indiana. Winning a tournament game for the first time since 2000. 16. I remember where I was watching their last tournament when I was at the god, the pizza place, right next to it. Umbridge with my brother-in-law. Getting ready to watch the in the Pacers. Take on the Thunder, but we watched Indiana beat Kentucky. It was fantastic down there Galen, man. How you doing? I'm doing good.
I'm doing much better after the victory last night. It was certainly an experience from a viewing perspective. But we've one of those games where you got the sense early on, it wasn't going to be pretty. And I managed to not wake up too much of the hotel. While I was watching the game, so I guess that I would consider that all together, a pretty good positive. Yeah, that's, that's because of you. You didn't, like Lavin and they Avery Johnson Too Much.
No, that was really a poor Crewe in general. I mean, that was that later, but they certainly didn't add to the enjoyment of the game by any stretch of the imagination. You know, look, I know. National broadcaster was, they got a lot going on but that we just felt like throughout. I don't know that they've watched more than 35 minutes total of Indiana basketball throughout the course of the Season that they just, there was a lack of information.
That wouldn't, I think, enhance the broadcast in ways that it just didn't happen in that one. But hey, you know, this is the problem that you run into that you'd like to have in the NCAA tournament. I'll take broadcasters not knowing the team as long as as Indiana's able to play in those games. So, Indiana wins as I'm sure everybody here, listening nose, and I guess this would be, you know, it's kind of Is it going to be the trace Jackson?
Davis game or the Jordan Geronimo, game two guys who definitely pulled us out, you know, Trace had a fantastic game, 29 Points, unbelievably efficient 10 from 16 from the field, 9 from 11, from a line. So let's keep that up. You know, Jordan Geronimo came off the bench played fantastic, you know, my take away from the game of the high-level was I was really nervous because in the second half, it's like, alright, we're better than Like this is a game.
We should win. And from that, you know, kind of Jared on Jared Morris on Assembly Hall and Twitter. Kind of does these like, you know, how we doing between TV timeouts? And you know, between the Under 12 and the underrate time out. I was like, all right.
This is a point where we could kind of put the game away and we didn't, I mean, we slowly kind of we put it away in increments which isn't always going to work, but I was nervous because after you got to the underrate time out, you know, it's like, all right. This game should be over to get to the under for it's All right, like, Wyoming a still like 13 and a steal away from this being way too tight. And suddenly, we're in a spot where it's like, are we able to
close this thing out? So I was very nervous until the end because it did feel like we were playing with fire in, not closing it out. But I think a win is a win. It's fantastic, will take it. But that's those are that's my initial thought of the game. What about you? Yeah. Well, I'll talk more about individual player performances a little bit later. I felt the same on the playing with fire thing because we've
seen so often with this team. They'll get to a certain point in terms of win probability where it's like, all right, they have a 90% chance or an eighty percent chance of winning this game and then it just disintegrates. I mean and you look at all of all of the charts. Somebody has had a tweet that they put up here over the last several weeks where they was set out all the games where Indiana was a good 75 percent, or better win, percentage chance, and then
lost. And in this one, Indiana at about the eight and a half minute Mark with a 91%. Chance to win, you know, and if you'll recall, that was the point where Indiana went up 49 to 40 and looked Wyoming. This to shot, Indiana had a chance to come down, take a double-digit lead and they didn't and instead, Wyoming rattle off for straight points and you're like, okay. Come on really. This is going to happen again.
Fortunately the joke and it's an inaccurate jokes, but I'm going to make it. Anyway. Is that Indiana finally found an opponent? Point that loves scoring droughts as much as they do because that's essentially what happened there with Wyoming is, you know, they got it back to 4944 with. I think about 7 minutes and 20 seconds left, and then didn't score again until about the four and a half minute mark.
And it was to be fair. We really want about two points then in that in that time period to. Yes, but you know, but the big difference is about, I use dealt with for a lot of the season, is that they'll get to this point. Then their offense will go stagnant and then the other team starts to go on runs. What was different here? Is that Indiana's defense? Keps Wyoming from going on, any kind of a run and it really the only reason Wyoming kept the
score is close. As they did, was Indiana made some uncharacteristically dumb defensive plays at the end of the game. Following three point shooters, you know, fouling made three point, shot fouling a layup. They gave why? Homing a bunch of points at the end that their defense, their overall defensive performance, didn't warrant the game being as close as it was as the end. And so look, I think it's the n-c-double-a tournament. You got a lot of nerds. You got people trying to maybe
over do things a little bit. You didn't have a lot of offensive performance out of, I you, but I you on the game overall, did everything. You could have possibly asked him to do in terms of a full 40 minute game. They scored a point per possession again. A pretty good defense. They held their opponent under a
point per possession. They got really good performances, out of a couple of their players and you know, the end of it. They and they had a big enough lead that they could afford to make mistakes and still win the
game relatively comfortable. Yeah, the other positive, the takeaway from this to is you hate to think you dodged a bullet, but you dodged a bullet because this is a game where, you know, we've you and I have been a little critical and like, Parker, Stuart Miller cop like They played their not going to play this bad again, you know, Miller cop has four points or
sorry zero points. You'll Parker Stewart has four points like they were both inefficient to say the least, you know, they've what you whether you like them or don't like them. This was about as bad as you're going to see them play. You have to assume they're going to play better. You know. Xavier Johnson has been on a tear. He was a, he was still really good at pushing the offense a little bit of an inefficient score to, you know, last night
to for ten on ten points. You'd expect that to go better, you know, race Thompson, only have four points. You expect more out of him. He was in foul trouble. You know, if I told you that before the game, it's like those, all those things you're having like, we're in trouble. It's like Trace Jackson. Davis gonna have a great game. It's like, okay, I've seen that all the other pieces aren't working. That's probably not going to work and I would say, two words, you know, Geronimo.
He's probably not going to give you, you know, a 15-point game every night, but the things that he was doing felt replicatable like he was just fighting spots around the The room and obviously the three put back dunks, but, you know, people are it's not like st. Mary's is going to have three
weeks to scout for him. It's like there's not a lot of tape on Geronimo and if he's playing with that kind of aggression and just that kind of motor, he's probably going to get 10 points just on and around the basket. So I feel very positive that we dodged a bullet and that, you know, your you basically only had the tray. Second day was the only guy who was basically playing it at a
elite normal level. Everyone else seemed to have an off game, you got by It with a win and I doubt all those guys are going to have off games again. I think you're underselling the Jordan Geronimo performance. That was only the fourth time this season. The Jordan Geronimo has scored in double figures. It was only the fourth time in his eye, you career. But Jordan Geronimo has scored in double figures. It was his season high in points and, you know, you look at his
contributions rebounding wise. I think he only had maybe three, four games, the Entire season, where he grabbed more rebounds, it wasn't just a 15 points. It was the seven boards. It was his willingness to take shots. It's it's not normal that Jordan Geronimo would be the guy that would be your second offensive option. He had to be because of all the things that you said before. I mean you weren't you weren't getting points out of race Thompson, race Thompson. Looked totally off.
I'm it was an aberration for race and I think it might have been just nerves or something like that, but he was, he was certainly off of his Off of what you would expect out of him. As you mentioned. You didn't really get much in the way of authentic contribution from the other starters and that was certainly concerning and eventually didn't show up either. I mean, you know, Tamar Bates had a nice shot at the end of the first half and then we basically didn't see him. Again.
Trey Galloway had one of his two or three worst games in Indiana uniform and yet with all of that Indiana was able to find ways to win and it was largely because As bad as guys were playing on the offensive, end the times defense stayed very strong throughout. Yeah, there were a few lapses here and there, but, you know, to hold a team like Wyoming, not just under a point per possession.
They were Point 88, which is really good, but to force, 19, turnovers and, and to do. So, in a way that, you know, Wyoming's offense, just look, totally disrupted the entire time. And the way that they were doing it was they were, they were bringing Guys down on EK. They were, they were making Maldonado have to do everything by himself and that led the ten turnovers for him.
That all is replicatable. And that's really the identity that Mike Woodson is built around this team and we've talked about it a bunch of this year, this idea that you have a defensive identity and that that is how you are ultimately going to win games and the offense is probably going to ebb and flow, but you know, while they look like they've never seen a
defense. It's like that whole season and you know, I'm sure they've had one or two bad games at other times during the year, but you know, as much as we heard before the start of the game Scott about EK and, you know, being this Unstoppable score, he would can credibly pedestrian. And it wasn't like Indiana was doing anything special.
I trace Jackson. Davis was bodying him up in the post and then they'd occasionally bring a guy down to slap the ball away and he had no clue what to do with it. And I'm just like, like this. Do is great. Great defense by, are you, but it didn't. Like Indiana did nothing special. They didn't change their entire approach just to try to stop one guy or two guys, and it was more than enough as it turns out is, if he ends up winning by three possessions.
I have a different I disagree. But I did the same end and result. Honestly, like I thought he can look pretty good. What I thought was interesting is again, the way I saw it as like our defense was kind of like, all right, like EK looks like he's a not inefficient score but a guy who takes a while to kind of figure out how to get to a spot and Get to his post, he was pretty good once he got in the post but we really didn't double A much. Like all right, let him get the shots.
And then you look at the box score is a wild box score for Wyoming. Like you have two guys in double figures and Maldonado and EK. Everybody else is in single digits. You only have three guys who took two point field. Goals Maldonado is 6412. EK was 74, 14, and Jeffries was one-for-one. Everybody else. Nobody else shot. A, a shot outside of inside of three on the Team, it's just a wild box score and it did look like Indians plan was like our, if you're gonna take it to EK, that's fine.
Like, you're gonna slow the game down. He's going to take an entire possession to get his points. It's like if he gets 17 points, that's fine. Like, we're not going to double him. We're not going to, you know, Maldonado was doing some stuff. But yeah, I was very impressed with the defense. It did kind of have that, you know, the horrible analogy because he K is not Jordan. But kind of that, you know early, you know, we're just going to let Jordan get his
points. We're going to let everybody else beat us and that's kind of what it felt like. As I rek you can You can do what you want. And, yeah, I thought he looked pretty good in the post. He was making some nice moves, but it's like it took so long for them to get it done. And then it's like that was 30 seconds. And again, he wasn't, you know,
unbelievably efficient. But yeah, I mean they, you know, they end up scoring, you know, point eight points of possession and again, just a wild box score where it's basically just two guys doing everything. I will say this. I mean he he ends up with a relatively efficient line, but It took a lot of making up at the end of the game for me to
get to that point. Like, you take a snapshot about the 30-minute Mark and he's not really much of a factor and it was interesting because down the stretch. He almost couldn't be a factor because they were behind too many points. They had to shoot threes at that stage. So, anyway, regardless of what your take on things was, I really think Indiana's. Defensive performance overall was very good.
Wyoming didn't really have that third option that they could regularly rely on and, you know, You know, everybody gets scared about the three pointers and I certainly get scared about the three pointers, you know, but and even the Wyoming seem like they hit a bunch, they only hit six, they shot 32 percent from three. That was a lot better than what Indiana did on that front, but it was Indian Advance. That's a bunch. That's a punch for us.
Well, it's funny it. I'll jump over to the Indiana side on this one. Indiana won the game. Despite. I don't know if Indiana could have played worse in several phases in the game, you know, especially from an Offensive perspective. They do all the game. Indiana only shot 42 percent from the field. They shot 2 for 13 from 3, which is 15 percent which is just mind-blowing. It was not good. They've only have. They've only have four games this year where they've made
three or fewer three-pointers. And this was the worst from a percentage perspective three-point shooting game that Indiana has had since January. Now, the weird thing about this Indiana team is of those four games now, 13 of them. They need two shots. Two from three against Ohio State at home. They won that game. They made three from three against Illinois at home. They lost that one. They made three from three against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament.
They won that one, and then they make two in this game and they win this one. So, I don't know what that says. This is clearly a team that was built for 1985 from a basketball rules perspective. But that said, I think it says a lot for IU that they were able to figure out a way to come. Come. Up with the victory in this sort of environment, despite not being able to shoot from outside and a largely. What did it for them in this game? At least was offensive rebound.
And they grabbed nearly forty percent of the available offensive rebounds. In this game. It kept possessions alive George Geronimo. As we saw took advantage on a couple of occasions and was able to get put back dunks or what have you, you know, they being able to do that. And you combine that with the fact that Indiana only committed eight turnovers shouldn't. They weren't giving away a bunch.
Two possessions. It's that that's one of the big underrated turnarounds that this IU team has had all seven as much as turnovers were the main issue for the first two months of the season. It's really, really cool to see how much more carefully they take care of the basketball. And, you know, I think that all told the will to win the game from this team at the end, even with the mistakes that they made was really impressive. And so I'm just I'm just
excited. Did that, you know, you get a one of the old-time tournament performances from an individual for Indiana. Basketball out of Trace. Jackson, Davis who's waited multiple years to even have this opportunity. He takes full advantage of it. You get literally a career game out of Jordan Geronimo Off the Bench. You get a pretty good game out of Xavier Johnson and you look at all that and you're like, gosh, they're just off pensively.
At least. A lot of guys know, showed from a statistical perspective, if those guys can pick it up Suddenly. It's like well, if you can win with only three guys contributing offensively and then c-double-a Tournament game. You feel pretty good about Indiana's chances to play a really good game in the next round. And so I'm just overall, really, really pleased at the end of it all with how things turned out. It was, it was a little closer than you would have liked a
little more of a rock fight. And I think most people would have liked. But by the same token, Indiana, collectively did a good job of grinding it out. Yeah. No, I agree. And you are right the, the the turnovers for this team. It's done. They've done very well. You look at the last, you know, five or six wins, especially the Big Ten Tournament. Like. They've had less turnovers in our opponent for a good number of games now and then yeah, Wyoming was just Maldonado with
10 turnovers. Why me as a team 19 turnovers are just turning the ball over left and right. The thing that you know, I was hitting this on Twitter. I just I want to give you the opportunity to rail. I want a Like, we all saw it when it came out. It boggles. I'm moving a little bit off the Wyoming Game. It boggles my mind, you know, these are student athletes in the NCAA cares about, you know, student athletes and classes, and all that. Like, you know, you're going to put this team.
Whoever plays this game is going to be in the first four. And then obviously, they're playing the next round. You have Regional sites in Pittsburgh, in Milwaukee, in Buffalo, in Fort Worth, all much better traveling, distance today. Date. And by the way, this is that this is also going to go to Rutgers and Notre Dame tonight. The fact that this game ends and I see a tweet that's like Indiana's open practice time. Like, I'm and my basement. It's like, you know, 11:45 like roof. I'm tired.
Like, I'm tired. I'm ready to go to bed. And I'm also 43 years old, but like I'm tired. It's like I see a tweets like oh, yeah, Indiana's practice time open, practice in Portland, starts in 20 hours. It's like they are still taking a shower from this game in Dayton, Ohio. I saw they had plane. No malfunction plane issues. Like they didn't get on the plane until like 4:00 a.m. Or something.
It is, it's criminal that they're doing this two teams that like, and the fact that we're not even the effing last game in Portland, where the first game in Portland, which is like, what are you doing? I put it on Twitter. I'm will agent Johnson on Twitter at a seven underscore scenario. Had a funny tweet there. He's like, cause I was joking about how Bad. This is it will maybe the answer. Do they like the unstable ask him.
Like maybe I should fly from Dayton to Bloomington the go to class on today and then go Bloomington to Portland, which is like a very fun and I know we're on spring break, but it's a funny take, it's just it's mind-boggling. Same thing for Notre Dame Rutgers tonight. They're going to turn around and go to San Diego, which is annoying. Like I don't think it needs that were going to lose its just and it might actually galvanized us.
As like, it's just such a emotional rush like just keep the high going and let's just plow through but it is, you know, it's nuts. It's BSE. Unfair, the NCAA shouldn't put any team through this and honestly would have it's bad for us. I I'll I would have almost felt worse for Wyoming. They're flying from Wyoming to Dayton and then back to Portland. It had they won. Totally unfair, but that that's my rail as we look at where we're moving from here to the next game.
Yeah. Look, I mean, I've talked about this Bunch. It was just unnecessary. They didn't have to do it this way. They could have put both play in game winners or all for playing. Game winners in friday-sunday regions. They certainly could have put the play-in game winners in regions. That weren't three time zones
away. Maybe there's just a lot of things that it's more sins of incompetence, the sins of malice, you know, it's one of those where I don't think they looked at the bracket and said, well, gosh, how can we screw? The play-in game winners? I don't think they look at the bracket at all. Like the and there were a lot of things that the The committee did that.
It was great. It really make you question what they were doing and there have been the whole podcast devoted to just talking about those things. We won't get into the here. Everybody's focused on the Indiana piece of it. Look, it just it didn't have to be this way. And you know, I guess Indiana had a plane issue last night. They were supposed to leave at about 1:00. They didn't get off the ground
until 4:00 date and time least. That's what I saw today on Twitter. I'm assuming that that's true based upon the sources. No, so that means that they're going to get an even later. So, you know, I think the guys physically will bounce back, just fine. It's not that bad a travel because I'm assuming it's a chartered flight that there's not gonna be any belts on. They'll be room to spread out a little bit, but it just, it seems unnecessary when you've got a site in Pittsburgh.
And you've got a site in the walkie and you've got a site in Greenville, South Carolina. I mean, all of these are reasonable travel distances from Eaten. Even if you want to put somebody in Fort Worth, which is also a first, and second round site would have made more sense. But look, this is the thing that we've missed out on as I you fans for a while was you know, how screwed up some of the in sea level is approach can be, you know, the, in this, what the
selection committee does. So I wasn't surprised by it. I'm just dismayed by it. Now. It's like your joke about like what, you know, last year and we got kind of jobs out of the BCS or the, you know, the New Year's Day six. And we're like, wow. And it's like, yeah. Yeah, like, welcome to the party in the air. Like this is what happens every year to college football teams that you just. You haven't been in the big kids Thanksgiving, Reuben.
Unfortunately, we haven't been there now, but no. Now we are in the turn, you know, we're in a spot where you can pick us in a bracket, which is awesome. I'm not done my bracket until today, based on that fact, as I want to pick Indiana Again st. Mary's, I'll ask you this. Now, as you look at st. Mary's, you know, what do you see with them? They seem to play a slower style, which would theoretically help help in the Anna, you know, how do you see this matchup with us?
Moving forward? I'm assuming they have moved the match. I'm assuming with the NCAA as I move the matchup and Kansas in the next, we're gonna go ahead and Swap this to a game in the Kansas City. Yeah, this this game is really interesting in that, it is a matchup of teams, who statistics look very similar, but who get
there in very different ways. You know, Indiana obviously is Led offensively generally by my three guys who are like Head and Shoulders above everybody else in terms of their production and what they contribute. Obviously, Trace Jackson. Davis is the big dog race Thompson, Xavier Johnson, and then you got a big drop-off and you get guys that will appear out of The Ether and will contribute whether it's Jordan Geronimo, or you'll get maybe a good Miller, cop game or
whatever. St. Mary's doesn't quite work that way. Really got what I would say is six guys, that regularly contribute, their best players, from a overall contribution perspective. Our Mathias tasks, who's a 6-10 senior. And then Tommy cuse who's a 62, senior, they are, you know, that they manage with the way that they play to be. Very methodical, Ross Baker yesterday on Twitter called them like a forget. It was like a lesson. Offensive Wisconsin or something
like that. They play a player, really slow pace. They're not the most efficient team offensively. They you know, unlike Wisconsin, they don't get to the free-throw line, very often, where st. Mary's really makes their bread and butter on offense is that they hit their free throws when they do go. They hit shots pretty well. Overall, the 35 percent from three and they don't turn the ball over. So, you know, that's, that's been kind of the pattern that it
was constant, would have had. So it will be somewhat familiar. St. Mary's has been really good on defense. Events over the course of the season. They don't allow a lot of offensive rebounds and they don't allow their opponents to shoot from three very well. Well, joke's on you, st. Mary's, because Indiana takes care of that part.
So, and you know, what's interesting to me over all about the st. Mary's team is their profile doesn't strike me as a profile of a team that is a five seed from, you know, in terms of like big wins on the course of the season. And most of their big wins are either against teams that are out of the bracket or very low in the bracket. Yes, they did meet them zaga, that was in the last game of the regular season.
That was a home that, you know, they get some credit for that but you're not playing at home in the NCAA tournament. Their best wins away from home. They did win at San Francisco by 2 and San Francisco. Had a very good season there in the NCAA tournament. They won against Notre Dame on a neutral floor, sort of Indiana by a bigger margin. And I would say, and then they won a game on the road. I guess it was a, yeah, I was at Utah State by 2.
So this is not a team that away from Moraga California, where they're based has demonstrated a dominance. Now, Indiana has a neither, I'll give you that, but I just feel like when I look at the st. Mary's team, it's hard to really get a sense of how good they actually are, because they are. In the West Coast Conference and unlike Gonzaga. They're not challenging themselves with a tremendous number of top level out of conference competition.
Certainly. I think that they've got a lot of players that are going to be difficult to deal with tasks and q's test shoots 47 percent from three, which is clearly frightening, you know, they've got two other guys on the roster who shoot 39 percent from three and it taken more shots from that distance that he has Alex do.
Is shot. 39% Kyle, Bowen also shot 39 percent from three, but I actually really like the matchup for Indiana because it feels like a game that's going to get played in the 50s or 60s and it feels like St. Mary's are going to do some things that Indiana can't stop. Well and Indiana is going to do some things at st. Mary's can't stop well and you know, I'm sure st. Mary's defense is excellent. But I also feel like Indiana has played.
A lot of excellent defense has so far this year being in the Big Ten, nothing that st. Mary's going to do defensively is going to be shocking to them. So, two things, you said earlier. I'm going to reference back to you joked about Indiana being an 85 offense. Like, this is a like they should really get the old-school. Like I have the list here. I'm not sure who is announcing this game Obama pulled up right now nigga, lapis is on this game if I'm not mistaken, but I'm not 100% Sure.
Thursday, Portland. Yeah, lapis, but and Andy Katz I was saying they should get like Bill raftery and the old guys because this is like an old school game where you have an Indiana team. It doesn't shoot threes. And like we basically play inside out and then you know, st. Mary's has led by like you said, Johnson cues and tasks like three seniors. They also another senior on the starting line is like it's a senior Laden team of this is like the the old-school NCAA tournament. Imagine.
This is like, let this is this is a clear, Brent Musburger, Billy Packer terms of I will send like, it's just for one game. Take away the three-point line, take away the shot clock and just just like, run with it like that. I think would be gonna go with the old school way and like the skinny Lane.
Yeah, that'd be great. But the other thing too is a you mentioned, the way they play and this is where you mentioning with Wyoming. Like they look like they hadn't seen a defense like we have before and again, I I don't think because Saint Mary's plays in the West Coast Conference. Like they were, they're going to be totally blown away.
But I I do think there is something to, you know, when you play In the Big Ten, you get used to these teams, you know, the teams that play Indiana are used to what they say. All we know. You know, what, that's going to be like, you get used to it. As you mentioned, you look at st. Mary's record and you look at their schedule this year. It's like they, they just don't have a lot of tough games with based on being, in the West Coast Conference and, you know, they did beat San Francisco
twice. They did beat Gonzaga once, but then a lot of just games against teams that are in the 200s 300s in Ken Palm, you know. They lost to Wisconsin when they play them like you mentioned, Notre Dame game. Like I do think there's a and then you're not going to have a lot of time, you know, at least from Indiana's point of view. They could have been doing some pre-prep for st. Mary's st. Mary's had to prep both Indiana
and Wyoming teams. So they're just starting to get prepped now like I could also see a world where you could see Saint Mary's a little bit. Like wow, this is this is a defense. We haven't really faced much before outside of Gonzaga this year. So I think you could you could see that being a nice Advantage for Indiana as well. Well, it's interesting because, you know St. Mary's.
You feels like they're in the NCAA tournament every year and yet and yet they're not like they were they were in the NIT last year and nobody was in the tournament. The year before in 2019. They went as an 11 seed and they lost to Villanova in the first round, but it was a very different team that team was a lot more offensive. We focused that team was 23rd and can palm and offense 55th and defense. They still played that very slow style and A lot of the Vintage st.
Mary's teams that we've seen over the years, have been more offensive ly focused than defensively focused. And and so when I think about this Saint Mary's team and what they're doing this year, it's impressive that Randy Bennett who feels like he's been there for four or five decades like it's hearted. He's one of those coaches where it's just like you ever age. Do you ever go anywhere?
He's clearly created a great program at Saint Mary's but you know for him to be able to flip A script a little bit and win primarily with defense, as opposed to relying entirely on offense is an interesting change. And so overall, when I think about st. Mary's I don't think it's a walk in the park. I think that it's one of those. Go ahead. Sorry, Scott. Oh, no, sorry. No, I mean like but you are right. Like when you when you look at their I'm kind of flipping
through here. Like yeah, they haven't been in the tournament that off and let you go back to the last time they were in at previous to what you were mentioning like in 2017, you know, they were a seven seed, they beat VCU, but then lost to Arizona. Go back to, you know, 24th. I'm going back there in the NIT a lot, which I shouldn't make fun of. We're wait. Thank you. We're lucky. If we get the NIT at this stage. No, it's a 20 2013. Like they were 11 seed. They beat Middle Tennessee.
They lost a Memphis. Like there is, you know, just anecdotally there is kind of this history and them in the tournament of they can kind of beat the when they play a power five Conference Team. It looks like in the tournament like they they don't win those games. Well, it's going to be Interesting, because I think you take st. Mary's lightly at your own Peril. They're clearly a team that knows how to score. They're clearly a team that
knows how to control possession. And they are a team that if you don't take care of business and if you're not efficient yourself offensively, you're going to have a lot of trouble st. Mary's takes care of the basketball in a way that is a challenge for a team like Indiana who, you know, Wally Anna hasn't done a great job of forcing turnovers.
They you know, yesterday was a great example of their ability to do so, you know, so again, as I said at the very beginning, it's kind of a strength vs. Strength thing with this team. And with this matchup now, you know, Ken Palm doesn't have his projection out yet to the next round. That'll happen after tonight torvik site, actually, as Indiana favored by one in this game, and I think I need to check Haslam real quick and see. Exactly. What what the projections are for that.
The last I checked Indiana was projected as a basically a statistical Dead Heat. Saint, Mary's is projected to win by half a point on Haslem. My point is, statistically speaking. These two teams are very close to one another. This is going to be another grind type of game and I kind of I like Indiana's chances in this game because Three strikes and Davis. There was a statistic that I retweeted last night that I
didn't even think was a thing. Let me find it real quick because I think it's worth mentioning here on the podcast, for those who haven't checked Twitter Trace Jackson Davis over the last six games, has scored 105 points. Shooting 65.7%. From the field, is the only division one player in the last 25 years to score 100 or more points on. Went shooting over any six-game span. Now, that's a pretty, you know, that's a pretty specific sort of statistic but it demonstrates.
How good trace Jackson Davis has been over the course of the last six games and as much as we were concerned about his offense falling off in the middle part of the Season up, really right up until the end of February. He has just come completely out of his shell. He has played at a level. That is all. Their equality over the course of the last six games and st.mary's will not have played a player just quite like him and what he can do.
And if you can get contributions offensively from more people than Indiana, got contributions from against Wyoming. I do like their chances because if you can get 25 points out of Trace Jackson, Davis in a game. Well, if you're in a game where you only have to score 65 points, you just need 40 total points and everybody else and it's Indiana's defense plays as well as they did against Wyoming. I do like them. Chances over all know.
And when you mentioned that the trace Jackson Davis thing, the thing that I really has been cool to see unlocked is, that was funny. Last night, you know, Xavier Johnson had the alley-oop to trace Jackson Davis and it was like on Twitter is like, oh, there it is. If we wait for the alley-oop, it's like yeah.
Yeah. I mean, like an alley-oop dunk is nice, but it's not something you just automatically get every game, but yet over these last five or six games, definitely the Big Ten Tournament. We've seen one to two of those again, that it got kind of in the Wyoming Game. It's like, oh well, Are we going to see the alley-oop dunk?
It's like, all right. We're I'm not sure, but it's, it does show that like, they've unlocked something and you can see him kind of set it because he's, you know, you can see him try and get it set up and, like, they keep on doing the top high pick-and-roll, but they're at a point where you literally have five games in a row where Xavier Johnson, and Trace section Davis have hooked up for, you know, at least one to two alley-oop, dunk every game, which is, that's a very good thing.
So, do I have some breaking news in D, and we're taping this at? 30 on Wednesday morning and I use plane just landed 20 minutes ago. So they are in Portland. We could confirm that they got there. No, your look, the the pick-and-roll that dunk. Clear. America was the banner moment on assembly call. Wyoming made it their mission to keep that play from happening all gate. And, you know, I think it's a credit to Indiana.
That is much of a huge part of the offense is that was during the Big Ten Tournament when that got taken away, there it is. Yeah, well, we can just go down and post up. Trace Jackson, Davis, and everything will be fine. And that's the level. I know it doesn't look overly versatile necessarily but Indiana has found some wrinkles in their offense as difficult as Indiana's offense.
Can be to watch at times. Still, they have been able to figure out ways to have one thing work and then use that to set up. The other thing that they do. And I'm curious to see how st. Mary's decides to go about this because Wyoming's whole thing seemed to we're not going to let that high pick-and-roll happen at the expense of letting Trace Jackson get Davis. Get position on the block by
himself. If St. Mary's going to be like, yeah, let's just see 25 points to trace Jackson Davis and and you know, not not allow that to happen. Or are they going to go the other direction? I'm curious to see what happens with that. I'm sure they'll have an idea on it, but I just don't know what direction they're going to go. Yeah. So here is, here's my take, you know, going into this weekend or this this week.
I'll say My wife that, you know, for me, it's like if if we win two games, I think that's that's a fantastic March for me. Like, that was going to be like, if we could beat Wyoming and we can beat st. Mary's. We've had an unbelievable March. Even if they play really well against st. Mary's and losing, I don't think it's a bad March. We're in a great spot.
Now, you know, I love people who get overly excited and it's like, oh, you know, I think Indiana toughest games in the elite eight, it's all right, everyone calm down, but I do think like, you know, work as a We're halfway there and I say again, we don't need to win to make it great. But it's like it's we're in a great spot. And this is again, what we've also missed in the tournament is like there's a world where we play Saint, Mary's really tough.
We win, maybe Akron beats UCLA and we kind of get a nice easy path into a sweet 6. A possible, sweet. 16 like there's a world where we don't run into UCLA that happens.
Anyway, I just, I man, I'm super fired up because I'm excited to see us play on an actual like, You know, a I'm going to use air quotes if you real tournament day, there's tons of games going on. I've been looking forward to that for years, but also that, you know, we're we've already made this a really, really good March. And so I'm really happy. Yeah. Gotta Miss. I'm sorry. I'm looking at the fly to where stuff to I just pulled it up inside. No, it's fine.
It's I mean, it's like looking at their flight track. It's like they landed 20. I mean, dude, I went to bed. We're doing a podcast like they just landed. It is it is Bonkers wild but you know, hey, they care about the students. Athletes, they really do. Well look, I will say going back to what you were originally saying, like, it was hard to know what success was coming into, this NCAA tournament because there's no Benchmark for
Indiana at this point. And I think everybody was curious about how would Indiana fare against 18 outside the Big Ten on a neutral floor? Would they be able to carry over the attitude and the conviction that led them to being a
successful as they? Or in the Big Ten tournament and I think the answer here is. Yes, you know, the one of the things that I've been keeping track of has been the barked Orbach game ranks page where he gives basically a game score to the games that teams play and Indiana now has three straight games where they've scored a 93 out of 100, which the last time they scored at 93 or better was the Maryland game at home back. Back in, you know, what was that January?
I guess so, but the point being Indiana is playing some of its best basketball of the Year. And that didn't end in the Big Ten Tournament. It carried over into this first game of the NCAA tournament. And that was despite as we mentioned, guys, not playing particularly. Well on offense outside of the three guys that were in double figures. So, what is success from this point forward look, they they are an underdog. You're going to think marriage. I think that that line opened at
two and a half points. They will be favored in a couple of statistical services to win the game. They will be underdogs in a couple of statistical analyses to win the game. Giving a great account of yourself and losing a close game to a five seed. As a 12 seed is not in my opinion, a disappointment. Obviously, we'll have to watch and see how the game goes if
they win that game. I think the current is an unqualified success, regardless of what happens afterwards because you've demonstrated at that point, that there's a core understanding of what you're doing and that you're able to go and win a game against the higher-seeded team in the eyes of the committee. And that's really all your actor in the NCAA tournament. You know, the obviously the
equation is different. If you are a top four seat, you know, the expectation there is you have to get to the Sweet 16. Otherwise, it was kind of a failure in this case. I don't think that's how it works. For Indiana for a program that hasn't been to the NCAA tournament and so long for a program that looked like it wasn't going to the NCAA tournament as recently as a few weeks ago, even just to go into the play-in game.
And when is a Real Testament, to how this postseason I think, will in the future, be deemed a success. If they are actually able to pull this off, where they have to fly cross-country in the middle of the night, get a day's rest and then arm, and then asked to go out and beat st. Mary's, that sends it into a whole different Stratosphere, but even if they lose Lose, I think that Indiana has already accomplished. A lot of what is a program.
They needed to accomplish. If they got back to the NCAA tournament, they won a game. And yes that game counts just as much as any other game in the NCAA tournament does. And now to some degree, it's like all right, how much higher can you move the bar? And it's all in front of you at this point. And the way that this team has
played even on short rest. I like their chances of making this game competitive and maybe even Coming away with the Victory. And, you know, I'm really curious to see what happens in this Thursday. Evening game against st. Mary's. I am too, I go into it, you know, cautiously optimistic. I really do. I think there's a, I think we're in a good spot. And I think this is where, again, you can run this next game.
On adrenaline. You might hit the wall against UCLA or whoever play the next round, but it does feel like they're onto something. And as you mentioned, like, Trace Jackson, Davis has unlocked. What playing at a level we wanted to play at? I'll end on this. I just gotta roll you on this. I don't want to get too deep into this. But I so annoying at the end of the game Indiana wins. And it's like the first question you have to ask Woodson is,
like, what do you think? Bob Knight would think of this? It's like stop like can we stop with? Not like can we saw like one, see? What branch for cracking thought? It's like I thought. What's his answer was fine, but it's like it was just such a sure. All that, all their Indiana fans are like, can we ask about Jordan Geronimo Trace Jackson, Davis, like anybody who's currently on? A team like do we have to talk about Bob Knight every time? Look the sideline reporting was
among the worst I've ever seen. I'm sorry. I mean the halftime question, you know, you're you're you know, and the question for Rothstein about Jordan geronimo's play. It's like, hey, there's times to ask that like, maybe tummy indrani pointed this out. Like, don't ask that question going into halftime and would to just kind of blew it off. Like let's put a total team
effort. Yeah, you know, but like yeah, that question at the end about night, the lack of any like, Worthwhile information on what was going on with the teams and what their focus was, it was really fascinating. I mean, II, don't know. You always run into these situations. It feels like with with Turner produced games where you actively question. Like either, what like we're why is this person asking these questions? And why was that? What was that? What they came up with, or in
the case of the studio crew. How many college basketball games? Have you watched this year? Like the crew couldn't like things? They seem too convinced that Trace Jackson?
Davis was just traced Jackson, you know, they struggled with a lot of basic facts that, you know, knowledgeable people would have probably had on both teams, not just in Vienna, but also, Wyoming and that's why I Of the year that they had Berkeley doing because least barco is honest, but I'm watching these scenes this year, but man, that kid for offers pretty good. Like you just feel like he could definitely tell. Like, he was honest about it, which I love that.
You're no. It's, I would have when they asked that question of Woodson, like I was thinking like, you know, if it's great if Woodson's like who coach, who like I don't never heard of him, have a good night. Like I will say, I will say the, the night, the folks that are really still very much like they view the entirety of the in. Deanna basketball program through bob Knight. Love that answer. It was a great answer from Woodson. It was like, the only answer you
could give in that environment. I really you touch. This is why you teach this because like question, it's like there's only one answer like what's, which can going to say. Like, I don't mean night kind of soft rock. He wasn't good and legal situations. Like, you know what I thought about it like a Now's, the Time. I'd like to mention. I think Coach case better than night. Like what do you what do you?
His answer is going to be what his answer was great, but it's like that's what his answer was going to be something. Along those lines. Well, yeah and look up your all right on that. But there's not much I can say about the national questions. I will say this.
On this, in this vein, not so much about the questions, but about the person that was being asked to Mike Woodson deserves a ton of credit for it was a stat that came out that someone tweeted last night, you know, Woodson brings and be out of the tournament and wins a tournament game for the first time since 2000 16. So six years, he coached the Knicks to their first playoff series win in 13 years and he coached the Hawks to their first playoff win Series win in 10
years. That was from that Fortuna. From the athletic. And you know, look there's there's still a lot of things that it's clear that Woodson is processing about the college game. When you look at strategy, there's timeout issues, there's rotation issues, but it's working and it's what he's done. Is he's galvanized this team to think about themselves as a unit and play as such he's gotten good performances.
Out of players different players on different nights, which is very much something that used to happen. A lot in the night are aware. You know, guys would just pop up out of the blue and have great games, you know, Woodson deserves a ton of credit for what he's done. This year hasn't been perfect by any means and I think there's been a learning curve, but you cannot question given the Island of Misfit Toys roster that he ended up putting together and
taking into this season. And just in terms of how the pieces didn't fit together, particularly, well, and you're starting multiple transfers, you know, it was not a team that was forged through iron and fire as a collective unit over the course of time. This was a group of Individual pieces, you know. And one of the things that I do think that you know, the true TV crew did a decent job of was talking about how a lot of the players.
One of the transfer when woods and first got there and he managed not just to get them to think of it themselves as a collective unit. Then over the course of the Season, you've seen this team grow and change and start to develop their own identity, which frankly never felt like they did under Archie Miller and frankly at the end of the Korean era, it was Hit or Miss in any given season whether his teams were going to actually want to play with one another.
You know, I think in the last four years, the crane was here. One of his team's look like they wanted to play with one another and even that team took halfway through the season before they really got rolling. So, I really, really excited that Woodson and his staff were able to do what they did.
And I'm really curious to see what they do moving forward here, you know, what happens in this next game, I think sets the table for what happens afterwards and that is Absolutely a good place to be if you're Indiana basketball and I think you hit it on the head. I'll end with this, you know, as you're saying that I'm thinking, you know, that that was the trouble under the Archie are as that, you know, we get to these
Big Ten tournament games. I got we got to win one game and said we were just kind of we were falling apart at the end that seemed like at the end kind of, you know, the cream prop, you know, 2016 kind of notwithstanding but under Korean, it's like that was the problem with that. Number one ranked team is that they seem to kind of fizzle at the end. This is the first time and you know, maybe 2016. So first, you know second time.
I'm in 10-15 years. We have a team, we're playing probably our best basketball at the end of the season and we just haven't been able to say that a lot. And this Wyoming game is not a great example, but it's a game where you had some some problems, but you won the game like you gritted through, you won the game, you know, Trace Jackson Davis, like you mentioned is your best player.
He's playing his best right now at the end of the season, Xavier Johnson is, you know, outside of, you know, maybe not a great efficiency game has played his best basketball last two or three weeks. And so we're in a great spot and as you mentioned And on the one of the last pods, you know, with Wisconsin kind of using one tournament run to kind of kick
things off. And as I talked about, you know, even Woodson kind of say, you know, saved everything in a 30 hour, span your to spot here were two or three weeks could really save. You could just put this whole just everything on a different trajectory. Like you win. One more game. You beat st. Mary's and it's like, wow, but you win two more games you get to this teams, like, randomly the sweet 16, which is not illogical your this. Season that the Paradigm completely changes.
So that that is what will leave with. I think you have some noise issues going on over there. So I'm gonna I'm gonna, I will let you hop back on and say goodbye. Yeah. Goodbye. We'll see what happens on. Thursday is great to talk to. You sounds good. Galen is with family in a small hotel room and it looks like he's having a ready to have a fun day at a amusement park. Maybe with somebody with ears. So anyway, we'll be back after the game. I don't know.
It's I'll be back 12 minutes in the, you know, Peru somewhere below will be, will come on sometime after the game. Hopefully, it's a win after st. Mary's and we're looking either UCLA or Akron I want. Thank you guys all for listening, always appreciated. Let's go. I you I will steal galen's line and bring back the Bison but that is definitely galen's line, but for everybody listening, thank you so much and this is Scott for Crimson cast signing off.