Field Level Media
Dec 22, 2021
Trayce Jackson-Davis finished with 21 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, lifting Indiana to a 79-61 victory over visiting Northern Kentucky on Wednesday night at Bloomington, Ind.
Race Thompson added 14 points for the Hoosiers (10-2), who won their third straight. Rob Phinisee scored 10 points off the bench for Indiana.
Indiana overwhelmed Northern Kentucky inside, outrebounding the Norse 38-24 and outscoring them 48-12 in the paint.
Trevon Faulkner scored 22 points, all in the second half, for Northern Kentucky (4-7). Faulker sank three straight 3-pointers to cut Indiana's lead to 70-55 with 3:33 remaining, but the Hoosiers answered with five straight points on a 3-pointer from Phinisee and inside basket from Jackson-Davis to stop the run.
Indiana shot 51.9 from the field in the first half, building a 38-14 halftime lead. Up 8-5, the Hoosiers went on a 16-0 run, holding NKU scoreless for a 10:27 stretch.
Jackson-Davis and Phinisee each scored seven points in the first half for the Hoosiers. Indiana was even better in the second half, shooting 64.3 percent from the field to finish at 58.2 percent for the game.
NKU shot just 15.6 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from 3-point range in the first half. They managed to shoot 35.6 percent for the game after a far more efficient second half.
Indiana held an opponent to 20 or fewer points in the first half for the fifth time in 12 games and tied the fewest points allowed in the first half of a game this season.
Indiana's Parker Stewart did not play in the first half per a coach's decision. Stewart, who entered at 49.1 percent from 3-point range, scored three points in eight minutes off the bench.
--Field Level Media