IU Indy Goes to 3-0 By Beating Southern Indiana; Howlett Strives For More

Wrapping up their first homestand of the season with a perfect mark was going to be important for IU Indianapolis, particularly for a program that typically struggles during the non-conference segment of its seasons, was a tantalizing goal for Ben Howlett’s team… even if the execution felt quite lacking, in his own words.

Regardless, the Jaguars managed to defeat the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles 74-70 and scored their first win over the school in 35 years, back when IUPUI was still in the NAIA, Terminator 2 was in the box office, and the Super Nintendo had only been on store shelves for a few weeks. Yes… you are either that old or weren’t even born yet. This is a rare spot for the team, as they haven’t started a season at 3-0 since the 2009-10 season, although Howlett wasn’t exactly in the mood to celebrate in between a coughing fit he’s been fighting the past few weeks when I spoke to him last night in the post-game press conference.

Whenever I have followed Jaguar teams, oftentimes I felt like the bench would be a bit of a liability at times due to talent discrepancies, forcing the coach to rely almost exclusively on his starters.  Last night was not the case, as Manasseh Stackhouse led the team with 16 points as a reserve while Billy Smith provided ample assistance with 14.  Fredy-Salam Sylla led USI with 16 points in the losing endeavor.  Stan Gouard, USI’s head coach, managed to score himself a technical for stepping out of his boundary late in the first half, if you’re interested in random tidbits or were looking at the box score and wondered how the coach got himself a technical.

The early game was not kind at all for the Jaguars.  Sure, they jumped out to a 6-1 lead with some of the ugliest ball you could probably envision, requiring Howlett to effectively substitute the entire rotation in an effort to liven up his squad, but Southern Indiana took advantage of a media timeout with a Josh Smith three-pointer to swing the pendulum their way. And despite how close the score was for a good chunk of the game, IU Indy was often having to play catch-up as USI got a lot out of Sylla and Afan Trnka for most of the game, particularly with Sylla’s 15 combined rebounds.

The zone defense was quite effective in ensuring that USI didn’t quite build a lead that would get too out of hand, but IU Indy’s greatest weakness; their overreliance on three-point shooting, almost would cost them the game. A rather dismal 3-17 from the first half prevented the Jaguars from countering a rather terrible Southern Indiana squad that hasn’t exactly lived up to their lofty expectations of years past as Division II bellwethers.

And yet, it was this reliance on shooting from downtown from Billy Smith with 10:10 remaining in the second half that was the key play that gave IU Indy the clutch necessary to go on a massive 11-2 run for the next three minutes which gave the Jags enough of a cushion to dictate the rest of the game their way.

As I had said, it wasn’t like Howlett was happy about the performance of this game, the win over UT-Martin or the opener against Miami-Middletown. Sure, IU Indy is in a rare position where we started the season 3-0, but to him, there is much more that the team can do, as he said in the postgame. Also, the team is going to be on the road for the next few weeks, which will be the first true test for the team as, unlike the scrimmage against Austin Peay, those will be losses if they do end up on the wrong side of the scoreboard. But, for a team that is young and, to apply that old chestnut, looking for much to prove, it’s a lot better to be starting a season 3-0 as you have some confidence to build off of.  

My Random Thoughts:

*Yes, IU Indy’s last win against Southern Indiana was back on November 23, 1991, the same day Freddie Mercury confirmed he had AIDS (for the record, I am not trying to be a downer, that literally was the big event that happened on that day). That was the textbook definition of an upset as IUPUI was an NAIA program at the time, mostly competing against fellow Indiana and Purdue satellite campuses and other schools around the Great Lakes, while Southern Indiana had established itself as a mighty Division II powerhouse (and, once again, transitioning has not been kind).

*Damn you, ESPN, you feed me lies!  I spoke to Howlett in the press conference and told him that Stackhouse scored 20 points, but the IU Indy stats said 16.

*When I attended the Middletown game, there was a sense of nagging insecurities I had regarding people attending actual games moving forward, to which I feel I can put those to rest. Having an announced attendance of just under 2,000 fans is a good crowd compared to what I had seen at the Fairgrounds, and people were actually having a good time. There even was a student section filled with (gasp!) students, with many of them being the men’s cross country team. One of my main concerns historically was that we have struggled with building a connection between the athletics and the student population, and I feel like the new arena is actually starting to pay off. People are showing up.

*And as people are showing up, it means that The Jim is finally starting to pay off. Speaking of, last night was the official dedication of the arena proper with honorary baubles for fans and shirts for students to wear. Sure, you had two prior games, but the first one was really a glorified exhibition meant to bring children along for an afternoon, and the second game was a dedication ceremony for Bob Lovell specifically as he was honored as the fifth Jaguar retired alongside Paul George, Matt Crenshaw, Carlos Knox, and Tiffany Kyser for his work as both head coach and athletic director (which I would have brought up had I reviewed the UT-Martin game).

With the homestand finally over, the Jaguars will be on the road for the next couple of weeks. This Saturday, they’ll have their first regular season road match-up down in Kentucky as they take on more Eagles, this time of the Morehead State variety, at 7:30pm Eastern.