BLOOMINGTON, Indiana—Despite excellent homecomings from John Murry and Kenny Jones, Austin Peay State University men's basketball team found why Indiana was ranked 16th heading into Thursday night's contest, falling 97-62 to the Hoosiers at Assembly Hall.
The Governors hung around for much of the first half, paced by junior Josh Robinson's 10 first-half points. Within two after a Jared Savage three-pointer at the 9:01 mark, the Govs were outscored 38-13 for the half's remainder, including a banked-in three-pointer from Devonte Green at the buzzer to lift Indiana to a 48-31 halftime lead.
The Hoosiers shot 60 percent (18-for-30) in the first half and bumped that up to 65.4 percent (17-for-26) over the final 20 minutes. And while Austin Peay was able to boast a robust 48.1 percent showing of their own from the floor in the first half, the Governors struggled to a 30.8 percent (8-for-26) clip in the second half.
Although Robinson led the Govs with 21 points, Jones and Murry acquitted themselves nicely in their return to the Hoosier State. Jones, the South Bend native, finished 16 points and seven boards, equaling Indiana's De'Ron Davis for the game high in rebounds, while Murry scored 18 on 7-for-12 shooting.
The Difference
Indiana's three-point prowess, particularly in the first half, set the tone. The Hoosiers hit 15 three-pointers—the fourth time in five games an opponent has hit at least 13 behind the arc—including 11 in the first half.
Notably
- Robinson scored 21 points, giving him a streak of four straight 20-point performances for the second time in his career. He's now averaging 23.8 points during that streak.
- Murry is now averaging 16.0 ppg in two appearances against Indiana.
- Robinson, Murry and Jones scored 88.7 percent (55) of Austin Peay's 62 points. The trio shot all 20 of Austin Peay's free-throws, hitting 16 (75.0 percent).
- The Governors are now hitting 72.3 (138-for-191) of their free-throws in losses this season.
- Indiana was the seventh straight opponent to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor; in hitting 62.5 percent, they became the second team in as many games to shoot better than 60 percent.
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Coaching Quotables with Head Coach Dave Loos
On playing zone early
"We thought where we had to play at a certain tempo and I liked the tempo and how the game was going early. But when it got to a point where they were 10-for-17 from three, we had to get out of the zone and when we got out of it, we knew we were going to have some issues."
On passing
"We were keeping it on one side of the floor, bouncing the ball, and that's not a good formula offensively."
On the first half
"Everything was going reasonably well for the situation (in the first half), but when they hit that three it really took the wind out of our sails."
Up Next for the Govs
Austin Peay breaks for the Christmas holiday and will return Wednesday, Dec. 28 with the non-conference finale at Western Kentucky.
