NCAA Tournament: Thomas Bryant, Indiana sends Kentucky home
The Hoosiers are headed to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013.
Remember when Tom Crean was on the hot seat?
That was so three months ago.
Not only did the Indiana Hoosiers win the Big Ten regular season title but now they are headed to their first Sweet 16 since 2013. And to make everything better for the Hoosiers, they did it against John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats.
They defeated the class of the SEC, 73-67, on Saturday evening in Des Moines thanks to three double digit scorers, Thomas Bryant, Yogi Ferrell and Troy Williams, and solid execution down the stretch.
The Hoosiers shot only 28 percent from downtown, but they shot 48 percent from all areas of the floor and turned the ball over just 13 times to Kentucky’s 16.
Crean’s unit will now gear up for a trip to Philadelphia as they await the winner of Providence and North Carolina.
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Bryant was a monster
After dealing with foul trouble four minutes into the game, Bryant could not be stopped in the second frame. He scored 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting, grabbed five rebounds and hit two clutch free throws to seal the game in the final 10 seconds.
Marcus Lee and Skal Labissiere, who have struggled mightily with physical bigs, were no match for Bryant in the pick and roll and there was nothing they could do against his powerful presence.
Bryant is one of the most efficient players in the country and is a rim protector defensively. He is also an excellent rebounder and even though Indiana lost the battle on the glass (34-30), they dominated the interior in the second 20 minutes.
Indiana’s defense was the difference
The Hoosiers were flat out awful defensively in the non-conference portion of the schedule – especially in their blowout loss to Duke. But when James Blackmon Jr. got injured, O.G. Anunoby, Robert Johnson and Juwun Morgan were forced to play more quality minutes and the team played with more inspiration on that end of the floor.
Credit also has to go out to Crean who instilled a defensive mindset on a team that is known as one of the sharpest offensive clubs in the nation.
With Anunoby (who reminds many of Victor Oladipo) capable of guarding multiple positions, Bryant making up for the guards’ mistakes on the interior and Williams using his length, the Hoosiers have suddenly become a much tougher team – both physically and mentally.
And that’s good news because they will have to show some of that toughness in the Sweet 16, whether they play the Friars or the Tar Heels.
Tyler Ulis nearly led Kentucky back
Ulis was on his game on Saturday, scoring 27 points on 10-of-20 shooting while making numerous critical plays in the final four minutes.
The sophomore guard is likely NBA bound but his leadership, calming presence, ability to attack defenders off the dribble and intense in-your-shorts mentality on the other end of the court was one of the main reasons Kentucky made a late season run.
He also helped Jamal Murray, who scored 16 points but shot only 1-of-9 from three, turn the corner in the second half of the season by setting him up for in rhythm shots.
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Derek Willis was also critical to Kentucky’s turnaround, but without Ulis, who knows if they would have even landed a four seed.