Tamar Bates scored a career-high 22 points and had four assists as No. 11 Indiana remained perfect with a 90-51 victory over Jackson State on Black Friday afternoon in Bloomington, Ind.
The Hoosiers (6-0) gained control of the matchup early, pulling away from the Tigers (0-5) and closing the half with a commanding 16-point advantage fueled by breakaway buckets.
The left-handed Bates, who averaged 4 points per game in his first season with Indiana, was 8 of 11 from the field. His four 3-pointers on six tries were also a career best.
Xavier Johnson has 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting including 4-for-8 from long range. Indiana was successful on 10 of 22 (45 percent) from beyond the arc. It held a 24-6 edge in fast break points and 44-18 in points in the paint.
All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis returned to the Indiana starting five after missing Wednesday’s game against Little Rock. Playing with a heavy wrap on his right hand, the 6-foot-9 forward tallied 11 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes.
Indiana’s next matchup will be Wednesday when it hosts No. 1 North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Trace Young had 13 points and six rebounds while Ken Evans had 10 points and nine boards for the Tigers, who open the season with 13 consecutive road games.
Even with Jackson-Davis back in the lineup, the Southwestern Athletic Conference team battled back from an early deficit to tie it 9-9 on a twisting layup by Gabe Watson at 16:05, but Johnson hit back-to-back 3s for a 17-10 lead four minutes later.
Indiana grew its largest lead of the half — 36-15 at 4:50 — behind the breakaway play of Bates, Jordan Geronimo and Kaleb Banks, as the squad made stops on the defensive end and quickly ran out. Bates’ long 3 as the half ended gave the home side a 44-28 lead.
As Johnson continued to connect from deep after the teams returned, the Big Ten school’s lead extended to 59-33 in the first four minutes of the second half.
Indiana cruised the rest of the way as it outscored the Tigers 31-18 to close the game.
–Field Level Media