Juwan Morgan scored 23 points, and Romeo Langford added 16 as Indiana held off Texas-Arlington 78-64 on Tuesday at Indianapolis.
What looked like a rout was anything but as the Mavericks erased a 20-point, second-half deficit and trailed by one at 61-60 on a layup by Edric Dennis with 6:33 left in the game.
The Hoosiers then went on an 11-2 run to wrest control of the game. Damezi Anderson's corner 3-point jumper, the Hoosiers' second three of the night, gave Indiana some breathing room at 72-62.
The short-handed Hoosiers (4-1) bounced back after suffering their first defeat of the season on Sunday, losing 73-72 on the road to Arkansas. Against the Mavericks, the Hoosiers were without De'Ron Davis, Devonte Green and Zach McRoberts.
Aljami Durham, who scored the game's first three points, left after six minutes following a hard fall early in the game.
Yet Langford and Morgan stepped up, and Indiana opened up a 20-point lead early in the second half. Morgan's layup and free throw gave Archie Miller's squad a 46-26 lead.
Despite the Hoosiers being in the bonus at the 16:06 mark, the Mavericks started to find the range from beyond the arc and cut the deficit to 49-39 on the strength of an 11-1 run. Dennis made two threes, and Brian Warren sank another as UT-Arlington forced Miller to call timeout.
The Mavericks weren't done; Radshad Davis connected on another three, and Arlington trailed 55-47.
Warren and Dennis combined for 10 of the next Arlington points as the Mavericks got to within one at 61-60. Dennis led the Mavericks with 19 points, and Indianapolis native Warren added 14.
Langford scored 10 first-half points, and Morgan added nine points and six rebounds in the first 20 minutes as Indiana's superior height and athleticism helped the Hoosiers overcome 13 first-half turnovers.
Indiana also shot a pitiful 1-for-10 from 3-point range, yet led 39-22 at halftime.
That's because the Mavericks turned the ball over 14 times and were outrebounded 19-11 in the first half. Texas-Arlington was even worse than Indiana from long range, making 1 of 12 3-point attempts.
The Mavericks finished the game 8-for-28 from beyond the arc. The Hoosiers never found the range and connected on only 2 of 12 attempts.
--Field Level Media
Texas-Arlington | Indiana | |
Edric Dennis 19 | Scoring | Juwan Morgan 23 |
DJ Bryant 3 | Assists | Juwan Morgan 4 |
Jabari Narcis 7 | Rebounds | Juwan Morgan 10 |
Edric Dennis 4 | Free Throws Made | Evan Fitzner 5 |
DJ Bryant 5 | Steals | Rob Phinisee 3 |
Jabari Narcis 1 | Blocks | Juwan Morgan 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Texas-Arlington | 64 | 42.9 | 8-29 | 8-10 | 7 | 19 | 1 | 9 | 18 |
Indiana | 78 | 54.5 | 2-12 | 16-23 | 17 | 32 | 4 | 7 | 18 |