Indiana improved to 12-3 overall and 3-2 in Big Ten play with a 73-60 win over Minnesota on Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Here are five takeaways from the win over the Golden Gophers:
Defense continues to lead Indiana to wins
Indiana produced some of the best defensive numbers in the country against a lackluster non-conference schedule. That made it fair to wonder whether the Hoosiers would be able to continue to defend at a high level in Big Ten play.
Through five conference games, Indiana has the best defense in the Big Ten. As of Sunday afternoon, Indiana ranks in the top 10 nationally in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric.
The Hoosiers held Minnesota to 60 points and only .95 points per possession in Sunday’s win at Assembly Hall. Indiana is allowing just .894 points per possession in conference play, which leads the conference.
The defensive numbers in Big Ten play are strong across the board for Indiana. They’re only allowing 58.2 points…