Trayce Jackson-Davis Dominant as Indiana Beats Wyoming in 2022 NCAA First Four

The Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team advanced out of the NCAA First Four with a 66-58 win over Wyoming on Tuesday. It's the first NCAA Tournament victory for Indiana since 2016.

Star junior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers with 29 points and nine rebounds, including some big buckets down the stretch. Indiana improved to 21-13 with the victory.

Wyoming's high-scoring duo of Graham Ike and Hunter Maldonado carried the load for the Cowboys, but the rest of the team was held in check. Maldonado finished with a team-high 21 points, while Ike had 17 points and nine rebounds. Wyoming finishes the season at 25-9.

The two teams struggled to get going in the first half, which was unsurprising considering their defensive prowess this year. Wyoming allowed 65.5 points per game this season and Indiana wasn't far off with their opponents averaging 65.9 points per game.

Despite the poor shooting, the Hoosiers managed to build a five-point lead going into halftime, thanks to a late burst by Jackson-Davis. He did a great job scoring down low and getting to the free-throw line for 14 points in the first half.

Jordan Geronimo, who provided great energy in the first half, helped spark the Hoosiers early in the second half with some timely buckets. He finished with 15 points off the bench, 11 of which were scored after halftime.

The Cowboys used just a seven-man rotation on Tuesday, so fatigue likely played a factor in their struggles down the stretch. Wyoming shot the ball better in the second half but struggled mightily with turnovers and closing out defensive possessions. The team had a stretch of over three minutes without a basket midway through the second half.

The Cowboys finished with a season-high 18 turnovers. Maldonado accounted for 10 of them, and Ike had five himself. The Hoosiers are now 16-3 when holding opponents to under 65 points.

Indiana will be a No. 12 seed in the East Region and face St. Mary's in the first round of March Madness on Thursday.