3 reasons why IU basketball held on to beat St. John's: X-factors emerge, TJD flexes

BLOOMINGTON -- Indiana earned its most impressive win of the young season and Mike Woodson's coaching tenure to date, holding on to beat St. John's 76-74 in a Gavitt Tipoff Games match up in front of 17,222 at Assembly Hall on Wednesday night. Here are three reasons why it happened. 

Postgame Q&A:It felt like Hoosiers grew up a little bit in holding off St. John's

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The continued emergence of Tamar Bates and Jordan Geronimo

Freshman guard Tamar Bates helped Indiana build a lead in the first half and sophomore forward Jordan Geronimo helped them hold on when St. John's made a run in the second half. The stars of Indiana's second unit combined for 18 points on 8 of 14 shooting, and they were together on a trap of St. John's forward Julian Champagnie on the game's last possession to assure he didn't beat them with a 3-pointer. 

Bates, a four-star recruit and the No. 30 player in the Class of 2021, missed a significant amount of practice time with injury, but he's immediately become one of IU's best guards and he took another step as a scorer on Wednesday with 11 points on 5 of 10 shooting. He scored his first points just over a minute after he checked in for the first time with 12:58 to go in the first half and had nine points in his first seven minutes of action. He showed the ability to score at every level, hitting a 3-pointer, two pull-up jumpers, a floater in the lane and a layup at the rim. 

Insider:Biggest takeaway from Hoosiers' narrow win over St. John's? IU has a bench it can trust.

Bates quieted down some in the second half, however, and didn't score after the break. However, Geronimo stepped up when the Hoosiers needed him, scoring seven points and grabbing four rebounds in five rebounds in just eight minutes of action. Woodson subbed him in on the game's last play just to make sure he was on Champagnie, who burned Indiana for 32 points to make the game tight. 

Miller Kopp found his stroke

Miller Kopp was recruited to Indiana from Northwestern to make shots after he hit 122 3-pointers in three seasons with the Wildcats, but he was 2 of 9 from the field and 0 of 4 from 3-point range after his first two games. However seeing a pair of free throws he shot when sophomore Trey Galloway went out with an injury due to a flagrant foul seemed to give him his confidence back. His next field goal was a 3-pointer and he hit another in the second half to help stem a St. John's run. He finished 4 of 10 from the field and 2 of 4 from 3 for 12 points. 

Another strong night from Trayce Jackson-Davis

Indiana's All-American had some moments where he struggled against St. John's traps and pressure and he ended up turning the ball over three times, but he still finished with his second double-double in three games with 18 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists. He passed the 1,000-point milestone for his career and was responsible for two of Indiana's last five field goals to help them hold on.