Indiana Hoosiers' Trayce Jackson-Davis stays hot, carries Hoosiers to First Four win over Wyoming

DAYTON, Ohio — Trayce Jackson-Davis was the first Indiana player to take the court Tuesday night and the last to leave. Thanks to his efforts, Indiana will play on in the NCAA tournament.

Jackson-Davis, brilliant last week at the Big Ten tournament, carried over his performance to his NCAA tournament debut, scoring 29 points and grabbing nine rebounds as Indiana outlasted Wyoming 66-58 in a First Four matchup of No. 12 seeds.

The Hoosiers, making their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2016, advance to face No. 5 seed Saint Mary's on Thursday in Portland, Oregon. Jackson-Davis punctuated the win with two dunks in the closing minutes and exited to chants of «TJD!» from the Indiana-centric crowd of 12,522 at UD Arena, the first full-capacity event at the NCAA tournament since 2019.

«It was honestly surreal,» said Jackson-Davis, a junior forward for Indiana. «We didn't want to be in the play-in game, but sometimes the ball doesn't roll your way and then some things happen. But playing in front of our fans, almost like a home crowd one more time, I thought it was awesome.»

Jackson-Davis, a second-team All-Big Ten selection, shined in a similar setting last week in Indianapolis, scoring 76 points and collecting 25 rebounds in three games. Indiana's strong showing at the Big Ten event seemed to comfortably secure a spot in the NCAA field, but the team instead was dispatched to the First Four.

«I've always dreamed about playing in this tournament,» Jackson-Davis said. «Finally just being able to live out that dream and performing at the highest level, I'm truly grateful.»

Indiana needed Jackson-Davis on a night when its other four starters combined for 18 points on 7-of-29 shooting. The team also received a huge boost from