INDIANAPOLIS — Azuolas Tubelis saw a much different version of Trayce Jackson-Davis on Monday at the Ascension St. Vincent Center than the one he saw in Las Vegas in December.
Tubelis and fellow Arizona big man Oumar Ballo clearly got the best of Jackson-Davis that day. The 6-11 Tubelis and the 7-0 Ballo were one of the most dominant frontcourt duos in college basketball in 2022-23, and they were at their most unstoppable in an 89-75 win over Indiana. Tubelis posted 21 points in 28 minutes on 9 of 16 shooting with seven rebounds and three blocks. Ballo posted 15 points and 12 rebounds. Meanwhile Jackson-Davis finished with a modest 11 points, had more fouls (five) than field goals (four) and finished with five rebounds, and Arizona outscored the Hoosiers 42-22 in the paint.
But when Tubelis had to guard Jackson-Davis during Monday’s six-man draft workout for the Pacers, he learned quickly that Jackson-Davis had expanded his game, adding a weapon that Tubelis didn’t have to worry about when they played the first time.
“I know basically everything about him because we played against him in Vegas and we did our job then and we won the game, we shut him down,” Tubelis, a second-team All-American said after the workout. “But now he got better. He made some tough 3s now. It just shows he’s been working on it, all summer probably, and he’s not afraid of shooting.”
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Wait, what? Trayce Jackson-Davis hit 3s? In a game setting?
“No, he did,” Tubelis said. “Basically in my face. I’m happy for him.”
Jackson-Davis was happy about it too. In a season when he was a consensus first-team All-American and averaged career highs in points (20.9 per game) rebounds (10.8 per game) and assists (4.0 per game), that loss to Arizona was one of his more disappointing individual outings.
“The first time he got the best of me when we first played him,” Jackson-Davis, a former Center Grove High School star and IndyStar Mr. Basketball said Monday in a post-workout media scrum that was by far the largest any Pacers’ draft prospect has seen this cycle, including likely lottery pick Cam Whitmore. “Today, I kind of got my swagger back.”
It matters much more, of course that Jackson-Davis got that swagger back by hitting 3s than it matters that he got the best of Tubelis. Outside shooting remains the most mysterious part of Jackson-Davis’ game and a dominant feature in the narrative surrounding his entry into the draft.