Former IU stars knocked out of $1 million tournament

Armored Athlete’s pursuit for a championship in The Basketball Tournament and the $1 million prize came to an end Saturday night in the round of eight as IU alumni Jordan Hulls, Christian Watford, Will Sheehey and Co. fell 76-72 to Ants Alumni, which featured former Hoosier Rod Wilmont.

Ants Alumni’s roster is made up of members of the 2013-14 NBA D-League Champion Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

Sheehey scored a game-high 18 points off the bench and Watford knocked down a 3-pointer with 18.3 seconds left to cut Ants Alumni’s lead to one, but Armored Athlete came up short in the end.

The team averaged 95 points in its first three games of the single-elimination tournament, but it didn’t have enough firepower to advance to the Final Four in New York next 
weekend.

Hulls, Watford, guard Lloyd Johnson and former Holy Cross forward David Dudzinski carried Armored Athlete to a pair of wins in the Midwest Regional before reinforcements — Sheehey, former Xavier and Arizona standout Mark Lyons and former New Mexico big man Alex Kirk — arrived for the “Super 17” Regional.

Watford was a four year starter at IU who averaged 13.1 points per game over the course of his career. He also averaged 5.9 rebounds per game and increased his 3-point percentage from 32 percent as a freshman to 48 percent as a senior.

He is well remembered for his buzzer-beating shot against 
Kentucky in 2012.

Hulls, who won a state title at Bloomington South High School, put up over 11 points per game in his sophomore and junior seasons.

He shot 44 percent from deep over his career. He ended his career with 1,318 points.

Sheehey saw an increase each season in points per game during his time at IU. Starting with 4.8 points per game in his freshman year, he scored 11.4 a game in his senior season.

Hulls got married this June. Both Watford and Sheehey were in attendance at the ceremony.

Watford and Sheehey both played in this summer’s NBA Summer League with the Indiana Pacers and and New Orleans Pelicans, 
respectively.

Despite falling short of its ultimate goal, Armored Athlete is prepared for more runs in The Basketball Tournament in the future, according to the team’s Twitter account.

“Thanks to all the fans who voted for us and came out and supported us!” Armored Athlete tweeted Sunday morning. “This is only the beginning for Armored Athlete!”

Andy Wittry