Hoosiers show progress in scrimmage

It wasn’t always clear if the football team would prevail Saturday, but there was never any doubt the basketball team would come out atop its intrasquad scrimmage.

In a game quicker and more competitive than last week’s Hoosier Hysteria exhibition, the Hoosiers showed what they had learned in their first full week of practice in a 40-minute scrimmage in front of about 5,000 fans in Assembly Hall.

Led by freshman guard Verdell Jones, the Cream team edged out the Crimson squad in the closing minutes, 91-86. Jones finished with a game-high 30 points, while freshman guard Nick Williams led the Crimson team with 28.

“It was a lot of fun,” Williams said. “Guys came out and played hard and showed all of the fans that we’re going to bring it every night, no matter what.”

IU coach Tom Crean said the team hadn’t scrimmaged for 40 minutes in practice yet, let alone in a game. Earlier this week, Crean estimated the team had only been spending about 20 percent of their practices scrimmaging.

When pointing out the team had “some very good individual performances” Saturday, Crean singled out freshman guard Matt Roth, who finished with 20 points and knocked down six 3-pointers.

“He probably made more threes today than he did in the first full week of practice,” Crean said.

After the scrimmage, Crean brought his team into the locker room before coming back out on the court to sign autographs for fans.

Roth said Crean told the team “every day has to be better than the last. If we can keep doing that, we’ll have success.”

Crean called the Saturday scrimmage “beneficial” and said he loved the environment. He hopes to add another public scrimmage before the season begins Nov. 15 in addition to this Friday’s Haunted Hall of Hoops.

Hoosiers might add Fort Wayne freshman to roster

In a season of new faces, the Hoosiers added yet another one during Saturday’s Cream and Crimson scrimmage.

Crean said freshman walk-on guard Evan White is “in an extended try-out with us right now.”

White, a 6-foot guard from Paul Harding High School in Fort Wayne, played 16 minutes for the Crimson squad Saturday, finishing with three points and four assists.

“He’s been in an extended deal with us, and we’re still going through that, and we’re deciding if we’re going to keep him,” Crean said. “But I like him, I like his attitude, I like him as a young man. He was well-coached in high school. We’ll see what happens.”

As a senior at Harding last season, White averaged 16.4 points, three assists and three rebounds per game.