Men's basketball wins exhibition opener, 89-37

The IU men’s basketball team used an overpowering roster to score 54 points in the paint Wednesday in an 89-37 victory against the Division III Grizzlies at Assembly Hall.

The Hoosiers, going up against a team without a player taller than 6-foot-6-inches, owned the area around the basket with 42 rebounds, 17 of them offensive, to Franklin’s 20.

“We got momentum back a few times, and our guys never stopped competing inside of the game,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “We had some defensive goals we wanted to hit. We hit those, and that was important to us.”

The 52-point margin of victory is IU’s highest in an exhibition game under Crean.

Sophomore Christian Watford led the forwards’ charge with 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting, adding five rebounds in a team-high 24 minutes played.

Sophomore forward Derek Elston chipped in with two blocks to go with his nine points and six rebounds, while junior forward Tom Pritchard had a team-high seven boards, though he did not record a basket playing with a protected left hand.

But the Hoosiers’ dominance was not contained to the inside. IU shot 7-of-17 from the 3-point line and made 58.7 percent of its shots.

Sophomore guard Maurice Creek and junior guard Matt Roth, both playing in their first game action since season-ending injuries early last year, played 20 and 15 minutes, respectively.

Creek scored 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting, 2-of-7 from the 3-point line. As he struggled at times with his outside shot, Creek used his defense to create offense with three steals.

“There’s going to be some time to get his rhythm back, and we’re going to be careful with the stretches of minutes that he plays and getting loosened back up,” Crean said of Creek.

The Hoosiers used a high-pressure defense throughout the night, forcing the Grizzlies into 28 giveaways. IU cashed in on its hustle with 41 points off turnovers, good for 46 percent of the team’s points overall.

Grizzlies guard Clay Starrett played a team-high 36 minutes, but he didn’t register a point on 0-of-4 shooting. Center Will Conoley led Franklin with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and added a team-high five rebounds.

The differences in depth showed itself as the game wore on. The Hoosiers didn’t allow Franklin to score between the 9:09 mark and the 3:29 mark of the second half and just six points in the last 13 minutes.

- Ryan Winn