Hulls leads Hoosiers to 7-0 record

In a match up of two Indiana-born shooters Wednesday, it was Bloomington’s own Jordan Hulls who showed why he was the 2009 Mr. Basketball.

After North Carolina State (5-2) went on a 5-0 run to the cut the lead to 76-75 with 2:12 remaining, Hulls’ three-pointer from the left wing pushed the lead to four and gave Indiana (7-0) the cushion it needed for a 86-75 win in Raleigh, N.C.

Pacing the Hoosiers right out of the gate, Hulls led all scorers with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting while extending his consecutive-free-throws-made streak to 53 in a row.
Hulls’ match up on the defensive end was N.C. State sharpshooter Scott Wood, who came into the game shooting 57.7 percent from three-point range.

The 6-foot-6-inch Wood hails from Marion, Ind., and used his six-inch height advantage against Hulls to knock down three three-pointers of his own.

However, when the game was on the line, it was Hulls’ make and Wood’s miss that made the difference.

The teams switched leads throughout much of the second half before an N.C. State spurt pushed the lead to 63-56 with 7:53 remaining.

During the next four minutes, the Hoosiers were led by freshman Cody Zeller and junior Christian Watford, who scored 13 of the next 15 for IU, capped off by Watford’s three-pointer from the right wing, which gave the visitors a 71-68 lead.

Following a Wolfpack basket and two free throws by Watford, IU was the beneficiary of a flagrant-one foul by Wood on sophomore guard Victor Oladipo.

IU converted 3-of-4 free throws on the ensuing possession, giving it a 76-70 lead with 2:53 remaining.

The Wolfpack scored the next four points before Hulls hit the final dagger to extend the lead to 79-75. On the other end, Wood missed a three, and the Hoosiers finished off a 30-12 run to end the game.

After leading through a majority of the game, the Hoosiers did not panic down six late in the second half.

“It was the biggest deficit we faced all game, but I felt good,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “We finally looked like how we practiced. The activity had picked back up. We were getting destroyed rebound-wise, and then, in the second half, we came back and out-rebounded them by six.”

The Hoosiers led by as many as 11 in the first half before a late Wolfpack run gave the home team a 42-41 lead at intermission.

Point guard Lorenzo Brown led the Wolfpack with 19 points, and Wood chipped in 16 of his own.

The ACC/Big Ten Challenge win is the first for the Hoosiers since 2007 and moves their record in the challenge to 4-7.

IU will have one more game before the potential match up with No. 1 Kentucky on Dec. 10 as Stetson comes to Assembly Hall for a 4:30 p.m. tip Sunday.

“All the people back in Indiana, all the people back in Bloomington, all the people that fill our building, they’ve been with us the whole time,” Crean said.

“When you come into a sell-out like this of 17,000 fans, incredible atmosphere, all Hoosiers fans should feel really, really good and a part of this one because they have stayed with us as we have tried to get ourselves to a point where we can win a game like this on the road.

“Now, we’ve done it, and I wish we could just give them a big ole hug back home, tell them ‘thank you’ and we’ll see them Sunday.”