The starting lineup IU Coach Tom Crean put out on the court Saturday night actually made sense.
After experimenting with 6-foot-8 sophomore Juwan Morgan at point guard and transfer sophomore forward Zach McRoberts on Tuesday against Hope College, the Hoosiers had more of a traditional look in their exhibition finale against Bellarmine University.
Junior guard Josh Newkirk ran the point, accompanied by fellow junior guards James Blackmon Jr. and Robert Johnson, while sophomore forwards OG Anunoby and Thomas Bryant did the dirty work down low.
From the tip the Hoosiers efficiently moved the ball around the arc and put the clamps down on defense. Even though it wasn’t their best shooting display, the Hoosiers handled the Knights in their 73-49 victory.
“I was really excited about our defensive effort,” Crean said. “I thought we came out and we were very serious. We had two hard driving days of practice after taking Wednesday off. Very intense and they carried that right in here.”
The Knights entered the exhibition match as the No. 3 team in Division II. After playing IU to an 11 point game last year and a single-digit loss to Cincinnati in their exhibition opener, this team is no slouch, but the Hoosiers made them look like one.
Limiting the Knights to just 35 percent from the field and forcing 20 turnovers, the Hoosier defense looked like a well-oiled machine, with Anunoby at the center of attention.
The sophomore forward finished with two steals and a block to his credit, while having a hand in multiple Bellarmine turnovers in large part due to his 10 deflections. Overall, he said IU pressured the ball well, obstructed passing lanes and commanded the defensive boards.
But that’s not all Anunoby did.
The 6-foot-8 recruiting diamond in the rough led all scorers with 25 points, missing just one of his 10 shots from the field while draining half of the Hoosiers’ shots beyond the arc. All this on a night where the team was just 6-of-29 from 3-point land.
“We were getting good looks and just weren’t making them today,” Anunoby said. “But we’ll make them.”
The fact the Hoosiers shot so poorly from beyond the arc but were still able to win by 20 points shows how much they have improved on defense.
Blackmon was 0-for-7 on three’s in the game, but Crean said he could never tell his junior guard was having such a poor offensive night, and that it’s a sign he’s growing up and realizing how important it is to impact the game on both ends of the floor.
“We just don’t want to be a good offensive team,” Bryant said. “We want to be defensive, as well.”
Newkirk made his presence felt in his time running the first team offense. He was only 3-of-8 shooting the ball, but he did his job. Crean said he was efficient and kept it simple on the court, which is why he’s out there.
Newkirk showed off his athleticism, too. With eight minutes left in the first half, Morgan swatted Bellarmine’s Al Davis’ shot off the backboard, leading to a two-on-one break with Bryant and Newkirk.
Bryant fed Newkirk as he drove to the bucket and the transfer put a little boost in his step, exploding for a one-handed jam that sent a shock through Assembly Hall.
“He’s a product of really working hard, recovering well, having a great attitude, working extremely hard in the gym, yet at the same time he can get a ton better,” Crean said. “But as long as he keeps the game simple for his teammates and plays really hard defensively and keeps having fun the way that he is, he’ll be really good for us.”
With the exhibition season now completed, IU flies to Honolulu, Hawaii to face No. 3 Kansas in the 2016 State Farm Armed Forces Classic to officially begin the regular season at 9 p.m. Friday.
