The Hoosiers came out victorious in the team's season-opener and Tom Crean's first game, beating Northwestern State, 83-65.
Junior guard Devan Dumes led the way for the "Whoosiers" with 21 points. Freshman guard Verdell Jones finished with 18, including 10-13 from the free-throw line. Freshman big man Tom Pritchard recorded a double-double in his first game, tallying 13 points and 10 rebounds.
After trailing early in the game, the Hoosiers defense stepped up and the Demons' shooting cooled (31.9 percent for the game). IU led by as many as 22 at one point and wasn't seriously challenged after halftime.
But the game wasn't without hiccups. The Hoosiers turned the ball over plenty and struggled on the boards once again. They were out rebounded, 52-41, and committed 23 turnovers.
A few post-game quotes...
IU coach Tom Crean "First and foremost, the players, they'll never forget their first win as part of the Indiana basketball family inside Assembly Hall. Never forget it, none of us will ever forget it."
(On winning his first game) "Well, I think we're not going to get shut out for the season."
(On future home games) "There will not be one team who comes in here and doesn't believe they can't win this game."
Northwestern St. coach Mike McConathy (On IU's effort) "A lot of times, we go around the country, sometimes I feel like we're the Barnum & Bailey Circus... but a lot of times you don't see the big time programs play as hard as they played tonight...and that's a credit to the staff Coach Crean has assembled here."
Freshman forward Tom Pritchard (On getting better) "I don't think we have any time to grow up. Coach Crean, the things he's doing with us in practice is helping us grow without playing in any games. This first game was helpful to found out what its like in a college situations. Games are going to get tougher and we're going to have to play harder."
Full text from tonight's live blog after the jump.
