Sophomore Christian Watford scored with 25 points in a team-high 24 minutes played as the IU men's basketball team opened it's exhibition schedule with an 89-37 win over Franklin College on Wednesday night at Assembly Hall.
"He's really working to improve," Crean said of Watford. "He's very hungry, and I think he epitomizes where our team is right now."
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.
Sophomore forward Derek Elston chipped in with 2 blocks to go with his 9 points points and 6 rebounds, while junior forward Tom Pritchard had a team-high 7 boards, though he did not record a basket playing with a protected left hand.
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.
"Obviously we're not going to be in that percentage all the time, but it does need to move up for us to be successful," Crean said. "We want to create off of our defense, we want to create off the backboards ... we want to be relentless moving forward defensively"
