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(09/24/10 6:58pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A small card in IU’s reference library was imprinted with a brief definition of the word “Hoosier.”Jeffrey Graf, a reference associate at the Herman B Wells Library, thought its explanation was too brief, so he produced a large file of information and started a struggle that has been on IU’s campus for quite some time.“I didn’t think the definition could have been considered definitive in any kind of way,” Graf said. “So I decided to try to work up something a little more substantial. Judging by the number of pages I have today, I’d say things have gotten a little out of hand.”IU employees, students and Bloomington residents have all taken cracks at defining the seemingly indefinable term. No matter how tame or outlandish the idea, no name has stuck.In fact, attempts to define “Hoosier” date back as far as 1831, when its first known usage came in a letter written by Cincinnati’s G.S. Murdock, according to the Indiana Magazine of History. The word was meant to be a derogatory term referencing an uncivilized farmer or mountain man.“I didn’t like the big goofy Hoosier Pete who was here in the late ’70s and early ’80s when I was at Indiana,” IU Athletics Director Fred Glass said. “He didn’t last very long and sort of disappeared.”Full of speculationGraf said much of what came forth as an explanation for the meaning of “Hoosier” was simply rumors.“Mostly, it’s speculation, frankly,” Graf said. “Although in usage it almost always refers to a countryman, a rustic, a mountaineer or someone not from the city.”It has been thrown around by historians that the Midwestern state received its name from a man screaming, “Who’s yere?”It was common to believe IU’s name came from an Indian word for corn, “hoosa.” “There are a lot of stories about where ‘Hoosier’ came from,” Glass said. “My favorite is about the boatman Sam Hoosier. He only got the toughest, strongest workers on his boat. They became Hoosier’s men, and then later they became ‘Hoosiers.’”Gearing upWith all of the rumors, it’s no wonder IU has a checkered past when it comes to finding the figurehead for “Hoosiers.”Many ideas of what the face of IU athletics is have been thrown around throughout the years.The height of the mascot craze came in the late 1990s and early 2000s.“At one time they tried a buffalo,” Graf said. “What connection it had with Hoosier, I’m not sure.”From 1997 to 2003, numerous mascots were thrown out as suggestions for IU. A jellyfish named Big Red and dogs were all possibilities derived from IU fans.The grapple with finding a mascot was so unsuccessful that current students have taken it upon themselves to represent their “Hoosier” name. This has been most successfully done by the “IU Gorilla.”He has been seen on an ESPN telecast, in the stands at IU basketball coach Tom Crean’s speeches and even around Bloomington’s streets.What all of the theories, mascots and gorilla suits couldn’t do, a former IU athlete did when she put IU’s name in perspective.Glass recalled the former athlete’s remarks.“She said, ‘A Hoosier isn’t a person or thing, it’s a way of life,’” he said. “And she went on and talked about being hardworking and honest, all those things we want to be associated with being a Hoosier.”The athlete’s sentiments didn’t settle the question everyone has been asking for centuries: “What is a Hoosier?”“I thought it was interesting that they were speculating in 1833, and that’s what everybody’s still doing,” he said. “Some things haven’t changed.”Originally published in the IDS Homecoming Guide: Oct. 16, 2009.
(09/17/10 3:03pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A small card in IU’s reference library was imprinted with a brief definition of the word “Hoosier.”Jeffrey Graf, a reference associate at the Herman B Wells Library, thought its explanation was too brief, so he produced a large file of information and started a struggle that has been on IU’s campus for quite some time.“I didn’t think the definition could have been considered definitive in any kind of way,” Graf said. “So I decided to try to work up something a little more substantial. Judging by the number of pages I have today, I’d say things have gotten a little out of hand.”In the past 20 years, IU Athletics has fielded suggestions that IU should adopt buffalo, bison and bats as possible mascots. IU employees, students and Bloomington residents have all taken cracks at defining the seemingly indefinable term. No matter how tame or outlandish the idea, no name has stuck.In fact, attempts to define “Hoosier” date back as far as 1831, when its first known usage came in a letter written by Cincinnati’s G.S. Murdock, according to the Indiana Magazine of History. The word was meant to be a derogatory term referencing an uncivilized farmer or mountain man.In the late 1970s, that notion came to life.“I didn’t like the big goofy Hoosier Pete who was here in the late ’70s and early ’80s when I was at Indiana,” IU Athletics Director Fred Glass said. “He didn’t last very long and sort of disappeared — probably because my view was widely held.”Full of speculationGraf said much of what came forth as an explanation for the meaning of “Hoosier” was simply rumors.“Mostly, it’s speculation, frankly,” Graf said. “Although in usage it almost always refers to a countrymen, a rustic, a mountaineer or someone not from the city.”It has been thrown around by historians that the Midwestern state received its name from a man screaming, “Who’s yere?”It was common to believe IU’s name came from an Indian word for corn, “hoosa.” Glass said he has a favorite.“There are a lot of stories about where ‘Hoosier’ came from,” Glass said. “My favorite is about the boatman Sam Hoosier. He only got the toughest, strongest workers on his boat. They became Hoosier’s men and the ‘men’ portion was eventually dropped and they became ‘Hoosiers.’”He isn’t the only one who has tried to put the many theories into perspective. Clippings from a 1965 issue of the Indiana Historical Bureau Bulletin question the word “Hoosier.”The Bulletin asked the age-old question by naming off colloquialisms associated with other states.“True, there are Buckeyes in Ohio, the Suckers of Illinois and the Tarheels of North Carolina — but none of these has had the popular usage accorded to Hoosier,” the Bulletin reads.Gearing upWith all of the rumors, it’s no wonder IU has a checkered past when it comes to finding the figurehead for “Hoosiers.”Many ideas of what the face of IU athletics is have been thrown around throughout the years.The height of the mascot craze came in the late 1990s and early 2000s.“At one time they tried a buffalo,” Graf said. “What connection it had with Hoosier, I’m not sure.”From 1997 to 2003, numerous mascots were thrown out as suggestions for IU. A jellyfish named Big Red and dogs were all possibilities derived from IU fans.The grapple with finding a mascot was so unsuccessful that current students have taken it upon themselves to represent their “Hoosier” name.This has been most successfully done by the “IU Gorilla.”He has been seen on an ESPN telecast at the IU-Duke contest, in the stands at IU basketball coach Tom Crean’s speeches or sporting a Hoosier jersey while riding his moped through the streets of Bloomington.What all of the theories, mascots and gorilla suits couldn’t do, a former IU athlete did when she put IU’s name in perspective.Glass recalled the former athlete’s remarks.“She said, ‘A Hoosier isn’t a person or thing, it’s a way of life,’” he said. “And she went on and talked about being hardworking and honest, all those things we want to be associated with being a Hoosier.”Although they were touching, the student athlete’s sentiments didn’t settle the question everyone has been asking for centuries: “What is a Hoosier?”Holding a tiny piece of paper similar to the one he found before nearly 75 pages of research, Graf joked about the ambiguous expression.“I thought it was interesting that they were speculating in 1833, and that’s what everybody’s still doing,” he said. “Some things haven’t changed.”Originally published in the IDS Homecoming Guide, Oct. 16, 2009
(03/30/10 11:31pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A small card in IU’s reference library was imprinted with a brief definition of the word “Hoosier.”Jeffrey Graf, a reference associate at the Herman B Wells Library, thought its explanation was too brief, so he produced a large file of information and started a struggle that has been on IU’s campus for quite some time.“I didn’t think the definition could have been considered definitive in any kind of way,” Graf said. “So I decided to try to work up something a little more substantial. Judging by the number of pages I have today, I’d say things have gotten a little out of hand.”In the past 20 years, IU Athletics has fielded suggestions that IU should adopt buffalo, bison and bats as possible mascots. IU employees, students and Bloomington residents have all taken cracks at defining the seemingly indefinable term. No matter how tame or outlandish the idea, no name has stuck.In fact, attempts to define “Hoosier” date back as far as 1831, when its first known usage came in a letter written by Cincinnati’s G.S. Murdock, according to the Indiana Magazine of History. The word was meant to be a derogatory term referencing an uncivilized farmer or mountain man.In the late 1970s, that notion came to life.“I didn’t like the big goofy Hoosier Pete who was here in the late ’70s and early ’80s when I was at Indiana,” IU Athletics Director Fred Glass said. “He didn’t last very long and sort of disappeared — probably because my view was widely held.”Full of speculationGraf said much of what came forth as an explanation for the meaning of “Hoosier” was simply rumors.“Mostly, it’s speculation, frankly,” Graf said. “Although in usage it almost always refers to a countrymen, a rustic, a mountaineer or someone not from the city.”It has been thrown around by historians that the Midwestern state received its name from a man screaming, “Who’s yere?”It was common to believe IU’s name came from an Indian word for corn, “hoosa.” Glass said he has a favorite.“There are a lot of stories about where ‘Hoosier’ came from,” Glass said. “My favorite is about the boatman Sam Hoosier. He only got the toughest, strongest workers on his boat. They became Hoosier’s men and the ‘men’ portion was eventually dropped and they became ‘Hoosiers.’”He isn’t the only one who has tried to put the many theories into perspective. Clippings from a 1965 issue of the Indiana Historical Bureau Bulletin question the word “Hoosier.”The Bulletin asked the age-old question by naming off colloquialisms associated with other states.“True, there are Buckeyes in Ohio, the Suckers of Illinois and the Tarheels of North Carolina — but none of these has had the popular usage accorded to Hoosier,” the Bulletin reads.Gearing upWith all of the rumors, it’s no wonder IU has a checkered past when it comes to finding the figurehead for “Hoosiers.”Many ideas of what the face of IU athletics is have been thrown around throughout the years.The height of the mascot craze came in the late 1990s and early 2000s.“At one time they tried a buffalo,” Graf said. “What connection it had with Hoosier, I’m not sure.”From 1997 to 2003, numerous mascots were thrown out as suggestions for IU. A jellyfish named Big Red and dogs were all possibilities derived from IU fans.The grapple with finding a mascot was so unsuccessful that current students have taken it upon themselves to represent their “Hoosier” name.This has been most successfully done by the “IU Gorilla.”He has been seen on an ESPN telecast at the IU-Duke contest, in the stands at IU basketball coach Tom Crean’s speeches or sporting a Hoosier jersey while riding his moped through the streets of Bloomington.What all of the theories, mascots and gorilla suits couldn’t do, a former IU athlete did when she put IU’s name in perspective.Glass recalled the former athlete’s remarks.“She said, ‘A Hoosier isn’t a person or thing, it’s a way of life,’” he said. “And she went on and talked about being hardworking and honest, all those things we want to be associated with being a Hoosier.”Although touching, the athlete’s sentiments didn’t settle the question everyone has been asking for centuries: “What is a Hoosier?”“I thought it was interesting that they were speculating in 1833, and that’s what everybody’s still doing,” he said. “Some things haven’t changed.”Originally published in the IDS Homecoming Guide: Oct. 16, 2009
(03/29/10 2:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Every game, sophomore guard Matt Roth dressed for warmups, hoping his foot would respond well and result in some playing time after his season ended in practice only two games into 2009-10.While he tried to cut on the court and find balance with a screw in the outside of his foot, freshman guard Maurice Creek stood on the sidelines with a clipboard.A season-ending knee injury had his season transition from scoring 16 points per game to taking notes. Although Roth didn’t play more than 11 minutes before being injured, he too was set to shoot from outside and spread the court for the Hoosiers.Without its two best shooters, IU struggled with turnovers and spacing. As the Hoosiers try to overcome the shooting woes of last season, Roth and Creek will try to shed the weight of a trying year.This offseason, both Roth and Creek will continue to rehab and attempt to return at full strength next season, something that will bode well for a young and still learning IU team next year.At one point, next year wasn’t the goal for Roth. He was hoping to return to the court by February.“As a competitor, I was scratching, and I just wanted to get back out there,” Roth said. “When they told me that I was far enough along that I could try to warmup, I could try to do some shooting drills and see how it was, I was thrilled to be able to go back out there.”Though given an opportunity, Roth said he knew it was going to be tough for him to play.He had pushed himself to return, but he was hindered by tenderness in his foot and the constant need to jump and use your legs in basketball.“Those were some of the things that prohibited me from getting back out there, but my love for the game kept pushing me,” Roth said.Through all of this, the simple walk to class on a cold morning had become rough for him at times.His absence also made it tough for his teammates who were on the court fighting to stay afloat in the Big Ten.Defenders sagged in on players such as junior guard Jeremiah Rivers, sophomore guard Verdell Jones and freshman guard Jordan Hulls, who were either not capable of or unwilling to take the outside shot at times.Roth said it sometimes became bothersome to sit on the sidelines knowing he could have helped the team.“It’s been frustrating,” Roth said. “There were a lot of days where you sit around and ask ‘Why?’”The team collectively shot 34 percent from 3-point territory on the season, but that number was somewhat inflated by the 44 percent shooting of Creek through the first 12 games.IU depended on Creek for outside scoring, but he also provided a driver and willing passer.When he went down against Bryant on Dec. 28, IU’s season tone changed.Other players were charged with taking the big shot and sustaining IU in tough slides during a game.Most of all, other teams didn’t have to worry about a player capable of putting in 30 points.That they didn’t have to be aware of Creek allowed defenses to hone in on the guards outside and help down without fear of a 3-point conversion when post players got opportunities at the basket.Chances are that will be different to some degree next season. Creek has been in rehab throughout the year to return next season and has never stopped shooting the basketball.IU coach Tom Crean chimed in on his interviews, adding that he had hit 31 3-pointers in a row during a shoot around.The bulk of up his development came through a pad and paper.“I lost my freshman year,” Creek said. “But, at the same time, I’m getting stronger and stronger every day. I get to see the game as a coach.”Creek took stats and kept an eye on what players’ tendencies were from a seat near the assistant coaches.Creek said the process helped his view of the game. He talked to players when they came toward the bench about what he saw from the sidelines.More than anything, though, a simple clipboard reserved his spot within the loop of his teammates and coaches.“It kept me intact with the team,” Creek said. “It’s better to do that than to stay on the backside and sitting with the team. It’s a privilege to do that, and he gave me the opportunity and I took it.”Only next year will tell what Creek and Roth will do when given the opportunity to play once again.
(03/29/10 1:36am)
IDS basketball reporter DeAntae Prince gives you the skinny on the teams vying for a championship.
(03/18/10 7:28am)
IDS men's basketball beat reporter DeAntae Prince takes a look at each of the tournament's regions and gives you the teams and players to watch.
(03/12/10 4:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The season came to an end in IU’s 73-58 loss to Northwestern in the Big Ten tournament. And while the Hoosiers played 30 games before Thursday’s matchup, the same problems remained.Turnovers were one of IU’s largest setbacks to begin the season, and they reappeared in the face of Northwestern’s 1-3-1 zone.The Hoosiers had their first win in 12 games against the Wildcats just five days ago. When asked what the major difference was from that 88-80 win, sophomore guard Verdell Jones didn’t budge one bit.“I thought our turnovers were the biggest thing,” Jones said, eyeing the stat sheet. “I’m looking here. They had 29 points off of turnovers. If you want to win any game, that’s unacceptable.”It didn’t always seem Jones would have to come out and speak in detail about his team’s problems like he has so many times before.IU began the game with an 8-0 run and played Northwestern evenly for most of the contest.Then the score hit 45-39 with 13 minutes left in the second half.“I think the story of the game for us was really when we were up six, had six turnovers within four minutes and went down four,” IU coach Tom Crean said. From then on, Northwestern’s 1-3-1 zone and guard Jeremy Nash changed the way IU looked in terms of its offense, defense and mentality.Nash swung his long arms in the air to make IU players throw high, slow lob passes. The plays turned into Northwestern layups more often than not.That might have been what resulted in 29 points off 19 turnovers for Northwestern.“The bottom line in this game was the points off turnovers came at very tough times for us,” Crean said. “There were times when I think maybe our youth showed, in a sense of maybe where we were tentative.” Crean said his team should have been prepared.He had them spent extended time in practice working against zone and half-court traps because he wasn’t satisfied with the effort against it in Saturday’s win.Given the extra attention he allotted to the concept in practice, Crean expected players to step through a trap when faced with two defenders.Yet six IU players committed a turnover in the game, with three players coming out with four mishaps.Freshman guard Jordan Hulls, who scored a career-high 24 points against Northwestern on March 6, was one of the guys with four turnovers.When facing the zone, he’d pick up his dribble and set himself up for a trap near half-court.At halftime, Crean grabbed a clipboard and drew out what he wanted Hulls to do against the zone as they walked toward the locker room.Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said his team was worried about Hulls after the first performance he had against them.“Just find out where that guy Hulls is,” Carmody said he told his team.They did. As Hulls struggled to a scoreless second half, his team also had trouble putting points together because of limited possessions after turnovers.The teams were tied at 45-45 with more than eight minutes left in the second half. IU would score 13 points for the rest of the game, while Northwestern put up 28.Despite a tough night overall, Jones finished with 20 points. The only other player to score double digits was freshman forward Derek Elston with 10.Jones would later walk the bench battered from a game were he was knocked around and sent to the free-throw line eight times.When the final buzzer sounded, he wasn’t the only IU player slow to get up.“The bottom line is, when you’re turning the ball over the way we did, you just lose a lot of confidence because they’re getting easy shots,” Crean said.
(03/11/10 4:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU and Northwestern played just five days ago.The Hoosiers will be well versed in the Wildcats’ play when they see the team for the second time in such a short span.But there’s one thing IU knows Northwestern won’t change when the two teams play in the Big Ten Tournament’s first round at 5 p.m. Thursday: its volume of 3-point attempts.“They’re not going to stop shooting 3s,” IU coach Tom Crean said.IU doesn’t plan to match Northwestern shot-for-shot, but the team is well aware that it must stop the Wildcats from getting open looks to get a victory.Heaving deep attempts might just be Northwestern’s way, but the outside shooting team has won in this season’s split two-game series.“When you win a game and the other team makes 13-42 3-pointers, that’s a lot of 3s,” Crean said. “But they shot 48 or 46 at Illinois earlier in the year, so that’s just part of who they are.”They shot 47 3-pointers in the aforementioned Illinois game Dec. 30, but that is not odd for the Wildcats.Northwestern has taken more than 804 3-pointers this season, easily trumping its opponents’ 629 attempts.The Wildcats average 26 bombs per game and hit 36 percent of those.IU, on the other hand, has been without its two best 3-point shooters for most of the season in injured guards freshman Maurice Creek and sophomore Matt Roth.As a result, IU has only shot 454 3-pointers, just about half of Northwestern’s attempts.Its 34-percent effort is not too shabby, though that number is somewhat inflated because of Creek’s early-season performance.He shot 44 percent from the arc before going down 12 games into the season with a knee injury.He will not be available Thursday. Northwestern, meanwhile, will have its best shooters in John Shurna and Michael Thompson.But their appearance won’t mean as much as shot selection will.Northwestern was far more conservative in its attempts when it won in Evanston, Ill. It was also more efficient.The Wildcats were 10-of-25, good for 40 percent. Its shooting took IU out of the game early in a 78-61 win on Feb. 7.IU was startled but the hot start and was only 2-of-17 from deep. Part of its poor showing came because players forced shots to counter Northwestern’s performance.Sophomore guard Verdell Jones said the Hoosiers have to work to get easy shots and stay even-tempered if the Wildcats get hot.“The most important thing is, if they hit 3s, we can’t just come down and try to rush up another quick 3 to try to match it,” he said. “We’ve got to come up with possessions, and we can’t come up with empty possessions.”But defense always plays a part in how well the other team shoots.Where IU failed to put a hand in the face of Northwestern shooters in the first game, it improved once it played at home.Fourty-two Northwestern attempts resulted in only a 31-percent effort from behind the 3-point line.IU put together a 10-of-23 performance for a 43-percent shooting performance as a team.That was based largely on freshman guard Jordan Hulls’ career-high night. He hit eight 3-pointers for all of his 24 points.Per pregame adjustments, Hulls said he expects to see tighter defense. He said that’s fine with him if someone else gets an easy shot.“Last game, it was the 3-point shot, so we’re going to try to focus on that but really just take what they give us,” Hulls said. “You just have to read the defense and take the best shot possible.”
(03/08/10 5:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s somewhat fitting that IU couldn’t pull out its win against Northwestern in regulation.The 88-80 overtime win in the finale of the regular season just wouldn’t have been right if it didn’t feature a time of uncertainty, which has been the only constant for the 2009-10 IU men’s basketball season.Lineups have changed, contributors have changed, but the questions haven’t.The Hoosiers were one loss away from the worst overall losing streak in school history, and, while one win can not salvage a season, Crean seemed to have a better sense of his team’s future direction Saturday.“I know exactly where we want to go with it,” Crean said. “It’s not always clear how we’re going to get there, but it’s getting clearer.”After an 11-game losing streak, very few weren’t willing to concede that the year had become a wash.Although it was one game, IU displayed flashes of what could be.The team limited Northwestern to 25-percent shooting in overtime, improving a category IU coach Tom Crean has questioned.Its other major fault has come in the field-goal percentages. The Hoosiers were 26-of-60 shooting against the Wildcats. It was also 43 percent from 3-point range Saturday.“It’s good for the fans to see how hard we actually work, to see something come out of it finally,” sophomore guard Verdell Jones said.The performances of young players can breed optimism as was evidenced by Crean’s sentiments. However, the 2009-10 season has seen uneven play from everyone who shone Saturday.Before this game, the only freshman forward Christian Watford averaged double figures scoring among the first-year players with 12 points per game.Jones was the only player to average more than Watford’s 14.The majority of IU’s scoring against Northwestern, though, came from players who had never seen a senior day ceremony from the sidelines of Branch McCracken Court.Freshmen Jordan Hulls, Derek Elston and Watford all scored more than 14 points and played more than 25 minutes.Jones also provided 18 points, and freshman forward Bobby Capobianco scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds, many of which were critical to IU’s chances for a win.Hulls started IU’s hot outside shooting and finished with 24 points, all compiled on eight 3-pointers.Watford added 14 points, but it was Elston who sustained IU throughout. He performed well for the second-straight game and scored 17 points in 27 minutes.At many times, Crean played the four freshmen with Jones. The young team excelled, and Elston said it signaled a shift in Crean’s perspective on playing the freshmen together.“It’s good to know that we’re trusted to be out there now,” Elston said. “A lot in the beginning of the season, we didn’t really know if Coach wanted us out there.”Elston went on to say the freshmen are now capable of stepping onto to the court and being go-to guys for Crean.They’ll have to.Sophomore Tom Pritchard, junior Jeremiah Rivers and senior Devan Dumes all saw fewer minutes than usual.When watching his young team play, Crean said he was startled for a moment. That worry was soothed by their play.“To be honest with you, it hit me once when I looked on the defensive end and we had four freshmen and a sophomore,” he said. “Other than that, I didn’t think about it. I was just looking at a basketball team.”
(03/05/10 3:57am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU fans might not be interested in hearing it, but Tom Crean eyed something possessed by Purdue on Wednesday.It’s called stability. Crean, only in his second year as IU coach, has made no secret of the fact that he won’t field a four-year player until the 2011-12 season. Of late, he has also expressed an immediate need for recruiting and development as a means of rectifying this year’s Hoosiers’ many deficiencies.“Down the road, it’s a mental toughness you learn from having to deal with what we’re dealing with that will help you in life,” Crean said. “But it certainly isn’t helping us right now.”Standing on the other end of the court Wednesday, handing them a 74-55 loss, was a Purdue team that has weathered a situation like IU’s, though even that didn’t border on the overhaul Assembly Hall saw in 2008.The savvy Boilermakers were a nine-win team not long ago. They took Mackey Arena on Wednesday to face IU as the No. 7 team in the land. That transition didn’t happen immediately. Or in two seasons.Purdue played a team of mostly juniors and seniors against IU. And after the game, it was obvious why they’d handed this version of the Hoosiers such a blowout loss. Sitting at the podium for Purdue post-game were three players, two seniors in their last home game and an all-conference junior. They answered questions when Purdue was not so stable four years ago.Even then they had two players that IU lacked, though. Veteran players Carl Landry and David Teague had sat out because of injury, but they provided leadership once added back into the lineup. “A lot of people that played for Purdue told me that they were going to be good. ‘They got a lot of people out with injuries. They were going to come back and be strong,’” Purdue senior Keaton Grant said. IU had former walk-on Kyle Taber. Crean used Purdue players as examples of what he thinks IU needs.He spoke at length about senior Chris Kramer, a player who lacks any particular skill that sets him apart from the competition. There’s only a muscle — his heart.“As good as those three are who get a ton of the credit, he is the energy source,” Crean said. “There’s not a matchup he’s not going to take advantage of. He’s going to take great pride in that matchup. And he just out-toughs you, and his will is so strong.”Those were not the only words he had to say about Kramer.“We need to put a picture of him up in our coaches’ room,” Crean said. “Because that’s the kind of guy we need in this program. Seriously.”Crean said he didn’t see that same willingness from his players on the defensive end. “Early on, we just let them dribble by us too much,” Crean said. “We’re going to have to get that obviously corrected all offseason, one way or another.”Youth isn’t the answer for every problem with IU, but the difference was obvious in West Lafayette. It could be embodied in the actions of Wednesday’s leading scorer E’Twaun Moore, who had 21 points.A play was run incorrectly for Purdue, and Moore visibly reprimanded point guard Lewis Jackson on the big screen. The exchange resulted in a score from Jackson on the next play. As miniscule as it seemed, the series of events illustrated what IU doesn’t have: accountability.It also showed why Purdue was able to outplay, outthink and out-tough the Hoosiers on Wednesday night.
(03/04/10 5:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>WEST LAFAYETTE — Regardless of the odds it faced in the past two seasons, this Hoosier squad never seemed intimidated.That changed during the first trip to Mackey Arena in Tom Crean’s era as IU coach in a 74-55 loss Wednesday.The performance didn’t hinge on the fans’ “IU sucks” screams or their “Boiler up” chants. This was not about the atmosphere.A stronger Purdue team bullied IU and pushed it around the court on both ends of the floor. “We’re a soft basketball team,” Crean said. “I don’t have any other way to put it. We’re not a physically aggressive team. We’ve got to grow up.”IU was forced to start its sets from halfcourt and didn’t shoot a single free throw in the first half, signs of a stagnant and timid offense.Purdue defenders picked IU’s guards up early in a full court man-to-man defense. They pushed, bumped and banged the younger Hoosiers.Sophomore guard Verdell Jones, playing on a team that had 18 turnovers, led the Hoosiers with 15 points while throwing the ball away just once.Jones said the tough defense that put IU on its heels is simply a formality in the conference.“They were playing very physical and the refs were allowing them to play rough with us,” he said. “That’s part of the Big Ten. We gotta fight through it.”But they didn’t.An 11-to-25 ratio on fouls is usually a sign of bad officiating, but it wasn’t Wednesday.Purdue went to the basket harder and was rewarded with 31 free throws. IU only shot five.There were other signs pointing toward Purdue’s energy and grit outweighing IU’s.Freshman forward Christian Watford could barely score a basket against Purdue’s Chris Kramer, even though he stood five inches taller.IU’s second-leading scorer finished with 7 points, while Kramer, using the fadeaway as his favorite shot, dropped 18. “With Kramer, I don’t think that there’s any matchup that he looses over a consistent period of time,” Crean said. “He’s too athletic and he’s just too tough and strong.”Because of this listless effort, the empty possessions began to pile up for IU. And the shots it did get would not go down.Everything just seemed easier for Purdue.IU had to set and reset their offense to get an open shot. The Boilermakers, on the other hand, would sprint down the court and score before any Hoosier defender ever countered or could make any semblance of a defensive play.Purdue got to the bucket with ease, allowing it to put together 16 assists and only eight misplays. IU had only seven assists to go with its double-digit turnover numbers.The difference suggests that one team put up a fight on defense and made an effort to stay between the opposing offense and the rim.“Our defensive rotations weren’t good enough today, at least in the beginning,” freshman guard Jordan Hulls said. “They had a lot of layups there early.”When IU moved the ball and stopped handing it off near the middle of the court, it scored enough to mount a run and make it 48-36 in the second half.That was as good as it got.After the game ended, Crean talked about the physical aspects of the game. He said his team could not have had any advantage based on the foul discrepancy.He went over the numbers, but later decided to go with a simpler sentence to end a long answer.“I guess we’re not physical enough,” he said.
(03/03/10 4:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The identity of the Boilermakers changed the moment Purdue forward Robbie Hummel tore his anterior cruciate ligament during a drive across the lane at Minnesota on Feb. 24.IU’s in-state rival had lost its best outside shooter, playmaker and one of its top rebounders. When IU travels to West Lafayette, it will not see the same team from Feb. 4.Despite being less potent on the offensive side and down a glue guy, the Hoosiers can expect a solid team focused in on the defensive end of the ball. Purdue’s leading scorer and leading rebounder will also be there, with guard E’Twaun Moore and center JaJuan Johnson remaining in the lineup.IU coach Tom Crean recognized the Boilermakers will still fill the court with capable players.“Purdue has a ton of experienced guys who have been battle-tested,” Crean said. “And you could see in their games recently that they have risen to the occasion more times than not.”In its latest loss against Michigan State, Purdue played without Hummel’s direction for the first time this season.He stood only for timeouts and walked to meet his teammates on crutches. As he watched, dressed in a blue shirt and tie, Purdue struggled to score.It was obvious that Hummel was missed outside, with Purdue shooting 2-of-9 from the 3-point line. They totaled a 15-of-50 night from the field.The Boilermakers’ troubles from outside led to fewer open driving lanes. They only scored 44 points in the nine-point loss.That inability to spread the floor also led to tough nights for two players who have not seen many bad-shooting games.Outputs from Moore and Johnson diminished without the more stable portion of their three-player attack. They shot a combined 7-of-27 and collectively scored 23 points. Hummel was a rock of a player who was always reliable, as he proved against IU in a 78-75 Boilermaker win on Feb. 4.Without Hummel, the Hoosiers will have to worry less about an outside or late-game threat and more about a team of solid players.“They have proven to be a great team and it doesn’t matter who they put on the floor, they are going to be tough,” freshman guard Jordan Hulls said.The mainstays of this Boilermaker team are defense and smart play, two things that have not been setback from Hummel’s loss.“Their pressure is relentless on offense and defense,” Crean said. “They score so much off of their defense, a lot more than they get credit for. They share the ball. They rebound the ball.”Purdue forced Michigan State to shoot 40 percent for the game and limited guard Kalin Lucas to eight points. He turned the ball over eight times as well.Michigan State had nine assists and 23 turnovers, not exactly the combination that garners a win against the third-scoring defense in the Big Ten.The Boilermakers, on the other hand, had 12 turnovers and nine assists.Often times, the start of a game can determine what type of an effort IU will produce for two halves. Freshman forward Christian Watford said a start marred by turnovers hindered IU’s performance against Iowa on Sunday.“It hurt us,” he said. “They got a great lead on us, and it went from there.”IU will have to cut down on its season average of 15 turnovers when facing a team ranking second in steals and claiming ownership of the conference’s best turnover margin.Crean said Purdue will remain an unyielding team, even without its leader.“They play extremely well as a group and they are a team that is player led,” Crean said. “They hold each other accountable. They have great leadership on the court and they make basketball plays.”
(03/01/10 5:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IOWA CITY, Iowa — It might be impossible to make Iowa look better than it did against IU on Sunday night.A team scrapping for wins every week, the Hoosiers made the Hawkeyes look like the best team in the Big Ten — and them some.The 73-57 loss came for a bunch who seemed overwhelmed with a Hawkeye group that has never been confused with anything resembling the Big Ten’s finest.This game couldn’t be chalked up to youth. IU had been outplayed by a 10-19 team of freshmen and sophomores for a second time.What seemed to be the culprit was effort.IU coach Tom Crean and his players said that wasn’t so.“For two teams that are near the bottom of the standings that was a very hard-fought game,” Crean said. The numbers suggest something more one-sided.Iowa scored 23 points on IU turnovers, but still managed to the grab loose balls on hustle plays.The Hawkeyes were fouled 31 times and came out with 26 made free throws.Most of all, the Hawkeyes learned from a Thursday loss to Northwestern and used it against IU.Iowa coach Todd Lickliter sat at the podium and recited a quote to describe his team’s progression.The adage dealt with the idea of applying previously learned knowledge.“The only thing worse than learning from experience,” he said, “is not learning from experience.”IU has not done that lately.The Hoosiers fell for the 10th-straight game, making similar mistakes to the ones that began this current string of losses.Their problems began at 20 turnovers. They only had four assists to counter.Sophomore guard Verdell Jones said those mistakes came from trying to make plays before ever getting a pivot established.“I think it was too anxious, trying to do our move before our feet got settled,” he said. “We had six or seven travels. You can’t do that in a game like this.”Outside of Jones, who scored 22 points and was perfect from the free-throw line, IU had only one player in double figures.Freshman forward Christian Watford scored 13 points in the game,Nearly every other player was passive on offense. They passed the ball around the exterior and looked for Jones, expecting the perfect cure-all on every play.It did not come.IU shot 18-of-40 in the game and had 13 less shots than Iowa when the first half ended. Iowa finished with 22 buckets.“It’s no secret right now that we’re not a great shooting team,” Crean said. “We obviously didn’t shoot the ball real well, but we are a very good foul-shooting team.”IU had many games come down to free throws where it didn’t answer the call. But they were 20-of-25 and shot 80 percent as a team on Sunday.Where they differed with their competitor the most was on defense.Iowa used a simple screen-and-roll play to unravel the IU counter from the beginning.Forwards Aaron Fuller and Jarryd Cole each scored easy baskets when IU big men jumped out hard on screens.Crean said his team had to respect Iowa’s ability to shoot the ball. They made an attempt to push opposing guards to the baseline before having the big man return to the lane.Post players Fuller and Cole combined to score 25 of Iowa’s 73 points.The rest of the Hawkeye buckets came from guard Matt Gatens, who scored a career-high 25 points.Small mistakes like miscommunication and travels stumped IU all night. Jones said pensive play has to accompany effort.“We got to fight and play smart at the same time,” Jones said. “We fought, played hard, but we didn’t execute on a lot of things.”
(02/28/10 2:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The worn cliche has been heard a million times. Players and coaches always want to take it one game at a time. But IU coach Tom Crean and his players recently admitted to straying from that universally-known notion. Before the current nine-game losing streak began, IU was fresh off two Big Ten wins and preparing for Iowa on Jan. 24. They didn’t prep in every capacity. Their minds were elsewhere. “Oh, yeah we did,” freshman forward Christian Watford said when asked if IU players’ minds drifted past Iowa. “We were on a winning streak right there, and I guess we overlooked them. We didn’t really take that game as seriously as we did the other games. We want to go pay them back.” The Hoosiers lost 58-43 to a Big Ten team that might have the least amount of athleticism and talent in the conference. IU had been playing well, but there was not room to underestimate opponents, as freshman guard Jordan Hulls said Saturday. “We’re not really in a position to look over anybody,” he said. “They just came in here and out-toughed us and that’s all it really came down to.”The Hoosiers were facing the lone team they defeated in a 2008-09 season where they went 1-17 in the Big Ten.The Hawkeyes came in with that loss in mind, and they played like it. Crean didn’t see his team floundering before the contest. He said their practices were great leading into the Iowa game. He remembered seeing hard work — the same work that had them within the Big Ten race, barely separated from the conference's top-tier teams. He said his players' actions suggested that they were prepared. On Saturday, Crean revealed the Hoosiers had bought into their early-season performances, if only for a game. “I think they embraced success a little bit in those games,” Crean said. “We won those two games, and I think you try to have a team never read the press clippings and the magazines and all of those things. They’re not as big a deal, but I think they got caught up thinking they were a little bit better than themselves.” With that loss, IU spiraled into a streak changing the complexion of its season. The Hoosiers were 9-9 before the Iowa game. They now sit stagnant at 9-18, approaching a conference-loss record that dates back to the 1943-44 season. Not since that year has IU been defeated in 10 straight Big Ten games. His team hasn’t changed its win column in nine contests, but Watford said IU let numbers get to it when approaching Iowa. “We were looking at their record more than what kind of team they are,” he said. “We went in that game kind of lax, and they came out and played great.”
(02/28/10 1:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Finger pointing isn’t usually the way to solve problems.The stigma with zeroing in on mistakes rarely makes it into the film room. The idea wasn’t left at the door for the IU video session, either.IU coach Tom Crean and his players went through tape in preparation for Sunday’s 6 p.m. game against Iowa. Judging from the results of IU’s past nine games, one could guess it wasn’t pretty.One of IU's large problems was revealed on tape, placing the many streaks opposing teams go on to end the first half on display.“The bottom line with us is we’ve got to stop these little streaks and we saw that on film as well,” Crean said. “That’s a mental toughness, that’s a lack of leadership, that’s understanding, ‘Hey, that ball is going in a certain spot right now.’”IU has failed to understand how to respond and play circumstantial basketball in recent weeks. When the Hoosiers come out with the energy that has evaded them in some instances, they often stick with the better teams. They seem to be in a threatening position.Then, the streak happens. It came against Wisconsin. It came against Michigan State. Both games ended in blowout losses for IU.The root of the Hoosiers’ problems in that moment lies within its inability to maintain offensive efficiency.For example, IU trailed Wisconsin 16-14 with a little more than eight minutes left in the first half. The Hoosiers began the game shooting a mere 5-of-17, and the Badgers also struggled from the field. The problems came when Wisconsin picked up its offensive effort, and IU couldn’t reciprocate.But the lack of defensive consistency allows for the substantial leads to mount and turn into historical defeats, like the 78-46 Wisconsin loss, the largest in Assembly Hall history.“We’re not making a ton of shots,” Crean said. “When you’re not making a ton of shots, that hurts your confidence level big time. That’s what we’ve just got to bear down and get these streaks stopped.”While dissecting the streaks, players pointed out their own part in what became team losses.Few had ever been forced to take ownership of mistakes the way Crean had them in film session. Crean said pointing out their mistakes before the coaches did, showing that they wanted to improve, was the key for his players.Freshman forward Christian Watford said he hadn’t experienced the bluntness offered in the gathering.“I’ve never done it that way,” Watford said. “It just makes you take ownership of what you did as a player.”Freshman guard Jordan Hulls also said he thought the tape session would positively affect the team’s psyche moving forward.“I thought it was really good for us to see what mistakes we’re making, for us to see it ourselves and call it out to the team,” Hulls said. “I think we’re taking a lot out of it.”
(02/26/10 6:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU coach Tom Crean could see it in his team.He could sense IU reaching the point where it surrenders a large lead to end the first half. But there was nothing he could do as his team trailed — except take his frustrations out on the referees.Sophomore guard Verdell Jones held Crean back after he received a second technical foul and was ejected for the first time in his tenure as IU coach.The Hoosiers were behind big in their 78-46 loss to Wisconsin when Crean became irate with an official near the scorers table during the biggest loss ever at Assembly Hall.He did not mention the ejection once in his opening statement.“People are used to a certain thing,” he said. “And there is going to be a mentality that we’re going to play with, that I’m going to coach with.”He received the second and third technical fouls of his two years in Bloomington on Thursday, the first two of this season.Fans chanted Crean’s name as he walked off the court and into the north-side exit.The team was trailing 58-33 when he left at the 9:53 mark in the second half, but it didn’t matter to fans. They had a renewed enthusiasm behind every response to a referee call or play from an IU player immediately afterward.Many had already turned toward the exits. Those who remained cheered on the team following Crean’s ejection, reveling in the only interesting portion of what had become a 32-point blowout.IU assistant coach Bennie Seltzer took control of the team for the banished coach.Crean had, however, made attempts to keep his team in the game before taking two technical fouls.But a timeout Crean called with the game knotted at 20-14 did nothing, and Wisconsin went on to stage a 19-8 run to end the first half. “This is where a lack of leadership kicks in,” Crean said, referring to his team’s response after the timeout. “We’re just not there yet.”His team continued to be outplayed and never lead after it opened the game 4-2.Wisconsin had a 17-point advantage at halftime, but quickly turned that into a 25-point lead by the 10-minute mark.Freshman forward Derek Elston said Crean’s ejection was a sign he refuses to continue losing the way IU has as of late.“He’s just like us,” Elston said. “He doesn’t want to get pushed around in this league, and neither do we. After that happened, we all just were like, ‘We need to start taking this personally.’”The loss ties last season’s longest losing streak in the Big Ten. IU was on pace to drop its ninth consecutive game in almost identical fashion to the manner in which it had lost all the others.Crean changed that.Crean’s actions took attention from a game typical of this season. IU was trailing a better, more experienced team, and after Crean left, fans became as hostile as he was.They screamed obscenities at players whose names they did not know. They screamed at Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan. They screamed for the sake of screaming.Junior point guard Jeremiah Rivers, the son of a coach, said Crean was more tactful than the fans who rallied behind him.“I think it was just an outcry of his passion,” Rivers said. “That’s all it was. Not generated towards the fouls, or what we were doing wrong, what we were doing good. Or what Wisconsin was doing wrong, what they were doing good. It’s just an outcry of his passion and how much he wants Indiana to win.”
(02/25/10 2:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>No one has ever condemned Wisconsin for playing too fast.The most methodical of any team in the conference, the Badgers make the extra pass, avoid mistakes and rebound the ball well.As a result, they eat up the clock quickly. Unlike the last contest against Wisconsin, IU will attempt to use tight defense and box-outs on the offensive glass to limit Badger tries at the basket today at 9 p.m. at Assembly Hall.“They want the time of possession to be in their favor as much as possible on that offensive end,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “And if this was a football game, the difference would be astronomical.”Against IU on Feb. 13 in Madison, Wis., the Badgers took 20 more shots than the Hoosiers. The team also accumulated 15 offensive rebounds and turned 21 IU turnovers into 29 points.The numbers might sound exceptional, but they’re no deviation from what Bo Ryan’s club does every game.Wisconsin has a plus-10 scoring margin on opponents, averages only nine turnovers and grabs 32 rebounds per game.The Badgers use the dribble drive as their most-used tool to open the floor, press opponents for time and hit 3-point shots.With two true point guards and big men capable of playing on the outside, the Badgers employ that ability to force help defense.When teams have to shift on the defensive end, the Badgers get easy shots. Crean pointed out this fact when analyzing how guard Jason Bohannon hit seven 3-pointers against IU.“They want you to help,” Crean said. “Bohannon gets a lot of 3s off his man’s help, which means you’ve gotta be able to guard the dribble.”The drive-and-kick method Wisconsin uses helped develop its average of seven 3-pointers per game, three more than the opposition.Because of their calculated approach, sophomore guard Verdell Jones said IU will need to play tough defense against the Badgers.“Just try to speed them up,” Jones said. “Blitz ball screens, whatever you have to do just try to make them shoot the ball quicker, make them force bad decisions.”And they make very few bad decisions.Wisconsin guard Trevon Hughes averages two turnovers per game, and no other player has more than 1.1 blunders per game.A well-structured offense with sure-handed players allows the team to keep defenders suspended, trying to guess the next move.A by-product of sitting in a defensive stance is tired legs. Wisconsin uses this to bolster its offensive rebounding.After a long offensive set, players tend to relax when they finally see the ball go up.Using the entire 35-second shot clock is not uncommon for the Badgers, and it often uses that tactic to get scores from offensive rebounds.IU gave up 18 second-chance points as Wisconsin managed to score 32 points within the key.Freshman guard Jordan Hulls will be one of the players charged with putting pressure on Hughes and guarding Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin’s two primary ball handlers.He said more of a concerted effort to limit the Badger offensive strategy will benefit IU in today’s showing.“We just got to play defense,” Hulls said. “They had way too many open shots last game, driving the ball to basket, and too many offensive rebounds.”IU had two players with the flu and only one day of preparation when it last faced Wisconsin.Regardless of those circumstances, Crean said the things IU didn’t do on the court mattered most.“They got offensive boards, and they scored off our turnovers,” Crean said. “I think that’s what it was more than anything.”
(02/22/10 5:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>MINNEAPOLIS — Only a coach could look at IU’s 81-58 loss and find something positive to take into the next game.After putting his big men on the bench, IU coach Tom Crean said he saw the ball movement he envisioned from what was planned to be a guard-heavy offensive attack.“I think our guys continued to battle tonight, even though we got down when we got small,” Crean said. “We just weren’t getting it done up front, and we needed to put some speed into the game.”IU received 10 points from its four primary post players and took to the outside in the second half. A willingness to pass the ball offset the lack of size and ineffective IU shooting.The Hoosiers tallied eight assists in the second half on its 12 field goals, but the game had already been won.IU played to 37-33 and came out just behind Minnesota’s production in the last period. The first half, though, saw a 44-25 Gopher advantage, and only defensive stops could help the Hoosiers.Minnesota, though, made those tough to gather.It had 23 assists on 31 field goals, which impressed Minnesota coach Tubby Smith.Gopher center Ralph Sampson described the unselfish tactics his team used to gain an early lead.“I believe that we shared the ball a little bit more,” Sampson said. “We waited a little more time in the shot clock to find the open man.”Sampson scored 11 points and had 5 assists from his post position, as he threw the ball to the opposite side to find open 3-point shooters.The Minnesota passing resulted in 45 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 50 percent overall.In the Jan. 17 contest, IU failed to close in on Sampson and he scored 17 points, mostly from the free-throw line.“Last game, I think they saw that they needed to double team in the post a little bit more, so this game I think they tried to do that,” Sampson said. “We had to make the adjustment to throw it inside and then, when they came to trap, throw it back outside to the open man.”Crean said the decision to change the way IU approached the paint defensively was based on a necessity to shuffle its lineup.“We had to do something to get back in the game.” he said. “Even though we never really threatened, I did learn a lot, see a lot. I told these guys all week, ‘I’m not going with positions. I’m going with energy.’ That’s the only way that we can really attack.”Senior guard Devan Dumes benefited from IU’s passing ways and led the small charge for IU.He had 20 points, 12 of which came in the second half, and 2 assists in the game.“They ran at a couple of my shots,” Dumes said. “I threw a couple pump-fakes. They jumped on a lot of them, and they were open. We all trust in each other, so I made the kick.”But many of Dumes’ passes didn’t lead to scores. The team’s two leaders in the category struggled all night.Freshman forward Christian Watford finished with 3 points, and sophomore Verdell Jones scored only 10. They combined to shoot 3-of-20.Watford said Minnesota made it hard for him and his teammates to finish inside, forcing the smaller lineup to move the ball as it avoided post sets.“In the paint, it’s a whole different thing,” Watford said. “They’re a real big team. You can’t just shoot certain shots that you can shoot on other normal teams. You just have to adjust to it.”
(02/19/10 5:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU coach Tom Crean stopped mid-sentence when talking about Michigan State point guard Kalin Lucas’ level of competitiveness.“There’s no question he’s a next-level player — All-American, the whole thing,” Crean said after taking a deep breath to start the declaration.The Hoosiers can take solace in knowing they won’t face Lucas at 8 p.m. Saturday in Minneapolis. But for the first time in seven games, IU will be able to pull positives going into its next contest.The 72-58 loss wouldn’t suggest it, but IU played Michigan State closely in the first half.The Hoosiers were within five points up to the 3:56 mark in the first half before the Spartans began pulling away.“We came out with a lot of energy today,” freshman guard Jordan Hulls said after the game. “They just had some more points off turnovers, but I thought our group played with a lot more energy than we have in the past couple games, which is good. We’re just going to build off that.”IU lost in several aspects on the stat sheet, but came out with fire, a rebounding edge and the best free-throw line performance of its season.The Hoosiers were 25-of-28 at the stripe, but they saw Michigan State make 17 more field goals.That advantage was based largely on a 10-minute stint where IU failed to score. There was only a 32-28 scoring advantage for Michigan State in the second half.Sophomore guard Verdell Jones said IU has to aspire to do more than just hang around in future games.“We got to get stops,” he said. “When they get a lead on us, we can’t trade baskets.”Michigan State shot nearly 60 percent in the game, as IU allowed 40 points in the paint. Junior guard Jeremiah Rivers wasn’t ready to concede a poor effort.“What we can’t do is hang our head and say we didn’t play good defense,” Rivers said. “They hit some tough shots on us.”In recent post-game press conferences, Crean and his players have struggled to find an optimistic tone.Playing against some of the best competition in the country didn’t allow for IU’s best performances. The Hoosiers reached the height of their season after an 81-78 overtime win against Minnesota, which provided momentum for IU’s only road win of the season at Penn State.They have come up empty in their search for any victory since that contest.IU endured tough losses against some of the country’s best teams. Bad starts against lesser teams, Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan State turned the Hoosiers’ season for the worse. Minnesota has fared about the same, going 2-5 in its past seven games, including its loss in Bloomington on Jan. 17.“This completes a five-games-in-12-days stretch against four ranked teams,” Crean said. “And we’ll continue to learn from it, we’ll continue to work hard, and we’ll continue to help our guys get better.”
(02/17/10 6:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Nothing remarkable happened Tuesday night in Assembly Hall.IU hit its free throws, handled the ball decently and lost 72-58 to a better, more experienced team in its seventh-straight loss.Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has a vantage point of IU basketball that few do as IU coach Tom Crean’s friend and the longest tenured Big Ten coach. He said experience was the difference for his team, which has eight upperclassmen on its roster.“(IU) played hard; they’re missing a player or two,” Izzo said. “I saw Creek at the end of the game. I asked him how he could do that to my buddy by getting hurt.”The Hoosiers looked more like their mid-season selves, challenging the Spartans for much of the first half. The seasoned Michigan State team simply grounded out the game until fans looked up and saw a 20-point deficit.Several players standing well above 6-foot-6 challenged IU in the post and midrange area for 40 minutes.“They got some big bodies and some talented players that could probably start anywhere else in the nation,” junior guard Jeremiah Rivers said.Izzo’s club took advantage of significant turnovers and points in the paint. It scored 40 points within the key and used 16 IU mishaps to produce 23 points.IU did not fair as well within the paint, posting only 18 points of its own for the game. They also saw the methodical Michigan State only turn the ball over eight times.“I think they may have taken advantage of us in some key instances,” Rivers said. “But I think at the end of the day, if we just do the things that we talk about and that we did at certain spurts in this game, I think we’ll be OK.”But IU kept the game close at the free-throw line, going 25-of-28 from the stripe.IU failed to chart a field goal from 10:16 remaining in the first half to 17:01 to go in the second, and Michigan State went on to score 10 field goals during that time and opened a 44-32 lead.Part of IU’s ability to stick around was based on the understated offensive approach of the Spartans, with the other portion a result of IU’s hard play to begin the game.Rivers added that the Hoosiers’ cohesiveness helped them get a semblance of the fight they once showed as a team.“I think not straying away from one another; I think being together is the biggest thing for our team,” he said.