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(01/16/11 2:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU coach Tom Crean knew exactly what his team needed to do to win.He told his fellow coaches Saturday that if the Hoosiers didn't make defensive mistakes and got the ball to prime spots on offense there was no way they would lose.The players did just that - and more - and IU won its first Big Ten game of the season and broke a six-game losing streak in the process with a dominating 80-61 victory against Michigan on Saturday at Assembly Hall."We had very good carryover from a very good week of practice, and our players understood that it began with what our defensive transition was going to be like because of how well they push the ball up the court" Crean said. "They did an excellent job with that."Junior guard Verdell Jones led with a near-perfect offensive game, scoring a game-high 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting. As Michigan made small runs in the second half, sophomore guard Jordan Hulls completed Jones' mid-range game with three 3-pointers and 13 points.Hulls didn't attempt a shot in the first half, but with Michigan making a series of small runs to bring a 21-point IU lead down to 11, he came alive from beyond the arc to keep the Hoosiers' cushion."They came at a great time," Crean said of Hulls' 3-pointers. "Just a tremendous stat line for him - played the most minutes of anybody on the team ... That's exactly what we need. That's what his teammates expect of him. That's what we see in practice."IU nearly led the entire way, with Michigan's only lead vanishing with 18:47 to go in the first half. The Hoosiers led by as many points as 21 in the second half as they shot a blistering 67.4 percent from the field and held the Wolverines to just 36 percent shooting.Michigan went about eight minutes without a rebound to open the game and were dominated on the glass for the game. Led by sophomore forward Christian Watford's 10 rebounds, IU won the rebounding battle 37-18.Watford added 17 points for his fourth double-double of the game, and Crean summed up what he needed from the team's leading scorer in one word."He needed to dominate," he said. "He needed to dominate whether it was the glass. He needed to dominate whether it was with the post up. He's shooting the ball a lot better all the time."Junior forward Tom Pritchard helped with a large amount of energy in a starting spot with seven rebounds in 25 minutes.IU held Michigan to only 15 points in the first half, and while the Wolverines responded with 46 in the second half, the Hoosiers added 50 of their own.Sophomore guard Maurice Creek had a scary moment late in the second half after a fast break layup, when he buckled to the floor and clutched at his knee. He walked off on his own power several minutes later, and entered the game after the next timeout.IU next travels to No. 21 Wisconsin on Thursday, which is fresh off a 76-66 victory against Illinois on Saturday.
(01/10/11 5:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>EVANSTON, Ill. — The Hoosiers need to learn how to play 40 minutes — and quickly.At least that’s how IU men’s basketball coach Tom Crean summed up what went wrong in their sixth straight loss, a 93-81 decision at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday. The Hoosiers dug an early hole, falling behind by 12 at halftime behind 36 percent shooting and eight turnovers. The Wildcats’ lead grew to as large as 24 points in the second half, before the Hoosiers clicked in the game’s final four minutes.IU (9-8, 0-4) narrowed the deficit using 3-point shots and a full-court pressing defense to trim the deficit to eight points with 2:06 remaining. However, it was a sense of urgency that Crean said came about 38 minutes too late.“We played extremely immature in the first half; extremely immature,” he said. “In the second half, we start to come back, and we play desperate, and we don’t understand that we’ve got to play that way in the first half.”Northwestern (10-4, 1-3) forward John Shurna used a 4-of-5 effort from the 3-point line to score a game-high 24 points, his ninth game with 20 or more points this season. Shurna often found himself with wide open looks as the Wildcats moved in transition, something Crean said simply cannot be allowed to happen to whom he called the best player on the court.“He’s an excellent player. He’s the leading 3-point shooter in the country for a reason,” he said of Shurna. “You can’t give him any space. He’s going to be a pro for a long time.”Northwestern center Luka Mirkovic added damage inside, setting season highs with 20 points and 12 rebounds.“He just out-toughed us,” Crean said of the 6-11 Siberian. “He out-toughed us inside. And that’s the bottom line.” IU freshmen guards Will Sheehey and Victor Oladipo combined for 22 points and seven rebounds, but Crean said they made noticeable freshman mistakes. Sheehey fouled out with 10:39 remaining in the second half, and Oladipo led the team with four turnovers.Players were not made available for comment.Still, the third-year IU coach said those are the kinds of things his team will have to play through, because neither Sheehey nor Oladipo will see a drastic decrease in playing time.“They have to be on the court. There’s no question about that,” Crean said. “Their energy and their toughness are something that we have got to have. So you’re going to have some of those mistakes.”IU’s only lead vanished with 18:24 remaining in the first half, after senior guard Jeremiah Rivers scored the team’s first five points. Sophomore forward Christian Watford was held scoreless until the 15:26 mark of the second half, but he finished with a team-high 17 points. The 93 points scored by Northwestern is the most given up by IU this season. Crean stressed the importance of team defense as the Hoosiers search for their first conference win of the season.“When we go with a blue-collar mindset, and it’s everybody defending together, a lot of better things happen,” Crean said. “Not great things, but better things. Our discipline was not where it needed to be.”
(01/10/11 5:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>EVANSTON, Ill. — The Hoosiers need to learn how to play 40 minutes — and quickly.At least that’s how IU men’s basketball coach Tom Crean summed up what went wrong in their sixth straight loss, a 93-81 decision at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday. The Hoosiers dug an early hole, falling behind by 12 at halftime behind 36 percent shooting and eight turnovers. The Wildcats’ lead grew to as large as 24 points in the second half, before the Hoosiers clicked in the game’s final four minutes.IU (9-8, 0-4) narrowed the deficit using 3-point shots and a full-court pressing defense to trim the deficit to eight points with 2:06 remaining. However, it was a sense of urgency that Crean said came about 38 minutes too late.“We played extremely immature in the first half; extremely immature,” he said. “In the second half, we start to come back, and we play desperate, and we don’t understand that we’ve got to play that way in the first half.”Northwestern (10-4, 1-3) forward John Shurna used a 4-of-5 effort from the 3-point line to score a game-high 24 points, his ninth game with 20 or more points this season. Shurna often found himself with wide open looks as the Wildcats moved in transition, something Crean said simply cannot be allowed to happen to whom he called the best player on the court.“He’s an excellent player. He’s the leading 3-point shooter in the country for a reason,” he said of Shurna. “You can’t give him any space. He’s going to be a pro for a long time.”Northwestern center Luka Mirkovic added damage inside, setting season highs with 20 points and 12 rebounds.“He just out-toughed us,” Crean said of the 6-11 Siberian. “He out-toughed us inside. And that’s the bottom line.” IU freshmen guards Will Sheehey and Victor Oladipo combined for 22 points and seven rebounds, but Crean said they made noticeable freshman mistakes. Sheehey fouled out with 10:39 remaining in the second half, and Oladipo led the team with four turnovers.Players were not made available for comment.Still, the third-year IU coach said those are the kinds of things his team will have to play through, because neither Sheehey nor Oladipo will see a drastic decrease in playing time.“They have to be on the court. There’s no question about that,” Crean said. “Their energy and their toughness are something that we have got to have. So you’re going to have some of those mistakes.”IU’s only lead vanished with 18:24 remaining in the first half, after senior guard Jeremiah Rivers scored the team’s first five points. Sophomore forward Christian Watford was held scoreless until the 15:26 mark of the second half, but he finished with a team-high 17 points. The 93 points scored by Northwestern is the most given up by IU this season. Crean stressed the importance of team defense as the Hoosiers search for their first conference win of the season.“When we go with a blue-collar mindset, and it’s everybody defending together, a lot of better things happen,” Crean said. “Not great things, but better things. Our discipline was not where it needed to be.”
(01/07/11 5:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s basketball team (9-7, 0-3) is mired in a five-game losing streak, and following a loss at Minnesota on Tuesday, a nine-game road losing streak extending to last year. The Hoosiers have a chance to snap both streaks at Northwestern (9-4, 0-3) in a 7 p.m. tipoff Sunday on the Big Ten Network. Like the Hoosiers, the Wildcats opened the Big Ten schedule winless, though Northwestern’s losses came against top-20 teams in No. 11 Purdue and No. 19 Michigan State. HistoryNorthwestern has won four of its last five games against IU. The Hoosiers’ last victory in the series came in an 88-80 decision in Bloomington last season. The Wildcats responded by downing the Hoosiers by 15 points in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. However, IU dominates the all-time series, leading 109-46. Player to watch — IU: Christian Watford, sophomore forwardAfter an All-Big Ten start to the season, Watford has slipped as conference play started. In losses to Penn State and Minnesota, he has combined for seven points on 3-of-18 shooting with only three free-throw attempts. Perhaps not coincidentally, the Hoosiers lost both games. Despite the recent struggles, Watford still leads the team in points per game and free throws made and is second in minutes played. Player to watch — Northwestern: Michael Thompson, senior guardAs leading scorer John Shurna has labored with an ankle injury, Thompson has taken over as the Wildcats’ top scorer. He led the team in scoring against Purdue with 18 points and scored 12 against Michigan State. He has terrorized the Hoosiers recently, averaging 17.6 points per game against IU last season. In IU’s conference tournament loss last year, Thompson scored 13 points in a five-minute stretch to take Northwestern from a two-point deficit to a 10-point lead and an eventual victory. What they’re saying — IU coach Tom Crean, following his team’s 67-63 loss at Minnesota.“We had our chances. This would have been a big game to get. I loved our plan. I loved our mindset. I loved our preparation. It’s early in the season. I wish we had the win. I wish we had the win last Monday night, but we don’t. So we just keep moving forward and get ready to go play Northwestern.”
(12/31/10 10:03pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ohio State tied an Assembly Hall record with 13 made 3-pointers and finished shooting 60.5 percent from the field in an 85-67 victory against the IU men’s basketball team Friday in Assembly Hall.The No. 2 Buckeyes (14-0, 1-0) opened the game with guns blazing, hitting 15-of-21 in the first half as they built a steady 13-point halftime advantage over the Hoosiers (9-6, 0-2). "The game plan was to be in the zone, and the way we practice doesn't mirror at all the way we come into the game," IU coach Tom Crean said of the defensive struggles. "In practice we move on the pass, in the game we move on the catch. We don't have our hands up. There isn't as much ball pressure."Seven of OSU’s 15 made field goals in the first half were from the 3-point line, and the trend continued throughout the game. Buckeyes guards Jon Diebler (5-of-5) and William Buford (5-of-7) combined for 30 points from beyond the arc alone. Buford led all scorers with 24 points. "As I said to the team, it's not like we go to office and say, 'OK, let's do nine different things in practice now,'" Crean said. "We're doing the same things that we do, we're just not doing them well enough."IU sophomore forward Christian Watford led an IU attack that, despite what the 18-point margin of defeat would indicate, was overall efficient with 17 points. The Hoosiers shot better than 50 percent from the field and won points in the paint, points off turnovers and fast break points.In the second half, the Hoosiers held the Buckeyes to just 47 percent shooting from the field, but they created more opportunities at the foul line. Three IU players, including freshman guard Victor Oladipo and his 14 points, fouled out Friday. OSU finished with a 38-14 advantage in free throw attempts, converting on 68 percent of its tries.IU will hit the road for the first time in the Big Ten season when it goes to Minnesota on Tuesday. The Hoosiers do not have another game at home until Jan. 15 against Michigan.
(12/28/10 2:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As if opening the Big Ten season wasn’t daunting enough, the IU men’s basketball team got in its own way Monday.In their 69-60 loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions, IU sophomore guard Jordan Hulls said the defense the Hoosiers prided themselves on throughout the season was a step slow, giving their opponents clear looks.“We just let them have open shots,” he said. “Division I basketball players can hit open shots. That was on us. We just missed coverages on some plays and didn’t get a hand up in time or whatever the case may be. Those are all fixable mistakes.”Penn State shot 50 percent in the first half, including a 5-of-10 effort from the 3-point line. The Nittany Lions lead grew as large as 14, and they took a nine-point advantage into the half.Penn State, ranked last in the Big Ten in field goal percentage, finished shooting 53.8 percent from the field Monday. “The one thing you never want to do to a team when they’re on the road is let them come in and have hope right away,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “And we did that. We were a step slow on some shots, and they made shots … And some shots didn’t go for us.”The Nittany Lions attack, while large in quality, was limited in quantity. Only seven players touched the floor Monday, and three players – forwards David Jackson and Jeff Brooks and guard Talor Battle – combined for 57 points alone. “Recognition on offense and communication on defense – it really got us early on,” Crean said. “We went zone, probably should have gone a little earlier with it, but we were right there, we just had some miscommunications and, boom, they’re good enough that they’re going to make shots if we’re late.”Brooks led all scorers with a career-high 23 points. He found a niche in the pick and roll game, using his 6-8, 200-pound frame to score over mostly small IU lineups.“Our pick and roll defense is a weakness for us right now,” Crean said. “And we spend a ton of time on that. It’s a communication weakness, and it’s a get up and make the play weakness, which we attack everyday and we’re obviously not getting enough out of that.”The Hoosiers, as they have done in several games this season, made a comeback in the second half and took the lead with 8:45 remaining. But Crean said that after a media timeout at the 2:28 mark, his team lost the belief it could win.Crean added that he believes this team, as opposed to past teams, has the talent level to complete comebacks, but Monday showed the “old wounds and scars” of not being able to get over the final hurdle.“I’m not going to change one bit the way we’re coaching now and pushing them," he said. "That point’s going to come, it’s going to hit, it’s going to be another experience, and we’ll have it under our belt.”Adding to IU’s troubles, its most reliable scorer was stuck in his worst offensive rut of the season. Sophomore forward Christian Watford – IU’s leading scorer entering Monday with more than 18 points per game – finished with three points in 25 minutes.Crean said a combination of Penn State taking him out of the game and a bout of back spasms both contributed to Watford’s thin stat line.“I give him credit for trying to gut it out and play through it as much as he did,” Crean said. “And that’s where a lot of that lies, in the sense of him not having a great night.”IU sophomore guard Verdell Jones led the team with 15 points, while freshman guard Victor Oladipo added 14 in his first career start. Sophomore forward Derek Elston had his second-straight two-point outing after scoring 19 points against Northern Iowa in Las Vegas. The last two forwards – sophomore Bobby Capobianco and junior Tom Pritchard – each played only four minutes. Crean said he simply saw a better performance from his guards, which led to the decreased minutes for the big men.“All season long, I’ve said it’s not about positions. It’s about production. It’s not any one position. We can talk about the front line … we’ve just got to play better.”
(12/19/10 8:27pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Behind closed doors, Matt Roth has been shooting lights out.Now, everyone can see the deep shooting touch that made the junior guard an IU fan favorite is back.Roth doubled his 3-pointer total in the IU men’s basketball team’s 102-60 victory against South Carolina State alone, knocking down 4-of-5 from deep on his way to a season-high 14 points Sunday in Assembly Hall.“I’ve been doing that everyday, whether I’m working on my own or in practice,” Roth said of his sharp shooting. “So it’s nothing new to me. It was a great opportunity for us and a great opportunity for me to get lost in the game and make some shots for my team.”It’s been a long time coming for Roth. After sitting out nearly all of last season with a foot injury, Roth’s junior campaign looked in jeopardy before it even started.Roth hurt his knee in an exhibition victory against Ferris State but avoided a severe injury and returned after missing just four games. It wasn’t until Friday, though, that he played more than nine minutes and wasn’t until Sunday that he made more than one field goal.His return to prominence on the IU box score delighted the more than 12,700 in attendance.“Him making a 3 is as exciting as somebody catching an alley-oop dunk,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “People want to see that. We want to see it. It makes our team that much better.”With the Hoosiers clinging to an eight-point lead at halftime, Roth had just three points to his credit. But IU began to cut to the basket with ease in the second half, hitting 67.7 percent of its shots. The Hoosiers also locked down defensively, bringing the Bulldogs’ shooting percentage down from 50 percent in the first half to 32 percent in the second.“We got back our understanding during the game that defense is about awareness, it’s about being alert, it’s about covering for teammates, being active – all those things,” Crean said.The slashing on offense and 18 created turnovers on defense opened room for Roth, who swished through three consecutive 3-pointers as the IU lead grew as large as 43 points.Sophomore forward Derek Elston, who has his second-straight solid outing with 10 points and six rebounds, said it gets the whole team going when Roth fulfills his role as a deep threat.“When Matt comes into the game everybody should know, and knows, that’s exactly what he’s going to do,” Elston said. “Tonight he lit it up, and it was a lot of fun … Matt might have been the main reason why it just broke open right there from halftime on.”IU will now travel to Nevada for the IBN Las Vegas Classic, playing Northern Iowa at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and either New Mexico or Colorado on Thursday.Sophomore forward Christian Watford, who led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, said capturing a championship is fresh on the team’s mind as it prepares for its last pair of games before Big Ten season.“It would be a great step in bringing this program back to how it was, and that’s what we plan on doing,” he said.
(12/18/10 4:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Sophomore forward Derek Elston didn't need anybody to tell him he was due for a big night Friday.But he heard it anyway.Before the game, his father told him on the phone that he would have to take full advantage of his second-straight starting opportunity. During warm-ups prior to IU's tip-off with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Elston, as told by sophomore guard Jordan Hulls, didn't miss a shot.Then, right out of the gate, Elston let his play do the talking.He scored seven of the team's first 11 points, a spark that ignited a 24-0 IU run to open an 88-54 victory at Assembly Hall."He really played well, and that was good to see," IU coach Tom Crean said of Elston. "He did all the different things in a short period of time that we need from him. He rebounded, he ran the floor, he scored from the perimeter, he scored at the basket, he passed the ball, he screened and got people open."That's what we need. We need that kind of production from the front line, and hopefully we'll continue to get it throughout the season."Elston played in the "five" position Friday, generally the spot of the team's center. He said he had planned to play the "four," or power forward, position throughout the offseason, but when junior college transfer big man Guy-Marc Michel was ruled ineligible, his role changed.Now he is learning a whole new position's plays on the fly, while staying true to his versatile game. In his first half run, Elston knocked down shots from as close as at the rim and as far as beyond the arc. He finished with 14 points and five rebounds, playing only 19 minutes as the game was well in hand."In an offensive perspective, I feel like I'm quicker than the guy guarding me," Elston said of his new role. "But on defense, I realize that other fives are going to be bigger than me and stronger and I've just got to put up a battle."It's a role he admits he wouldn't have been able to take on as a green freshman a year ago. Elston said other centers "would have looked at me and laughed." But with adding quickness and muscle over the summer came new found confidence down low."Me and coach [Tim] Buckley talk about all the time just being alert and aware," Elston said. "A couple of games, I've had a couple lapses, but right now I feel like I've always got my head on a swivel, my feet are always right, I feel like I'm in the right position a lot of times. I'm just kind of loving it right now."Not only was Friday a personal statement for Elston, but he said it sent a message that the Hoosier big men were a force nobody could discount."We had seen in the paper that we had no answer for the big, and that kind of took us like, 'Are you serious?'" he said "At the practice [Thursday], we kind of went at each other, us five men down there. And now we just realize that, after tonight, you can't really say that."
(12/17/10 10:55pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The way things started Friday, Derek Elston and Christian Watford could have beaten Southern Illinois University Edwardsville by themselves.The sophomore forwards combined for 26 first-half points while the Cougars (2-10) were held without a field goal for the first 13 minutes and just 20 points in the first half in a 88-54 IU (8-2) victory in Assembly Hall.Elston, who started his second consecutive game, led the early romp with seven of the Hoosiers’ first 11 points, and IU’s lead grew as large as 24-0 before a pair of SIUE free throws broke the shutout.“If you coach in enough games, you see everything,” Crean said of the quick start. “But I think it’s a tribute to the way our guys came out to play. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”Crean added he wasn’t worried about his team loosening its grip on the game. Those types of moments are instrumental in building a winning mindset, he said.“Certainly the human element is always going to kick into it,” Crean said. “We’re not used to playing with a score like that. But if you want them to be as good as they can possibly be, they have to learn how to continue to push it in a game when the score gets like that.”It wasn’t until the seven-minute mark, with the score 35-4, that the Cougars converted a field goal attempt. IU held SIUE to 27 percent shooting in the first half and 33 percent for the game. The Hoosiers, meanwhile, shot a season-best 61.5 percent from the field.With the game in hand early – and a game right around the corner Sunday - IU’s rotation became increasingly democratic.Ten players had at least 10 minutes of playing time, while five players finished with at least eight points. Only four Hoosiers played 20 minutes or more, led by sophomore Maurice Creek’s 23 minutes.The rout allowed Crean to experiment with his lineup, including playing Watford at the point.“You have to be prepared for all types of different contingencies in a game, and tonight was one of those games where we could experiment a little bit,” Crean said. “It’s not something that just kind of like pops in your head, those are things that I’ve thought about, that we’ve put in our notes to look at whether in practice or in games. And it just so happened we could try it tonight.”Creek scored eight points and added a team-high six rebounds in his time. Watford, who finished with 18 points to lead all scorers, and Elston were reeled in during the second half, playing just 19 minutes each.Although the Hoosiers committed 17 turnovers, they forced the Cougars into 18 and outrebounded the visitors 34-23. After a loss at Kentucky in which IU was outscored in second-chance points 21-4, the Hoosiers responded by allowing just two of such points Friday.IU will play its final game before a two-game stint in Las Vegas on Sunday against South Carolina State.
(12/13/10 3:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>LEXINGTON, Ky. — Stopping Kentucky once wasn’t much of a problem for IU.Following his team’s 81-62 loss at Kentucky (7-2) on Saturday, IU coach Tom Crean said not stopping the cross-state rivals twice was the Hoosiers’ (7-2) downfall at Rupp Arena.“The statistical difference in the game certainly that stands out to me, and I pointed out so directly to our team was the second-chance points,” he said. “We prepared all week for how good [Josh] Harrellson was on the backboards, as much as we prepared for anyone else on that team.”Harrellson matched IU’s offensive rebounding effort by himself with six and added six defensive rebounds and 14 points. IU kept Kentucky to just 36 percent shooting, but the Wildcats pulled down 18 offensive boards in total and outscored the Hoosiers 21-4 in second-chance points.IU has now fallen to fifth in the Big Ten in rebounding margin, and the numbers are still somewhat skewed in its favor. Even after playing at No. 16 Kentucky, the Hoosiers’ strength of schedule ranks 223rd, according to the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings.IU has won the rebounding battle in all seven home games this season, but the Hoosiers’ highest-ranked opponent at home is Wright State, whom Pomeroy ranks No. 133. When the team has left Assembly Hall, it’s been a different story.In two road games this season, the Hoosiers have allowed a combined 32 offensive rebounds and 21 second-chance points in each contest. IU has been outrebounded 77-60 by its hosts and is now 0-2 on the road. In the first loss at Boston College on Dec. 1, IU was burned by quick 3-point shots on the Eagles’ second opportunities after trimming a 14-point halftime deficit to as small as one point. It was putbacks, drawn fouls and complete resets of Kentucky’s offense that did the damage Saturday. Despite the struggles to retain possession, the Hoosiers did their part in responding. They took a lead as large as three points and saw 10 lead changes and seven ties in the second half alone. IU sophomore forward Christian Watford, who led the team with 19 points and nine rebounds, said was the main difference between the two games.“We were neck-and-neck with these guys all the way until about the nine- or eight-minute mark,” he said. “At Boston College, we were playing catch-up the whole time. It was just a different type of game.” The mark Watford referred to was the time between 9:42 and 0:38 in the second half, when the Hoosiers didn’t have a field goal and registered just three points off free throws.In that time span, Kentucky had four offensive rebounds and cashed in quickly with a layup, a dunk and a drawn foul. Kentucky coach John Calipari said his team’s ability to score on first or second opportunities opened up things defensively, which helped to shut IU down at the end of the game.“Part of what you want to do offensively, when you go down and really execute and score a couple and create a gap, it puts more pressure on their offense,” he said. “So now, you can defend, put more pressure on them, they are putting pressure on themselves, and then you go on a run.”The Hoosiers have a chance to get back on track quickly, as they will not have another road game until Jan. 4. IU senior guard Jeremiah Rivers, who started for the first time this season Saturday, said the loss will not shatter the team’s confidence.“We have the physical talent, we have the players, we have the depth on the bench, we have the coaches and the game plan. All that is set,” he said. “It’s just really the mental toughness to be able to finish out the games.”
(12/10/10 5:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>From day one, it was evident the 3-point shot might be vital to the IU men’s basketball team.The Hoosiers attempted 28 long-range shots in their season-opening victory against Florida Gulf Coast, knocking down half. IU had a 30-point advantage from the 3-point line, two points more than its margin of victory.IU now ranks fourth in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage, led by sophomore guard Jordan Hulls and his 58 percent average from deep, second in the conference. But the Hoosiers (7-1) will get their stiffest test of the season when they travel to Kentucky for the 54th meeting with the No. 17 Wildcats (6-2) at 5:15 p.m. Saturday in Rupp Arena. “This will be one of the more hostile and enlightening environments they’ll see in their time in college basketball,” IU coach Tom Crean said of his team’s second road game. “I know our team is excited. It’s felt a lot different this week not preparing for numerous games, but it’s given us a chance to work on getting better at a lot of different things on both sides of the ball.”Kentucky enters the weekend second in the Southeastern Conference in 3-point defense. The only time the Wildcats have allowed a team to shoot better than 40 percent from deep was Nov. 24 in a loss against Connecticut. “It’s very simple,” Crean said, when describing why Kentucky defends the perimeter so well. “They move well, and they’ve got good feet, and they’ve got the athleticism, but they have tremendous length.”Hulls, who has made 10 of his last 15 shots from long distance, said it will be important for the team’s perimeter men to simplify their games. “We’re just going to have to take open shots,” he said. “If they’re flying at us, we’ll have to pump fake and go by them. But as long as we move the ball on offense and play team basketball, I think we’ll be all right.” IU has only shot worse than 40 percent from beyond the arc three times, including at Boston College in its only loss this season. The Hoosiers are seventh in the conference in 3-point defense, though, allowing opponents to make 32.8 percent of their attempts.The Wildcats’ deep attack is best in the SEC, making 40.9 percent of their attempts. Junior guard Darius Miller, who has made 15-of-28 3-point shots this season, leads the team.In fact, the majority of Kentucky’s offensive prowess is led by freshmen. Freshman forward Terrence Jones is the team’s top first-year player, averaging 20 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. At 6-foot-8 and 244 pounds, Jones makes most of his points driving the paint. But even he has shown efficiency shooting from beyond the arc, making 37.5 percent of his 3-point shots. Kentucky has won eight of the last 10 meetings with IU, including a 90-73 decision in Bloomington last year. But Kentucky lost five players, including No. 1 pick John Wall, from last year’s squad to the NBA Draft. Crean said IU is also a different team than it was last season, and he doesn't expect the moment to be too big.“I’m sure they know obviously that this is a big deal,” Crean said. “They’re going to walk in, and they’re going to hear that group of crowds, and they’re going to line up for the jump ball and see all that athleticism and talent on the court. They’ll be locked in to how hard they’ve got to play — I know that.”
(12/04/10 11:05pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Following its first loss of the season, the IU men’s basketball needed an opponent it could beat convincingly to get back on track.Savannah State fit that bill perfectly.The Hoosiers (7-1) shot a blistering 55 percent from the floor to throttle the lowly Tigers (1-9) 79-57 on Saturday at Assembly Hall. “Probably the thing I’m most excited about with this group, is there was really strong resolve coming off a loss,” Crean said. “It’s not necessarily who you play after you’ve come off a tough game. As I say to them all the time, you’re constantly finding out who you are in terms of what happens when adversity hits and in terms of what happens when success comes.”Junior guard Verdell Jones led all scorers with 18 points in a game in which every Hoosier saw time on the floor. Jones led the team in rebounds as well with eight, but he also led in turnovers for the seventh time this season. Sophomore forward Christian Watford added 14 points, while the IU bench outscored Savannah State’s 23-8.Sophomore guard Jordan Hulls was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field, all from the 3-point line, to finish with 11 points. It was the third time in the past four games and fourth time this season Hulls has cracked double-digit scoring, but Crean said there’s always room for improvement.“He’s shooting it well, but I know he can continue to shoot it better,” he said. “We need a little more quantity from him. The quality is high, but we need a little more quantity.”Defensively, IU held Savannah State to 33 percent shooting, including a 28 percent effort in the second half. Crean said the Hoosiers had 71 deflections to add to their 19 forced turnovers.“I’ve never been a part of a team as a head coach or assistant that had those kinds of deflections, and that was outstanding,” he said. “That’s always the barometer of active defense.”Savannah State came into the game with its lone victory against NAIA school Brewton-Parker and averaged a mere 53 points per game, but they had not lost a game by more than 13 points. Against IU, Savannah State held only a single one-point lead, which it lost less than three minutes into the game and didn’t lead again. The Tigers were led in scoring by forward Joshua Montgomery and guard Preston Blackmon with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Jeremiah Rivers was assigned to defend Blackmon on Saturday, and though the junior guard didn’t attempt a shot or register a steal in his time on the floor, he finished with a plus-21 rating while on the floor, Crean said.Rivers, a fifth-year senior and most experienced Hoosier, said the team needed to respond the way it did after its first blemish of the 2010 season.“It’s important, especially for our confidence and just knowing that we kind of let it get away from us the other night against Boston College,” Rivers said. “They’ve got some good players and they’re well coached, but at the same time we were right there and we just kind of faltered on a few things.“It was good to bounce back and kind of get everything going again and keep that train moving.”
(12/01/10 11:56pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — After six games and six victories, the IU men’s basketball team built a reputation as a second-half team.For 16 minutes against Boston College, the reputation seemed to stick.The Hoosiers clawed their way back from a 14-point first-half deficit to trim the Eagles’ lead to as little as one point with just 5:44 to go in regulation, but the host team responded with vigor. Boston College scored 17 points in the final four minutes to hand IU its first loss in its first road game of the year, 88-76 on Wednesday at Conte Forum.“(Assistant coach) Tim Buckley said it best. When you’re playing against veteran teams, and you make mistakes. They make you pay,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “It could have been the most minor of a mistake, but they made us pay tonight, especially as we made our comeback.”After shooting just 39 percent in the first half, IU exploded out of the locker room with a 63 percent clip in the second. Sophomore forward Christian Watford led the charge, scoring 12 of his team-high 23 points in the second half. But at the fateful 5:44 mark in the second half, the Hoosiers went cold at the wrong time. While IU went on to miss two of its next three jump shots and commit a turnover, Boston College knocked down three 3-pointers, and a pair of layups from guard Reggie Jackson pushed the Eagles’ lead to an insurmountable 13 points with two minutes remaining.The Boston College surge came after IU had successfully implemented a zone defense that slowed down the hot-shooting Eagles. But during the late surge, Crean said the biggest daggers could have been avoided.“They just made some plays. They really did. A couple times, they made some tough plays,” he said. “But the ones that are glaring are where we made just a simple mistake of getting out of our discipline of where we wanted to be in the zone.”Junior guard Verdell Jones, who was third on the team with 11 points, said the team simply took too many chances trying to jump the passing lanes defensively when the game was on the line.“I think we didn’t stay solid and tried to gamble too much,” Jones said. “The reason the game got closer was because we stayed solid, and we didn’t gamble.”While the offense lifted the Hoosiers, the defense initially complemented with stops. But with missed shots came 14 offensive rebounds and 21 second-chance points for the Eagles.“We just need to be more physical,” Crean said about limiting second opportunities. “We need to be a better block-out team. We’re getting what is very important to be a good rebounding team, which is getting five guys in the paint. But then you’ve got to hit somebody.”Crean said guarding the dribble and showing physicality on the glass were the two areas IU faltered with most, and he estimated the Hoosiers lost out on 90 percent of the 50-50 balls throughout the game.Jackson, who led all scorers with 27 points including 16 in the second half, created the most headaches with his dribble-drive scoring ability, and Crean had high praise for the junior after the game.“That’s an NBA guard from what I saw tonight,” he said. “There is no question. I had a strong appreciation for him going into the game, but even a greater one now leaving the game.
(12/01/10 5:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Junior guard Verdell Jones is ready to hit the road.The IU men’s basketball team (6-0) will play away from Assembly Hall for the first time this season when it faces Boston College (4-2) in the ACC/Big Ten/Challenge at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Chestnut Hill, Mass. While Jones has only one true road victory in his two years as a Hoosier, he said he’s excited to get to the hostile environment. “I personally like playing away because it’s like you against the world,” he said. “That’s just a good feeling. I think it’s going to be fine and I think we’ll be all right.”The Hoosiers are off to their best start since the 2002-03 season, but Jones said the team isn’t getting caught up in its success this early in the 2010-11 season.“We just go practice by practice, game by game, and just try to go 1-0 every day,” Jones said. “That’s the biggest thing. I think if you look at the record then it puts a lot of extra pressure on, and that’s not what we need right now.”IU will get enough pressure from its next opponent as it is. The Eagles are led by first-year coach Steve Donahue, who last coached Cornell to three straight 20-win seasons. IU coach Tom Crean is familiar with Donahue’s style, having faced and defeated him 72-57 in Assembly Hall two years ago.“What he’s doing more than ever — and I think this is where he’s playing to his talent level — is he’s really utilizing the ball screen in a lot of different ways,” Crean said of Donahue. “He does some very unique things with the ball screens. So we’re going to have to be locked into our game plan as much as we can possibly be.”Boston College is led by guard Reggie Jackson who is scoring 17.7 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the field. The Eagles can also score in bunches in the post, led by 6-foot-8-inch, 232-pound forward Joe Trapani’s 13.0 points per game and forward Corey Raji’s 62 percent field goal clip.With 12 upperclassmen on the Boston College roster, Crean said a more mature IU team that understands the value of defense will be key to handling the different situational difficulties Boston College will present. Jones, who has seen the lowest of points with an 0-11 road record two years ago, said the vibe is much more positive as the team prepares for its first trip.“We’re expecting to win a little bit more, and we’re playing a lot more confident,” Jones said. “I think we finally realized that in order for us to win games, you have to start with defense.”
(11/30/10 3:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Maurice Creek is now the poster boy for the new era of IU men’s basketball.The sophomore guard had an opportunity for a dunk and his first double-digit scoring output of the season late in Friday’s 100-66 victory against Northwestern State. But instead of rising up for the slam, he dished it to sophomore forward Christian Watford for the easy basket. IU coach Tom Crean said that was the standard for how he wants his team to play for now and the future, but Creek said it was just his personality coming out.“That’s just me being unselfish. I love these guys to death, man,” Creek said. “I’d do anything for these guys. ... He got a great dunk, and his family was right in front of him, so it was great to see.”It has been that unselfish, team-oriented attitude that has paved the way to the Hoosiers’ best start since 2002, finishing up November with a clean 6-0 record. IU won six games total in 2008, and it took until Dec. 28 to reach that total last year.The result is no coincidence. Crean said he put the schedule together with a quick positive start on his mind. Through the first six games, IU’s strength of schedule is the weakest in the Big Ten, ranked No. 316 in the nation according to Pomeroy. But Crean said it wasn’t who the Hoosiers beat that was most important, but rather if they beat them.“When you’ve sat inside of the program the way we have the last couple years, this group of young men needed to learn how to win,” Crean said. “And that’s exactly what we’re trying to make sure they’re getting right now, and that they also learn how to continue to improve on their winning. I’m really proud of the way they played over the period of the last 240 minutes of this month, and now we go into December.”The statistics, while skewed by lesser opponents, tells the story of an improved, winning team. IU ranks first in the Big Ten in field goal percentage defense, first in rebounding defense and fourth in scoring defense. The defense has held its opponent to less than 40 percent shooting in five of the six games.Offensively, 55 percent of the Hoosiers’ field goals this season have come from assists, and the Hoosiers rank second in the Big Ten in shooting percentage. However, the Hoosiers also rank eighth in the conference in turnover margin and sixth in scoring offense. Crean said while he is happy with the stingy defense and selfless offense, the team is still a work in progress.“There’s not one thing I would look at and say, ‘OK, we’ve really figured this out,’” Crean said. “But they’re on the way to that. I think that’s what is most important.” A much tougher road awaits the Hoosiers in the second month of the season. IU hits the road for the first time to start the month when it plays at Boston College for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. After a brief stop at home, the Hoosiers travel to Kentucky on Dec. 11.They then close out the month by opening the Big Ten season with a pair of home games against Penn State and Ohio State.“We’re always up for a challenge. That’s the way our mindset is,” Creek said. “I’m always going to be down to fight with these guys and they’re going to be ready to fight with me.”The Hoosiers have gone 5-8 with Crean in December, and the road, in particular, has been a house of horrors for the Hoosiers. They have won just one true road game in the past two seasons, and Crean likened games away from home to shopping at the mall the day after Thanksgiving.“You know it’s going to be a battle scene, you know it’s going to be wild,” he said. “You just want to come out in one piece when it’s all said and done.”
(11/24/10 3:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Jordan Hulls did what his team needed to win Tuesday.Relegated to distributor duty through the first four games of the season, the sophomore guard gave life to an otherwise dormant IU offense with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting in a 72-56 victory against North Carolina Central.Hulls was the team leader in assists with 13 coming into Tuesday’s game, but finished with only one helper against the Eagles.IU coach Tom Crean said Tuesday was an example of how Hulls adapts to the game’s situation.“He just plays, and that’s exactly where we need him,” he said. “He’s a natural point guard, he’s a natural shooter, but if somebody were to ask me right now what position he is, I’d just say he’s on the court.”Hulls did most of his damage from beyond the arc, going 3-of-4 from the 3-point line. With NCCU employing a zone-heavy defensive scheme, Hulls said his hot night was a result of ball movement ending with him open.“I was just taking what the defense was giving me,” he said. “We pushed the ball and got one on transition and then one through the offense, so I felt like they came through the offense. My teammates found me and I was able to hit them.”IU needed Hulls’ shooting touch to advance to 5-0 for the first time since 2002, as the rest of the team struggled throughout much of the night to find the bottom of the basket. The Hoosiers shot 36 percent from the field in the first half and finished with a 41 percent clip. IU was just 4-of-17 from the 3-point line, not including a 55-foot heave to end the half from freshman guard Victor Oladipo.The Eagles shot 47.8 percent from the field, but the difference in the game came at the free-throw line. IU knocked down 76 percent of its free-throw attempts – including 12-of-14 in the second half. NCCU, meanwhile, only hit 57 percent of its chances. Watford shot just 4-of-14 from the field, but a 9-of-10 effort from the charity stripe pushed him to a game-high 17 points. He didn’t make a field goal in the first half, but Crean said his patience on the floor showed how he has matured from last season, and Watford agreed.“Last year I might have panicked and then not do anything in the second half,” he said. “That’s all part of growing up and part of playing basketball.”Sophomore forward Derek Elston returned from a one-game hiatus and junior guard Matt Roth returned from a knee injury suffered during the exhibition season. It was the first time in the regular season IU has had every player – save for junior center Guy-Marc Michel – available to play. Roth didn’t register a point, but Elston finished with nine points and six rebounds in 21 minutes played.“It was good to have Derek back. That’s not a CNN newsflash,” Crean said. “It was good to have him there scoring in the post, being aggressive and alert, playing with a lot of energy. I thought he did an excellent job defensively and on the defensive glass.”
(11/22/10 5:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Maurice Creek was the spark IU needed Sunday.With his team trailing by six after one half, the sophomore guard knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers to jump-start a 22-0 run and lead the Hoosiers to a 67-54 victory against Evansville in Assembly Hall.“That’s what I have to be able to do for the team to be successful. I have to knock down shots,” Creek said. “Today was my day, and it’s going to be somebody else’s day another day, but they got me the ball when I was wide open, and I just knocked down shots.”Creek’s run pushed the IU lead to as large as 20 in the second half. When the Purple Aces trimmed the lead to 10 with less than three minutes remaining, Creek banged home a fourth 3-pointer for the dagger.The Hoosier defense tightened as Creek ignited the offense, keeping Evansville without a point from 16:05 to 8:17 in the second half. That defense, IU coach Tom Crean said, was the catalyst for the Hoosiers’ first victory when trailing at halftime in his three-year tenure.“It’s very important for us to keep establishing that we can play excellent defense and we can rebound the ball and take care of the basketball, even when things aren’t going great for us,” Crean said. “In the second half, we made it a little easier for ourselves.”Creek finished with a game-high 19 points on 50 percent shooting, including a perfect effort from the free-throw line. The rest of the Hoosiers struggled from the charity stripe, finishing just 15-of-28. Junior forward Tom Pritchard was the worst offender, going 0-of-3 from the line, but his defense was the apple of Crean’s eye. Pritchard recorded a career-high five blocks, pulled down eight rebounds and added eight points. Crean said Pritchard had 12 deflections and was plus-12 on the floor, which helped solidify the middle for the Hoosiers.“He did a very good job on the ball,” Crean said. “He rotated well off the ball, which is where blocked shots are usually going to come from.”Pritchard’s presence was needed more than any other time this season, as sophomore forward Derek Elston dressed but did not play, and sophomore forward Bobby Capobianco had four fouls in only 11 minutes. Three other players, including Pritchard, drew at least three fouls. To combat the quick whistles, Pritchard said he fell back on his basics.“Everybody was getting in foul trouble early, and I just wanted to stay out of trouble and not foul out, obviously,” he said. “Staying down, staying in my stance has really helped me to help block shots easier.”For the fourth straight time to open the season, the Hoosiers forced their opponent to less than 40 percent shooting. They also won the rebounding game for the fourth time, grabbing 31 boards to Evansville’s 28. “We’re not a great block-out team yet,” Crean said of his team’s rebounding. “We’re getting better, but if we’ve got five people in the lane, then we’ve got a chance to defensive rebound and get our break going.” Junior guard Verdell Jones scored IU’s first eight points and finished with 18 on 7-of-10 shooting. Sophomore guard Christian Watford had his lowest scoring output of the season so far with 12 points. The Hoosiers are right back at it Tuesday when they play North Carolina Central and will play a third game in six days when they face Northwestern State on Friday. Crean said as a coach, he would prefer more practice but is forced to give less time due to the fast-paced schedule.“We took Wednesday off, and we didn’t even practice Thursday. We just did individuals and lifted because I knew we had a long stretch coming up,” he said. “Did that hurt us at times today? Probably. But the season is a marathon, not a sprint, and you’re trying to read your team constantly for what they need.”
(11/17/10 5:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Mired in its worst shooting effort of the young season, the IU men’s basketball team turned to less conventional ways of scoring Tuesday.The Hoosiers shot just 38 percent from the field, including just 33 percent in the first half, but used opportunistic defense and unselfish passing to pull away from Mississippi Valley State in a 71-54 victory at Assembly Hall.“You’ve got to play through bad offensive nights,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “It’s so hard for a player that puts offense first to continue to do that. Because more often than not, you’re not going to have great offensive nights. It’s not realistic. But to come out and play great team defense, to come out and get better defensively as the game goes on, that’s maturity.”IU (3-0) collected a season-high 10 steals, scoring 32 points off turnovers and earning 16 assists on 23 total field goals to put away the visiting Delta Devils (0-2). For the first time this season, the Hoosiers won the turnover battle, forcing the Delta Devils into 23 while committing 17 of their own.Though the opponent left Bloomington without a win so far this year, Crean said Tuesday’s victory will be a highlight for IU’s resume at the year’s end.“I don’t have any doubt that team continues to get better this year,” he said of the Delta Devils. “That will turn out to be a very good win for us against an NCAA tournament team out of their league.”Leading by just four after the first half, the Hoosiers’ defensive pressure quickly turned the tide of the game in the second. With 11:48 remaining in the game, IU had already forced two turnovers and held MVSU to just 9 percent shooting and three points. The IU lead exploded to as high as 23 points midway through the half, and Crean attributed the turnaround to halftime adjustments.“We were not really reading the game as well, especially with pick-and-rolls,” Crean said of the first half. “We were trying to force the ball into areas where they had good help instead of really taking what they were giving us, and I thought the guys really made a good adjustment there.”Sophomore forward Christian Watford led all scorers with 18 points and was one rebound shy of back-to-back double-doubles. Sophomore guard Jordan Hulls led the team with five assists, one of them a behind-the-back pass to freshman guard Victor Oladipo. The victory also marked the end of a stretch of three games in five days for the team. Oladipo, a key contributor off the bench, said the team’s depth aided IU’s first 3-0 start under Crean in the endurance-testing start to the season. “I think we have probably one of the best benches in the country,” he said. “So I think we need to just be consistent and just let everybody know we do have depth.”The IU bench distanced itself from MVSU, outscoring the opposing alternates 32-9. Freshman guard-forward Will Sheehey, who shot 4-of-7 from the field with a career-best nine points, said wins come easier when the team has a prepared group of backups. “We’re pretty energetic. I don’t know if you watch us, but we’re ready to get in there at all times,” Sheehey said. “When we do, we try to just make the most of it. If it’s one minute, two minutes, 10 minutes, everyone’s just looking forward to get on the floor.”
(11/16/10 3:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Verdell Jones is expected to lead by example this season.With the current year just two games old, the junior guard is doing his job — in good, and sometimes, bad ways.The good comes with his 17 points per game, which ranks him second on the team, and a team-high four steals. The bad comes with a team-high 11 turnovers, contrasted by only four assists. “That’s been a huge problem for me and the team the last few years,” Jones said of the turnovers. “If we want to win games against big time teams, we’ll have to cut those down.”Fortunately for the Hoosiers, a high volume of turnovers hasn’t stopped them from winning so far. In each game, IU has turned the ball over more than it has forced its opponent to do so, leading to an average of 22.5 turnovers per game and a minus-5.50 turnover margin. But IU coach Tom Crean said the numbers will have to change if the victorious ways are going to continue when IU (2-0) plays Mississippi Valley State (0-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Assembly Hall. “Our turnovers have got to get better,” he said after Friday’s 88-60 victory against Florida Gulf Coast. “The good or bad news, whatever way you look at it, we’re still committing too many unforced turnovers. Some of that was because we haven’t had our lineups together as much because of injury, and some of that is we’ve just got to bear down, concentrate better and be a little bit more assertive, especially with our driving, and do a little bit better job with our feet.” On a positive side, the Hoosiers are doing more with the takeaways than the competition. IU has outscored its opponents on points off turnovers 45-22 this season, adding a combined 22 fast break points.With their next game, the Hoosiers are expecting a similar battle. The Delta Devils nearly pulled an upset to open the season Friday, falling 72-70 to host Georgia. Guard D’Angelo Jackson led the way with 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting. But the Delta Devils also committed 18 turnovers while forcing Georgia into 15. Crean said IU’s problems, at least in Sunday’s 67-44 victory against Wright State, stem from floor recognition. He said Wright State took away the area just off the foul line, forcing his players into making bad decisions with the ball.“If you take away the elbow and you have Jordan Hulls in the corner, well, pick your poison,” Crean said. “So, if they take it away, let’s throw it to Jordan. There were times we were really trying to get to the basket and we missed open guys. That’s stuff that we can teach them off of film and be better with.”
(11/15/10 5:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Before the season, IU coach Tom Crean emphasized how important a strong defense would be to his team’s success. Two games into the 2010 campaign, he’s getting the results he hoped for.The Hoosiers held Wright State to 32 percent shooting in a 67-44 victory Sunday at Assembly Hall, forcing 12 turnovers and crashing the boards for a 40-to-20 rebounding advantage.The plus-20 rebounding advantage was the highest in Crean’s tenure as coach at IU, and the 44 points allowed is the second-lowest total.“There were so many times in the game where we could have backed away a little bit because the offense wasn’t in flow,” Crean said. “We weren’t getting easy things. We had turnovers, but we never got our head down, especially on the defensive end.”IU scored 16 points off the turnovers, with 18 points coming on the fast break. Junior guard Verdell Jones led the ball-hawking defense with three steals. Thirty-five of the Hoosiers’ rebounds came on the defensive end, a big boost for a team that finished last in the Big Ten in defensive rebounding last season. “We’ve got to have a team rebounding mindset,” Crean said. “I thought our guys did a really good job of getting inside the lane, getting inside their man, especially when the shot went up because they did a lot of different things to create opportunities for them to score, and our guys responded to that.”Sophomore forward Christian Watford recorded his first double-double of the season, adding a team-high 10 rebounds to his 17 points.Watford thought he had only nine rebounds when Jones was at the foul line with 3:49 remaining and a 62-37 lead, so he put in a request to the junior.“On the free throw, Christian told me to miss it so he could get a double-double, and I missed it and he still didn’t get the rebound,” Jones said with a smile. “I was a little bit upset about that one.”The defensive effort was merely an encore of IU’s performance to open the season Friday against Florida Gulf Coast. In the 88-60 victory, the Hoosiers held the Eagles to a 34 percent shooting effort, adding 40 rebounds. IU also replicated its blocked shots total Sunday, swatting five balls in both weekend contests.Defensive stops were at an extra premium with the IU offense not helping the cause.The Hoosiers had 24 and 21 turnovers in the weekend games, respectively, while committing a combined 51 fouls. In each game, one IU player fouled out.The players and Crean unanimously said the turnover numbers need to be drastically reduced, but the coach added the defensive mentality is getting closer to his ideal. Now, it’s all about putting it together on a regular basis.“I think anytime you have a team that is young in certain areas, hasn’t had success and hasn’t had it handed down to them how to play. ... the consistency is what we’re looking for every day,” Crean said. “And I hope I can say at the end of the year that we were really, really consistent."