Sports

Hoosiers leapfrog TCU

Everyday, it seems, the Hoosiers face a new challenge. At halftime Wednesday, Tom Crean added one more to the staggering heap: come out with the best start to a second half as they’ve had all season. He described the team’s play following halftime as a “glaring” weakness, and with the Hoosiers coming off of a particularly sloppy first half, it wasn’t clear if they would be up to the challenge.

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RUNNING THE FLOOR: Brief return to normal

It had been months, but it really seemed more like years. This hall – as it’s purported – wasn’t close to capacity, but when those flags hit the parque surface, the floor rumbled like it hadn’t since that dead winter of nine months ago.

Men's basketball pulls it out in 2nd half

Maybe it was freshman Malik Story’s buzzer-beating 3 to end the first half. Maybe it was learning from their last two games against highly ranked opponents.  Whatever the reason, the Hoosiers uncharacteristically came out in the second half on fire, turning a four-point halftime lead into a second half laughter against TCU. “The first four minutes of the second half were really crucial in burying a team,” said freshman forward Tom Pritchard. “That’s what we had to do, and we did it.” In their four losses this season, the Hoosiers have been the ones buried and playing flat in the second half – they were outscored 167-109 in those games. But Wednesday night was a different story.

IU vs. TCU Live Chat

Join basketball reporters Matt Dollinger and Tom Kirby along with columnist Zachary Osterman as they live blog the Hoosiers showdown with the TCU Horned Frogs. Basketblog

Men's basketball team welcomes Frogs tonight

Fresh off games against two nationally ranked opponents and on the cusp of a nationally televised game against rival Kentucky, the Hoosiers’ seemingly easier contest tonight against TCU could be considered a dangerous game for the typical IU basketball team. But as IU men’s basketball coach Tom Crean has reiterated throughout the season, this year’s team is anything but typical.BLOG: Basketblog

Hoosiers’ win-streak grows to 5

For most of the first half, the Butler Bulldogs were a pest the Hoosiers couldn’t get rid of. The eventually overmatched Bulldogs (3-5) stayed within single digits until 3:35 left in the first half when senior Amber Jackson’s layup put the Hoosiers (6-2) up by 10. The Hoosiers then went on a 14-1 run to end the half. They led at halftime 39-20, and went on to win their fifth in a row defeating Butler 63-41. “This was a team effort, team win and it’s really exciting to see our team play together,” IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “We put in subs today, and you really couldn’t tell the starters from the subs because everyone really contributed.”

How he should be remembered

Thanks, Rick Greenspan. I know many Hoosier fans count down the days until the current director of athletics is relieved of his duties by Indianapolis attorney Fred Glass in January due to the turbulent events of the Greenspan era. I, too, am looking forward to Greenspan’s departure, but he should be thanked for the improvements he made to IU athletics.

Horned Frogs will have upset on their minds

Hoosier fans’ emotions have run the gamut with this young team, haven’t they? So far, we’ve seen blowouts both ways, good performances, bad performances, close wins that should have been larger and lots and lots of turnovers. Tonight, there’s a definite chance we’ll be adding “home loss” to that list.

Turn(over) for the worse: IU struggles to limit mistakes

Many of the turnovers IU has committed this season have been self-inflicted. As one Basketblog reader quipped last week, the Hoosiers just can’t seem to stop shooting themselves in the thigh. Of the 330 Division I men’s basketball teams, the Hoosiers rank No. 327 in turnovers per game at 20.3. In turnover margin, the Hoosiers are No. 276. Through eight games, the Hoosiers have turned the ball over more than their opponents in all but one of the contests. On Nov. 26 against Chaminade, a D-II school, IU committed a season-low 11 turnovers. But when they haven’t been playing the Silverswords, the 4-4 Hoosiers have struggled immensely to take care of the ball. IU coach Tom Crean’s young squad has committed 20 turnovers or more in six games this season. Last year, the Hoosiers turned the ball over 20 times or more only twice. Last year’s Crean-led Golden Eagles at Marquette accomplished the “feat” only once.

Campillo-led crew rakes in mid-season honors before start of spring campaign

In junior Alex Martin’s first year at IU, the men’s golf team held a ranking outside the top 50 and didn’t qualify for the Regional Tournament. A lot has changed. Last year, the team went to the NCAA Championship for the first time since 1996 and recorded the second-best finish in program history. After a successful fall season in which the team placed in the top five in each of its five tournaments, the Hoosiers are now ranked as high as seventh by Golfstat, a Web site devoted to collegiate golf.

BRYAN'S SONG: Athletes and guns don’t mix

With this being my final national sports column of the semester and probably the last one I’ll write this school year, I thought about talking about some of the best sports moments of the semester or something along those lines. But with some of the events that have taken place during the past week or so, I can’t help but talk about what’s really on my mind – guns. I know this subject has been beaten into the ground the past week, but I can’t help but ask, “How the hell do you shoot yourself in the leg?” I ask that question in the most pleasant way possible.

Orr’s crew unable to best Miami (Ohio)

Things looked promising for the IU club hockey team going into last weekend. The team had momentum on its side after coming back from a disappointing loss against Grand Valley State to beat them the next day. But the momentum seems to have stopped. The Hoosiers lost a close game Friday at Frank Southern Ice Arena in Bloomington. Both teams had speed, which allowed for a lot of offense as Miami held off IU 5-4. Both teams received quite a few penalties in the first half of the game, causing much of the second period to be played 4-on-4.

Hoosiers come home, host ’Dogs

When IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack walked onto the floor at Assembly Hall to observe men’s basketball practice last week, she could not even get to her seat before a whistle blew. IU coach Tom Crean stopped practice, blew his whistle and said, “Give it up for the champions,” referring to the women’s title in the Hilton Concord Classic during Thanksgiving week. Legette-Jack later described the moment in a statement as “bringing tears to her eyes.” Today, the champions have another test in front of them. After four straight wins on the road, including the latest against Miami in the Big Ten- ACC Women’s Basketball Challenge, the IU women’s basketball team returns to Assembly Hall at 7 p.m. today to defend its home court against in-state foe Butler. The matchup between the Hoosiers (5-2) and the Bulldogs (3-4) will feature two teams that appear very similar, starting with both programs having a clear inside presence. IU senior forwards Amber Jackson and Whitney Thomas have been nearly unstoppable so far this season. Jackson is averaging a little more than 22 points in the Hoosiers’ last three games and earned tournament MVP and co-Big Ten Player of the Week honors after leading the team to victory in the Classic.

Wittman dismissed from NBA's Timberwolves

MINNEAPOLIS — Former IU basketball standout Randy Wittman was fired as coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, two days after an embarrassing 23-point loss at home to the last-place Los Angeles Clippers. Kevin McHale, vice president of basketball operations, took over as coach.

Hoosiers downed in NCAA Tourney

Mike Freitag had little to say. After Saturday’s 3-2 elimination loss to St. John’s in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, the Hoosiers headed home, one match short of the College Cup.

Hoosiers hang tough in 70-54 loss against No. 5 Gonzaga

INDIANAPOLIS – Stopping short of calling it a moral victory, IU coach Tom Crean said his team played “as close to a full 40-minute effort” as they have all season.SLIDESHOW: IU men's basketball vs Gonzaga

Men's basketball defeated by Zags in Indy

INDIANAPOLIS – After being trounced by No. 17 Wake Forest on Wednesday, IU faced another nationally ranked foe Saturday – Gonzaga.