Oladipo's 13 Not Enough as IU Falls to Michigan, 73-69

Posted by CoHoops Josh Dhani


The Indiana Hoosiers are on a losing-streak that just can't end right now. They started out the season nicely. What was it? 6-0? Something along those lines. Since then, they haven't been doing good as much, now at a 12-14 record as they fell to the Michigan Wolverines last night, 73-69.

"This is one of the hardest playing teams that I've ever coached, but this is not a team that has any opportunity to back away from having a combative mindset when they practice - a combative temperament," said IU head coach Tom Crean. "It's more than competitive, and when we've done that and taken it into games, we've done very well. What you saw in the comeback was a combative team. We got calls and we were aggressive."

Christian Watford, who was returning from injury, played well with 14 points. But it was Victor Oladipo who led the team, producing 13 points and six rebounds. However, it just wasn't enough. Verdell Jones III had twelve points and Jordan Hulls had ten while Tom Pritchard had four points and seven rebounds.

With IU down, Watford hit a late show to cut the lead to 70-67. But with eight seconds left, Darius Morris sealed the victory after hitting two free throws. Michigan really couldn't hit a free throw this game, but they got them in when it counted.

IU will face Northwestern next on Saturday.

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Hoosiers Get First Big Ten Win, Beat Tough Michigan 80-61

Posted by CoHoops Josh Dhani

Verdell Jones III helped lead the Indiana Hoosiers to their first Big Ten win of the season with a 80-61 victory over the Michigan Wolverines in a tough battle as Indiana improves to 10-8 for the year now.

Jones fueled IU with his 24 points. Indiana played solid defense and amazing offense in the game, as they held Michigan to under 35-percent shooting. Indiana shot over 67-percent from the field. Jones was nine-of-ten overall.

Indiana played probably one of their best defenses of the decade. They held the Wolverines to under 24-percent shooting in the first half while limiting them to 15 points. That is the least amount of points IU held a team to in a half since they did to the Purdue Boilermakers in 2002. IU also rebounded well, having the first eight boards of the game. They were attacking the glass from all aspects of the court.

"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 and get it up the court," said IU Coach Tom Crean. "They did an excellent job with that."

The Hoosiers basically did the same thing in the second half. Christian Watford got the crowd going louder with his three-pointer to put IU, 39-19. IU was creating excitement in Assembly Hall! However, with 8:33 to go, Michigan went on a late run of 12-2 to come within an eleven-point deficit, 46-35. But that is the closest they got, because every time they came within eleven points, Jordan Hulls would hit a triple.

"We were very, very solid in the half court," said Crean. "There were a couple of stretches where they got on some runs, but a lot of the things that we wanted to accomplish, things that we were keeping track of, our guys really bought into and they followed the gameplan."

This was simply a solid game by IU as they won their first big competitive game of the season. IU out-rebounded the Wolverines, 37-19, while also outscoring them on the bench, 16-6.

Christian Watford finished with 17 points and ten rebounds while Hulls had 13. Jeremiah Rivers had eight points.

Let's hope they carry this same effort following into the Wisconsin Badgers' game on Thursday.

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Verdell Jones Leads Hoosiers Past Savannah State, 79-57

Posted by CoHoops Josh Dhani

The Indiana Hoosiers were brought with their first loss of the season to the Boston College Eagles a few days earlier, dropping to 6-1. But no worries for Indiana, as they headed back home to face the Savannah State Tigers, improving to 7-1 with a 79-57 victory.

Verdell Jones led the Hoosiers with 18 points. Christian Watford had 14 and Maurice Creek produced eleven points.

The Hoosiers have won all of their seven home games this season and have extended the streak to eight total after beating the Northwestern Wildcats last season in the finale.

Joshua Montgomery led the Tigers with 15 points, but it wasn’t enough as Savannah State falls to 1-9. They got the Georgia Bulldogs coming up next.

It was a lopsided game, and it was a solid win for the Hoosiers. Jones also had eight rebounds in the game and shot well, having a percentage of 55.3-percent overall.

The Hoosiers scored the first points of the game, but would quickly go on a 10-o run. After that, Indiana was leading 22-12, which would lead to the big win.

Jordan Hulls and Victor Oladipo provided eleven points and nine points respectively. Preston Blackmon added 14 points for the Tigers.

This is a big win for the Hoosiers, as they shake off the loss to Boston College. But now they got a tough game ahead, as they go on to Kentucky to face the Wildcats. Let’s hope for the best. Win or lose, I see a good, close game. The game will take place on Saturday, December 11.

Good win Hoosiers.

Let’s get ready for UK!



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Indiana Off To Their Best Start With Tom Crean at The Helm

Posted by CoHoops DeAnte Mitchell

Many thought the Indiana Hoosiers would get better with the recruits committed to play in future seasons. However, nobody thought the Hoosiers would get off to such a hot start.

The Hoosiers sit at (6-0), with a very good chance at winning seven straight games.

What makes this run so significant is the fact that coach Tom Crean's early flawless record already matches the win total of his first season (6-25).

It is also the first time the Hoosiers won their first six games since the 2002-03 season, in which, Indiana finished with a (21-13) record overall, and a second-round appearance in the tournament.

Granted, Indiana has had an easy schedule thus far, but they have taken care of business against every opponent.

The Hoosiers are holding their opponents to 55.6 points per game, while scoring an average of 77.5 every outing.

That is an average defeat of 21.9 points per game, which helps coach Crean feel good about his young, but talented team.

Indiana gets after it on the defensive end, averaging nine steals per outing, forcing 18.6 turnovers per game and holding its opponents to 36 percent from the field.

On offense, Crean's Hoosiers turn the ball over a lot, but commend the mistake dishing out 16.3 assist per game. That helps Indiana shoot nearly 50 percent from the field (.497).

Christian Watford has become the superstar of this young Indiana team. Watford paces the Hoosier in both scoring and rebounding with 17.5 points, and seven rebounds per game.

He is a key asset on both ends of the floor. Watford pulls down 5.1 defensive rebounds per game, not to mention, only picks up an average of one foul per outing, which displays his ability to play defense without fouling.

Additionally, Indiana seems very balanced with their offensive attack. The Hoosiers have used a lot of their bench thus far in the season, and that has worked well for them. There is seven steady contributors on offense that allows Crean to exercise his depth.

However, the Hoosiers are far from being an elite team. Despite shooting 49 percent from the field, Indiana has had a hard time converting at the line. The Hoosiers have connected on 103-of-151 (68%) from the line.

Indiana also has to take care of the ball. They are currently turning the ball over 18-times per game, which means the Hoosiers have a negative assist-turnover ratio.

If Indiana truly wants to join the elite category, the Hoosiers will need to clean up their act at the line and take care of the ball on offense.

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Christian Watford's 24 Points Helps IU Get Past Florida Gulf Coast, 88-60, In Season-Opener

Posted by CoHoops Josh Dhani

It took a while before the Indiana Hoosiers could get double-digits in three-pointers. They have been pretty well-known to knock them down. The last two seasons, they have struggled, along with three-point shot attempts.

This season is different. And we can already see signs of that.

The Indiana Hoosiers started off with 14 three-pointers. They had ten already, with 18 minutes left to play.

Christian Watford helped fuel the game, getting 24 points in the team's 88-60 victory over the Florida Gulf Coast in Assembly Hall. Speaking of three-pointer, Jordan Hulls led the team today in them, knocking down six of them from behind-the-arc. Hulls would finish with 18 for the game.

The only lead Flordia Gulf Coast could hold on to was a 4-2 lead at the start of the game. After that, thing went downhill as one of the best basketball programs took over.

"Key point in the game for us is we had a lull in the first half a little bit after we got up, we let them stay around, said IU Coach Tom Crean told IUHoosiers.com. "We got that figured out. We played with more energy. We didn't allow this to just become a 20-minute trade baskets, lets just go up and down the floor type game."

Maurice Creek helped out in the showing with 13 points.

The Eagles kept coming back to the Hoosiers, however, in the game. At one point, they cut the lead to 46-37. But Watford and a pair of three-pointers jabbed back, as the Hoosiers bounced up to a 54-37 lead. However, the Eagles flew back, cutting the lead to 56-44. That is when IU went on a 9-0 run, capped off by new addition, Will Sheehey.

"As I said to the team after the game, when you play a game you want to first of all judge the game on did you win the game or not," added Crean. "Second of all, you look at the fact, did you impact the game and the plus-minus chart is usually the number one way to figure out if you've impacted the game. We had a lot of guys that were really high tonight, led by Jeremiah Rivers with a plus 21 inside of the game. So those are the kinds of the things that we want. We didn't play anybody over 25 minutes."

This is the 26th straight time the Hoosiers have won their home-opener and 13th straight overall in season-openers.

The Hoosiers will face Wright State next. Coach Crean has a feeling of what is to come.

"I think Wright State is a Big Ten style of physical basketball team," said Crean. "They attack in the pick and roll, but they're a very physical, contact oriented team and we've got to play through that. That scares me with this team right now."

Good game by the Hoosiers. I look forward to a solid season from them!

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