Indiana scored over the century mark for the second time this season as the Hoosiers defeated South Carolina State 102-60 to improve to 9-2.
Despite a strong first half effort by the Bulldogs, Indiana outscored SCSU 59-26 in the second half en route to a 42 point victory. Christian Watford led the Hoosiers with 22 points and did it from both inside the paint and beyond the arc.
Matt Roth had his first strong showing of the year scoring a season-high 14 points, knocking down 4 of 5 three-point shots. He aggravated his knee in just the first game of the year so it was certainly nice to see Roth return to form.
11 Hoosier players scored and 14 tallied minutes as Indiana improved to 2-0 in the IBN Las Vegas Classic.
Sunday night following the win, IU took off from Indianapolis on their chartered plane destined for Vegas. Tom Crean’s squad will take on Northern Iowa Wednesday, who is down from last years’ sweet 16 team.
The unselfishness was evident in the Hoosiers victory as IU had 24 assists on 35 field goals. It was also the most points scored in the Tom Crean era.
“It’s a very, very good win and very satisfying in the sense that so many people contributed in so many positive ways and the game was won on defense,” Crean said. “We were able to get our bench points, our points in the paint – all those types of things – because our defensive intensity and energy set the tempo for the game.”
Jeremiah Rivers has helped Indiana tremendously this year because he is playing smart and hasn’t tried do too much. Now that Rivers is accepting his role, and not forcing shots, he is a big asset for the Hoosiers. Sunday before exiting the game with a left ankle injury in front of the IU bench, he tallied eight points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. A solid contribution though he had to be helped off the court and into the locker room by teammates. It is just a sprained ankle but it will take him some time to heal.
Indiana largest lead of the game was 43 and they scored 25 points off of 18 South Carolina State turnovers. Meanwhile IU only turned the ball over eight times including just three in the first half. And Indiana’s bench outscored the Bulldogs 46 to 19 which clearly stood out.
After only leading by eight at halftime, the Hoosiers went on a 20-5 run to end the first half, and then scored the first seven points of the first half. They also shot shot 68% from the field in the second stanza, 56% for the game.
The Hoosiers will have two days off before battling Northern Iowa Wednesday at 7:30 in Las Vegas. I will be in Vegas with the team and will provide daily reports and photos. You can also follow my in-game tweets.