Before hitting the road for two straight games, Indiana got a quality win at home over Iowa 103-89.
Tom Crean had used the same starting lineup for all 21 games but against Iowa, he finally decided to mix it up. Sophomore Will Sheehey started in the place of Victor Oladipo, with the primary objective, according to Crean, to slow Zach McCabe who had been averaging over 18 points in Iowa’s last three games. And he did, limiting McCabe to only three points.
Indiana finished the first half strong, going on a 12-t0-1 run to end the half. Iowa didn’t score a field goal in the final 4 minutes and seven seconds and the Hoosiers took a 54-37 into the break.
While scoring triple-digits is nice, defense is certainly a concern moving forward, for both teams. As for IU, allowing 89 points from IU isn’t good, especially considering that the Hawkeyes shot a remarkable 79-percent clip in the second half. Sure, it was the pace of the game but defense should be the emphasis and I expect them to get it corrected moving forward.
There was an importance of playing well and gaining confidence in a home matchup with Iowa. IU is on the road for both games next week, at two very challenging environments. Michigan has proven there are one of the top-tier teams in the Big Ten and rival-Purdue is always a challenge.
In this one, there were many statistics that stood out for the Hoosiers:
+ Scored 58 of their 103 points (56-percent) in the paint.
+ Six different players finished in double-figures – Zeller, Watford, Jones, Oladipo, and Sheehey.
+ Had more offensive rebounds (20) than defensive (17). They dominated the boards 37 to 22.
+ 20 assists on 37 field goals.
— With 103 points, Indiana scored over the century mark in their first conference game since March 12, 1995; that game, also against Iowa. It was also the first game any Big Ten team scored at least 100 points since a Michigan State victory over IU in 2008.
— Verdell Jones scored 14 points, but also tallied nine assists. Coach Crean thought he played very well and that he set the pace for the team.
— Tom Pritchard was given by far his largest ovation of his four-year career. He was very efficient in his 13 minutes: seven points, four rebounds, a nice steal and a nice spark off the bench. Coach Crean commended Pritchard, saying he possessed a lot of intangibles, brought energy and is one of the best big-defenders in the conference.
— Will Sheehey was sporting a new hair cut, a very short buzz-cut. Postgame, players said he showed up with the cut just hours before the game. Zeller, Pritchard and Elston avoided the question, although Pritchard did note that he would never follow suit. PR ace JD Campbell spoke up and said Sheehey was tired of sweat in his eyes, and that was the reasoning behind it.
— Austin Etherington played his first minutes in six games. He had registered just one minute each against Ohio State and Michigan in Big Ten play.
— I spotted Daniel Moore wearing a splint on his left hand while on the bench. He has only played seven minutes in Big Ten action. IU hasn’t said exactly what it is, but it did keep him from seeing the court today in the final minutes when Crean unloaded the bench. It does clearly bother him, as he awkwardly clapped from the end of the bench.
— Cody Zeller scored a career-high with 26 points on 11-of-12 shooting, eight dunks and four assists. Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery has some very good things to say about Zeller postgame.
“He is a terrific freshman. He is the best freshman center I have seen…You don’t see many seven-footers have as good of a feel for the game as Cody has. He doesn’t go looking for stats. He knows that he is going to get his stats every night. He just does whatever the team needs him to do.
IU plays at Michigan Wednesday and at Purdue on Saturday.