Indiana is 2-0, but Hoosier Nation should not get excited about the basketball season just yet.
Of course, the state of Indiana is always excited about basketball, but this is an Indiana team that certainly showed its weaknesses last evening in a narrow 60-57 victory over in-state rival IUPUI in front of a crowd of 13,174 at Assembly Hall.
The Hoosiers were saved when IUPUI forward Alex Young missed a three and Daniel Moore scored his only two points of the game on ensuing free throws.
Head coach Tom Crean said that the dramatic fashion in which the game was won gave the Hoosiers a positive experience.
“I don’t think you can describe what winning this way does for our confidence,” he said.
“We have to learn from our experiences, and because we don’t have experience we don’t have experience to fall back on. So to find a way to come back when it was not even close to our best night in the second half and to find a way to win the game.”
Although the 1-2 Jaguars out of the Summit Conference may not seem like a formidable opponent, Crean said he was impressed with the IUPUI team that his Hoosiers faced.
“I think we beat a really good basketball team,” he said. “The film doesn’t do justice to how athletic they are, how versatile they are, and how well they move the ball. We beat a good opponent.”
IUPUI, who lost to Northeastern and beat Michigan Tech earlier this season, outscored IU 37-29 in the second half.
“You have to learn how not to lose before you learn how to win,” Crean said.
Tom Pritchard led the Hoosiers with 19 points on the game. Matt Roth added 12 points, all from behind the three-point line, off the bench. Nick Williams and Devan Dumes had 10 points each.
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