Observations from Hoosiers’ 105-59 win over Samford
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Assistant Editor
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana Hoosiers took it right to Samford with an early flurry Friday night and another nonconference game quickly got out of hand.
After moving ahead 26-6 with 12:17 left in the first half, the Hoosiers cruised to a lead of 51 at one point before closing out a 105-59 win. Here are some observations from the blowout:
Hanner Mosquera-Perea looks like a basketball player. Indiana’s springy sophomore came out aggressive, scoring a career-high eight points to go with five rebounds and a pretty blocked shot in 14 minutes. While he still makes mistakes of over-aggression on defense and fumbling the ball around on offense, Mosquera-Perea displayed confidence hammering home three dunks.
The Hoosiers need to keep developing him. Coach Tom Crean thinks very highly of Mosquera-Perea’s abilities and envisions him as a rim protector for this team. While Mosquera-Perea is on the floor mostly for defensive purposes, he needs to make opponents honor his presence on the offensive end. Against Samford, he was able to make that happen.
“When he demands the ball with his actions, everybody gets excited about that,” Crean said. “We want Hanner to be a demanding presence.”
Offense is coming along. Shooting 57 percent is a good sign against anybody, but especially for Indiana coming off a 38 percent showing versus LIU-Brooklyn. The Hoosiers got tons of easy buckets against Samford and did a lot of damage at the foul line. Yogi Ferrell produced a 26-point, six-assist performance. Noah Vonleh had 13 points and 10 rebounds in 18 minutes. While the Hoosiers are still adjusting to their new lineups, Indiana got production from about any combination. What was also good to see is they spread out the touches. Nine players scored at least six points. The ball movement prevented the offense from getting stagnant.
The team learned a lesson. Crean spoke after the narrow victory over LIU-Brooklyn about how his young players learned the hard way that every game has to be taken seriously. On Friday the Hoosiers were clearly locked in from the start on both ends of the floor and never lost focus, even against an opponent that was 11-21 last season and hasn’t had a winning record since 2006.
“We certainly didn’t want to have any drop in our intensity,” said Crean of how his team reacted to leading big early in the game.
They strung together defensive stops with smart offense all night. Right now, the Hoosiers seem to be sacrificing their individual goals for the greater good of team success. That’s the secret, along with consistent effort. Indiana is right back at it on Sunday when Stony Brook visits Assembly Hall.
Follow Chris Goff on Twitter: chrisgoff_ISL.
