Hoosiers survive, improve to 8-1 in conference play
By TYLER SMITH
ISL Editor 
BLOOMINGTON — After suffering their first loss of conference play earlier this week, the Hoosiers returned home to play Minnesota on Saturday. Whether they were looking past this game or not, the Golden Gophers gave Indiana all they could handle in a game that went down to the wire. In the end, the Hoosiers survived, winning by a final score of 74-68.
At halftime, the Hoosiers were only 1-of-10 from three, and senior guard Yogi Ferrell didn’t have a field goal. You’d think that would be a horrible combination, but the Hoosiers still led 39-27 at the half. The main reason? Thomas Bryant and Max Bielfeldt were nearly unstoppable down low. They combined for 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting in those first 20 minutes of play.
In the second half, however, the Hoosiers continued to struggle from behind the arc, and it was Minnesota’s turn to score in the paint. The Golden Gophers looked like a completely different team after the break, scoring 30 points in the paint in the second half alone. They continued to chip away, before eventually taking a 67-66 lead with 3:11 to play.
From there, it was freshman Thomas Bryant’s time to shine. He had two huge buckets, including an offensive rebound put-back that helped Indiana survive the Minnesota scare. Bryant finished the game with 23 points on 11-of-13 shooting.
“When you’re the big man of the team, you’ve got to have the mindset to go in there and get it,” Bryant said after the win. “Coach is always telling me to go up stronger at the rim, and that’s what happened today.”
Yogi Ferrell had a rare off game, and he knew how important Bryant was in this one: “I felt like Thomas stayed with it,” Ferrell said. “Even when calls didn’t go his way, he kept that poise for us. And that’s what’s so special for us: different guys are going to step up on different nights. Tonight it was Thomas.”
For the game, the Hoosiers shot just 2-of-18 from behind the arc. Fortunately for them, Minnesota shot the exact same number.
“I’m not in the least bit concerned with the shooting,” Coach Tom Crean said. “I think we rushed some shots, but I’m not concerned. I actually thought we didn’t shoot enough 3’s.”
Regardless of how the game looks, every win is important in this league, and Coach Crean knows it: “It was just one of those games that you have to find a way to win. People may not listen to me, but Minnesota is a good team. I mean they are right there. I was proud of our guys for fighting hard and getting the win.”
The Hoosiers are now halfway through the conference season, and they have an impressive (8-1) record. The schedule, however, is about to get a lot tougher. Indiana will play Michigan and Penn State on the road next week before returning home to play the Iowa Hawkeyes. They will also play Purdue, Michigan State, and Maryland in the back-half of their schedule.
We’ll see what the Hoosiers are made of soon enough.
Follow Tyler on Twitter and Periscope: @TylerSmith_ISL
