Hoosiers too much for Liberty
By CALEB LYNN
ISL Correspondent 
BLOOMINGTON — Before the Hoosiers battled Liberty on Saturday night, Head Coach Tom Crean emphasized that he wanted this game to be about crashing the glass. It surely proved that way against the Flames as Indiana willed their way to 55 rebounds compared to just 20 from their opponent. This was the key contributor to the dominant victory, as the Hoosiers crushed Liberty by a score of 87-48 at Assembly Hall.
OG Anunoby was a big time factor on the glass. He collected 10 points and 10 rebounds, which gave him his first career double-double. “It feels good,” Anunoby said after the game. “We’re not where we want to be, but we know we’ll get there.”
Sophomore Juwan Morgan also contributed with eight rebounds to go with seven points. His versatility was on display as he was a primary ball handler. In his first start of the season, he showed how he can impact the game.
The game’s leading scorer James Blackmon (20 points- including 5-of-10 from behind the arc) also joined the party on the glass with nine rebounds. He continues his strong offensive start to this season with three straight 20-plus point games.
Coach Crean expressed that he was disappointed with the team’s 26 turnovers. It was the only negative in a game full of positives. The struggle was mostly in the first half (17), but IU was able to overcome the turnover differential (17-6), and went into the halftime break leading by a score of 45-19. Crean admitted, “We were playing too fast at times.”
Indiana’s size and strength showed up in Liberty’s team statistics. They were not only out-rebounded, they were held to 30 percent shooting. The Flames leading scorer was Ray Chen with just eight points.
Both teams will move on in the Indiana Classic. Liberty will play UMass Lowell on Monday and the Hoosiers will tangle with the Fort Wayne Mastodons in Fort Wayne on Tuesday.
Listen below as Caleb joined “The Peegs Podcast” to talk about the game. His segment begins at 21:36-
http://Listen to “The Peegs Podcast” on Spreaker.
