Hoosiers keep rolling at home
By TIM MEYER
ISL Contributor
(Courtesy of IU Athletics/Mike Dickbernd)
BLOOMINGTON — Although it may not have been pretty, the result was exactly what the Indiana Hoosiers were looking for on Sunday. Playing their fourth game in eight days, Indiana (7-1) was able to cruise to an easy 83-55 win over Southeast Missouri State at Assembly Hall.
Playing their second straight game without their top forward O.G. Anunoby, Indiana jumped out to a big early lead with a very patient and methodical approach on offense. Robert Johnson (17pts, 7 rebs) was instrumental in building that lead, sinking his second of three 3-pointers to give IU a 20-4 lead early in the first half.
It was at that point when fatigue might have finally came into play for the Hoosiers. SE Missouri State used a 17-6 run to bring the Redhawks within 26-21 with just under six minutes to play in the first half.
“We had a great start to the game. I mean fantastic start,” Coach Tom Crean said. “Then we needed to get our second wind back. And we didn’t have that.”
After a couple of nice fast-break conversions from James Blackmon, Jr. (11 pts) and Johnson, the lead was back up to 39-26 at halftime and the Hoosiers would never look back.
They used a full team effort at the beginning of the second half to blow the game wide open. Fueled by the extra minutes from newcomers such as Curtis Jones, De’Ron Davis, Devonte Green, and Zach McRoberts, Indiana steadily built the lead and was ahead 64-35 with 9:19 left in the game.
During that time, the Redhawks (4-4) went through a stretch of over eight minutes without a field goal. While they were led by Freshman guard Denzel Mahoney (16 pts) and Senior guard Antonius Cleveland (13 pts), they couldn’t do enough to keep the game close in the second half.
Up next for the Hoosiers is six days of rest, followed by a match-up with Houston Baptist on Saturday, their final warmup for the big Crossroads Classic versus Butler (12/17).
All eyes will be on O.G. Anunoby, as the Hoosiers hope to have him ready for that in-state rivalry game.
