Crean era off and running in 103-71 win

The differences between last season and this season for IU men’s basketball are endless. But perhaps this became most apparent on Friday night, when the new-look Hoosiers took the floor against an opponent for the first time.    

A brand new montage with the theme, “Passion for the past, excitement for the future,” played over the big screen before the Hoosiers took the court. An all new starting lineup, one featuring four true freshmen and a junior with lots of family in attendance, took the floor for tip off.

And a new coach who, despite wearing a familiar blue shirt and red tie, displayed his style of basketball to the Hoosier faithful for the first time in his coaching debut.

All the new firsts that took place on Friday night were predicated by a nervous team Friday afternoon during the team’s pre-game walkthrough.    

IU coach Tom Crean said the team had a quiet demeanor during the walkthrough, so the coaching staff ended it prematurely and tried a new tactic to loosen the team up before the game.

“We cut it short and got them laughing and did a little mosh-pit jumping, and got them rolling,” Crean said. “We just kind of jump around. I’ll grab a guy or two and they get behind me, and they’re trying to mess up my hair or kick me in the back. We had some fun with it.”   

Once the game finally got underway, IU’s 21-2 blitz on the Ravens – a lead that was never in jeopardy – also eased the collective nerve of the team as it went on to a 103-71 triumph in its first of two exhibition games.

Freshman Verdell Jones tallied 18 points and five rebounds and also confessed to being the guy who tried to kick Crean during their walkthrough mosh.

“I think we had a little jitters,” Jones said. “Being in our first real game for most of us, our first college game besides Devan (Dumes) we had a lot of littler jitters. It was real nervous before the game, but I think after the first minute of the game we lost all those jitters.”

With senior Kyle Taber still injured, the only player for the Hoosiers with much college game experience is junior Devan Dumes. The transfer said once the game got underway the team’s nervousness gave way to excitement.

“I feel like once we got going, everybody saw that we’re capable of doing something special,” Dumes said. “So get your jitters out and let’s go.”    

With a big early lead that was never threatened, nobody on IU played more than 30 minutes, and Crean was able to play all 12 players eligible and healthy enough to play, meaning the entire team now has at least some college basketball game experience.

Now with one game and one victory under their belts, Crean said he hopes the confidence gathered on Friday will carry over to their game on Tuesday against Bemidji State.

“For us to come out and get the start that we had tonight, we got some steals, we got some run outs,” Crean said. “We started to get our confidence, and that’s exactly what we needed.”