IU wins Crean’s coaching debut

The IU men’s basketball team went on an 11-0 run to start the game and never looked back, easily defeating Division III Anderson 103-71 in Tom Crean’s coaching debut.

Pacing the Hoosiers were junior guard Devan Dumes and freshman forward Tom Pritchard. Dumes scored 22 points, while Pritchard added a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

“It’s good to have a game that they played against somebody else,” Crean said. “And now they really feel like the season’s here.”

The exhibition game marked not only Crean’s coaching debut, but also the first time the new-look Hoosiers competed against another team. IU overwhelmed the Ravens, scoring 35 points off turnovers while committing just 10 turnovers themselves.

For what is likely to be one of the few times this season, IU had a size advantage over Anderson, which resulted in the Hoosiers taking just 11 3-point attempts and outscoring the Ravens 50-28 in the paint.

Freshman guard Verdell Jones said part of IU’s game plan was to to exploit Anderson’s lack of size down low.

“They were sort of an undersized team compared to us,” Jones said. “I think Tom (Pritchard) and Tijan (Jobe) and Nick (Williams) and those guys did a great job of getting the ball down low and making plays. That was pretty much our game plan.”

As for the Hoosiers, who feature four-guard lineups often, the few 3-point shots might have come as a surprise. But Dumes said he doesn’t expect the amount of treys IU takes to skyrocket as the season goes on.

“One hundred points without threes, that’s a huge statement,” Dumes said. “I don’t know. I don’t think we’ll shot a lot more. I don’t think that’ll happen.”

Defensively, Crean said the biggest concern for the Hoosiers was Anderson’s ability to score in transition. But IU got back on defense throughout the game, throwing off the Ravens’ offense.

“I think that was one of the most important things that we had to do,” Pritchard said. “Their transition really set up their offense, and they kind of got all whacked out in their offense, and they really didn’t know what to do when we were beating them down the floor, so it was really good for us.”

Anderson shot just 36.8 percent from the field and only made seven of 32 3-point attempts.

Although Assembly Hall wasn’t sold out, both Dumes and Crean said they were happy with the crowd that showed up. Both before and after the game, Crean went over to the south bleachers to talk with and try to pump up students.

Toward the end of the game, with the victory in hand, the crowd chanted Crean’s name, something the new coach said he will always appreciate.

“Our students and our band and our fans are never going to have to wonder how much I appreciate them or how much we appreciate them,” Crean said.

Up next for IU is Bemidji State on Tuesday night at Assembly Hall. Dumes said the Hoosiers have little time to celebrate the team’s victory.

“It doesn’t stop,” Dumes said. “There are no off days around here.”