Men's basketball defeated by Zags in Indy

INDIANAPOLIS – After being trounced by No. 17 Wake Forest on Wednesday, IU faced another nationally ranked foe Saturday – Gonzaga.

The Hoosiers kept the game close throughout, but eventually succumbed to the Bulldogs, losing 70-54.

The game marked the first-ever basketball game played at Lucas Oil Stadium. And like his football-coaching brothers-in-law, IU coach Tom Crean paced the sidelines with vigor, urging players, fans and at one point, even the cheerleaders to get into the game.  
“Everybody’s alive!” Crean told his players before tip off. “Everybody’s into the game!”

Initiating a barrage of 3-pointers and playing pesky defense, IU (4-4) kept the game within striking distance throughout before Gonzaga eventually pulled away at the end of the second half.

Leading the Hoosiers was freshman Malik Story, who had a career-high 14 points off the bench, as well as Devan Dumes, who led all Hoosiers with 15 points.

“We know that we can compete,” Story said. “And we can probably win games like this.”

The effort IU exhibited resulted in sloppy play early from Gonzaga (6-0). The Bulldogs shot less than 20 percent from behind the arc and scored a season-low 70 points. Straightening things out in the second half, Gonzaga came out on fire to build a 13-point lead, but IU fought back to make the game close throughout the remainder of the half.

Keeping the Hoosiers alive was

effective 3-point shooting – IU hit 50 percent of its threes in the second half and actually finished with a higher 3-point shooting percentage than total field goal percentage.

IU freshman Matt Roth said IU’s ability to hit jumpers was related to the type of defense Gonzaga played against them.

“I think we just took what they were giving us,” Roth said. “They played real well defensively and we just had to take what was open, and that happened to be jump shots.”

But seemingly every time the Hoosiers produced a big play, Gonzaga came right back with an answer. Gonzaga senior Jeremy Pargo essentially slammed the door shut with an emphatic windmill dunk in the game’s waning minutes.

Leading the Zags was center Josh Heytvelt, who scored 17 points and added six rebounds, two steals and a block.

“We needed to experience and learn how to kind of win an ugly grinder game and we did that,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “And I thought we came in wanting to match Indiana’s intensity and desire and how hard they were playing.”

Although the location of the game was considered a neutral site, the crowd was anything but. The majority of fans donned cream and crimson clothing, which the team said gave the feel of a home game, but in a much larger venue.

“Lucas Oil is obviously a lot bigger. The noise doesn’t quite all go down on the court like Assembly. which makes Assembly a special place,” Roth said. “But it was still a great environment here.”

Although IU took two losses in the week, Roth said the overall experience of having to play two nationally-ranked teams in four days will be beneficial for the team’s future.

“I think it was a good experience for us,” Roth said. “In a year where we’re learning so much about ourselves, to go on the road and see what that’s like and to have this experience in a week, it’s been great.”