Hoosiers ride Creek, defense to 81-58 win

Through one half, IU played down to the level of its opponent - a first-year Division I school with a 2-8 record.

But then the Hoosiers (5-5) snapped out of their finals week funk, quickly turning a three-point halftime lead against North Carolina Central into a double-digit margin and finished with an 81-58 victory.

The 36-33 halftime score, though, was disconcerting for IU coach Tom Crean.

"In the first half, I think it was pretty clear that we were still somewhere in the middle of one of our classes and exams," Crean said. "Our mindset was not where it needed to be in the sense of defense and rebounding. It's a great lesson for our team to learn."

The Hoosiers' opponent Saturday night had yet to defeat a Division I school, with wins against Carver Bible College and North Carolina Wesleyan. According to Jeff Sagarin, a prominent sports statistician, the Eagles rank 342nd out of 347 Division I teams.
It didn't look that way for the first 20 minutes.

While IU jumped out to an early 13-5 lead by the first media timeout, the Eagles cut the lead to 18-16 and led 33-32 with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

IU freshman forward Derek Elston, who started for the first time this season, said Crean's halftime speech was simple.

"Coach Crean was just being him in the locker room, just telling us that we needed to pick it up," Elston said.

They did just that.

Freshman guard Creek hit a 3-pointer on IU's first second-half possession, and the Hoosiers raced to a 63-47 lead midway through the second session. Creek scored 20 of his team-high 29 points in the second half.

North Carolina Central coach LeVelle Moton wished Creek didn't even show up to play.

"Oh my goodness, I wish he had an exam or something," Moton said. "The kid can flat out shoot the basketball and he's dangerous."

Creek finished 12-for-17 from the field and 5-for-10 from the 3-point line. He might have matched his 31-point effort last week against Kentucky had Crean not taken him out of the game with five minutes remaining.

However, Creek said it was a team effort that gave him the opportunities to score.

"That's what the game of basketball is all about," Creek said about the team's play. "We pushed the ball up the floor, we got open shots, we hit shots, we rebounded the ball a lot better."

The defensive effort also improved after the first half. IU limited the Eagles to 25 points on 9-for-32 shooting and 2-for-9 from the 3-point line in the second half. IU outrebounded North Carolina Central 46-28 in the game.

IU freshman forward Christian Watford was the only other Hoosier in double figures with 11 points, while freshman guard Jordan Hulls contributed 8 assists and 7 rebounds.

C.J. Wilkerson led the Eagles with 22 points.

IU plays Tuesday against Loyola (MD), a 5-5 team coming off an 85-51 win against Howard on Saturday.