IU grinds out victory against Michigan to open Big Ten season

You could have heard a pin drop in IU’s locker room before their 71-65 win against the  Michigan Wolverines on Thursday at Assembly Hall.

Unlike most would assume, IU coach Tom Crean wasn’t speaking. Freshman guard Maurice Creek’s mother, Pam Morgan, was.

“It was a heart-touching moment,” sophomore guard Verdell Jones said. “We really wanted to come out and win it for him and for Matt Roth and for our whole team. It was really a solid moment.”

That moment propelled IU to a strong first half in which they shot better than 50 percent from the field and three-point range and were 3-for-4 from the free-throw line.

That moment helped Jones to 20 points, 5 assists and 3 steals, all team-leading figures.

That moment gave IU the strength to overcome the loss of their leading scorer in Creek and haul in their first Big Ten win – a feat that took them until February of last season and only happened once.

“We know how to finish games now a lot better than we did last year,” Jones said. “The leaders are starting to come forth and show their talent in any game.”

Freshman forward Christian Watford was faced with matching up against Michigan forward DeShawn Sims, a hybrid forward who hit 27 3-pointers and made nearly half of his shots before Thursday. Watford limited Sims to 12 points and 3 rebounds, miles away from his usual numbers.

Watford also brought the Hoosiers 19 points and was 5-for-8 from the free-throw line in his battle against Sims, who is 15 pounds heavier and slightly shorter than Watford.
Watford made the most of the height advantage in his movement in the post.

“I just tried to face over it and just shoot the ball over him a little because he’s a real strong guy,” Watford said.

In the end, it came down to the free throw line.

IU was 20-for-29 from the foul stripe, sinking twice as many free throws as the Wolverines.

Freshman guard Jordan Hulls was the key player from the line in the closing minutes.

He knocked down eight free throws, as many as he’d taken all season. At the end of the game, his two foul shots put IU ahead for good and cemented their six-point victory.
He said he was nervous. But once he got to the line, he took a breath. A deep breath. And he sank them.

“Coach has been telling me I need to get to the line,” he said. “When I got the opportunity, I was able to knock them down.

“It all kind of went away,” Hulls said of his pre-shot jitters. “Growing up here in Indiana, it’s kind of a dream. You always want to have the big shots. And I got to have them.”

By glancing at the result, the absence of Creek was not noticeable. But the players said they knew they were playing for him from the moment Morgan set foot in their locker room to speak before the game.

Crean said bringing Morgan in to talk to the team was an impromptu idea he had as he was she entering Assembly Hall. It could have gone either way – either the emotion would help the Hoosiers get out to a fast start or it would cause them to crumble and try to force their game.

Either way, Crean said, it was necessary.

“I just thought it was something we needed to do,” he said. “It worked out.”