Bigs lead IU to win against Minnesota

When a group of IU fans noticed former Pacers center Rik Smits at Sunday’s matchup between IU and Minnesota, they yelled “We need you, Rik!” 

But the Hoosiers didn’t need help from Smits. Or from anyone else.

IU’s big men controlled the Gophers in its 81-78 overtime win.

The victory – its second conference win – was fueled by a team that didn’t let losing a double-digit lead hinder its chances of winning in overtime. And while Minnesota came into the game with a 12-5 record, it was the Hoosiers who kept their poise.

“There were so many times in this game we could have folded up the tent and we didn’t,” IU coach Tom Crean said.

It was only in overtime that IU found itself in a hole, trailing by five. But key rebounds from freshman forwards Christian Watford and Derek Elston gave IU a chance to get back.

“Coach really said before the game we were going to win this on the free-throw line and rebounding,” Elston said.

While the teams were almost even in free-throw percentage (62.1 percent for Minnesota compared to 62.5 percent for IU), IU outrebounded the Gophers 43-31.

“The No. 1 key for us today was the rebounding,” Crean said. “That became a bigger battle cry after Northwestern out-rebounded Purdue.”

In that game, Northwestern had 42 rebounds to No. 6 Purdue’s 23. To ensure more rebounds, Crean had double sessions with the big men on Friday, while sophomore center Tom Pritchard also had extra practice on Saturday and Sunday.

The work paid off for Pritchard, who had 5 points and 4 rebounds in the first half. He finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds in 21 minutes before fouling out with 4:14 left in the second half.

“The mindset he played with today is the mindset we need on a consistent basis,” Crean said.

Pritchard’s mindset wasn’t the only one that was different.

The Hoosiers held the Gophers down from their average of 36.5 boards a game, as their own rebounding average jumped from 37.06 to 37.4 after Sunday’s game. And at the end of the first half, the Hoosiers had 21 boards to the Gophers’ nine.

“They were telling me, no matter what you do, just hit somebody and get the ball,” Elston said.

Elston and his teammates followed through on those orders. He had 5 points and 5 rebounds in 18 minutes and replaced freshman forward Bobby Capobianco in overtime after Capobianco fouled out with 3:37 left in the second half.

Watford, who led the team with 10 rebounds, said the game showed the players understand how to compete against other big men.

“We’re starting to get it,” he said. “We’re starting to outrebound teams.”