IU defeats North Carolina Central, 72-56

Jordan Hulls did what his team needed to win Tuesday.

Relegated to distributor duty through the first four games of the season, the sophomore guard gave life to an otherwise dormant IU offense with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting against North Carolina Central.

Hulls finished second on the team behind sophomore forward Christian Watford’s 17 points to push IU to its first 5-0 start since the 2002-03 season with a 72-56 victory in Assembly Hall.

Hulls, who averaged just 7.5 points per game despite an 18-point effort in the season opener, did his damage from beyond the arc. He was 3-of-4 from the 3-point line on a night where the Hoosiers finished just 5-of-18 as a team.

But IU clanked more than just 3-point shots throughout much of the game. The Hoosiers shot 36 percent from the field in the first half and finished with a 41 percent clip.

The Eagles shot 47.8 percent from the field, but the difference in the game came at the free-throw line. IU knocked down 76 percent of its free-throw attempts – including 12-of-14 in the second half. NCCU, meanwhile, only hit 57 percent of its chances.