IU wins regular season opener, 88-60

The IU men’s basketball team picked up Friday where it left off from beyond the arc.

After using 3-pointers to pull away Ferris State on Monday, the Hoosiers finished 14-of-28 from deep in a 88-60 victory against Florida Gulf State in the regular season opener at Assembly Hall.

Sophomore guard Jordan Hulls led the charge, hitting six 3-pointers, accounting for all 18 of his points. Sophomore guard Maurice Creek was 3-of-7 from the 3-point line, finishing with 13 points.

IU coach Tom Crean said the Hoosiers’ 14-of-28 effort from the 3-point line was a result of fluid ball movement, and he hopes his team learns that lesson.

“To go 50 percent from the 3 and have so many different guys get a 3-point shot, that’s good for them, but it’s great for us to remind them that ball movement wins,” Crean said. “When it sits on one side, and when we’re taking challenged shots, and we’re not shot faking and we’re not driving the ball into gaps and creating open shots, we’re not good. But I don’t know anybody that is.”

Hulls, who hit four of his long balls in the first half alone, said the team is confident when teams impose a zone defense as FCGU did because of their deep threat.

“We’re a good 3-point shooting team, and we get a lot of 3-point shots even driving the zone, getting in those gaps, making two guys guard you,” Hulls said. “That’s how we were getting open shots tonight, so we’re very comfortable with that.”

Sophomore forward Christian Watford had another dominating effort, scoring 24 points while grabbing 5 rebounds.

Junior guard Verdell Jones got his first playing time of the season after suffering an ankle sprain before the start of the exhibition slate. He played 22 minutes, finishing with 7 points on 3-of-10 shooting.

But it wasn’t all roses for the Hoosiers, as they committed 24 turnovers and 27 fouls. Sophomore forward Derek Elston, who finished with 7 points, fouled out of the game midway through the second half.

“One of the biggest reasons we bring referees in (to practice) so much more this year is to help us not use our hands on defense and to help us get our feet right on catches and drives,” Crean said. “We took a little bit of a step back with that tonight.”

The lapses didn’t cost IU, though, as the defense forced 22 turnovers out of FCGU. The Hoosiers scored 29 points off those turnovers, while the Eagles scored 16.

IU gets little rest before getting back into action, as Wright State visits Bloomington on Sunday.