Despite ankle injury, Watford returns to sophomore form

For the first time in this young season, IU’s leading scorer from last season lived up to his billing.

Junior forward Christian Watford returned to his ways of old, scoring 15 points in IU’s 94-73 win Wednesday against Evansville at the Ford Center.

“Yeah, I got it going tonight, but my teammates have been helping me do a great job keeping my head up when times have been tough,” Watford said. “I’ve been struggling, but it’s all about the team winning.”

Watford’s 15-point output was his first double-digit scoring performance of the season.

After scoring seven points on 2-of-7 shooting in the season opener against Stony Brook, Watford scored two points on 1-of-7 shooting against Chattanooga on Sunday.

By the beginning of the second half, Watford had already eclipsed his season point total, knocking down a three-pointer in transition.

Watford had constantly struggled to hit the three ball preparing for Wednesday’s game, shooting 1-of-5 in the season.

Watford said he felt more confident from beyond the arc against Evansville.

“I felt comfortable,” Watford said. “I’ve always felt comfortable, they just weren’t going in.”

Watford dealt with a preseason ankle injury and was not at the same physical level in the first two games, IU Coach Tom Crean said.

“He missed some quality time,” Crean said. “He missed valuable time, which meant his conditioning, his rhythm and all of those things were not where they needed to be. He just needed to make sure he had his mentality adjusted to where it needed to be on the defensive end and on the rebounding end.”

In addition to fueling the IU offense, Watford also made his presence felt inside.
Last year’s leading rebounder brought down a season-high eight rebounds.

“To turn back around and have 15 and eight and defend the way he did ... He had some very tough matchups, and he’ll continue to have that,” Crean said.

Watford’s ability to penetrate also helped create scoring opportunities for his teammates.

Watford was one of five Hoosiers to score in the double digits Wednesday night.
Senior guard Verdell Jones, who scored 17 points and was 4-for-4 from three-point range, said Watford was one of the reasons he was able to find open looks.

“Like I said before, when you have guys like Christian and Victor (Oladipo) driving, it creates wide-open shots,” Jones said.

While Watford’s 15 points were still a point shy of his team-leading 16 points per game last season, it is a far cry from the 4.5 point per game average this season.

Crean said Watford’s diligence during the week is the reason he was able to break through Wednesday night.

“He’s a product of how he’s practiced,” Crean said. “He’s a product of his mentality, and if he continues to do what he did the last couple days, he’ll continue to have more good days like he had tonight.”