Hoosiers play winning hand against Evansville

The 664 days since IU’s last road victory turned to zero Wednesday night with an offensive clinic at the Ford Center in Evansville.

Behind a 51-27 halftime lead, the largest since 2000, IU beat Evansville 94-73 to move to 3-0 for the season.

The starters (Jordan Hulls, Verdell Jones III, Victor Oladipo, Christian Watford and Cody Zeller) paced the Hoosiers throughout the game as four of the five reached double figures by the 12-minute mark of the second half.

Those five accounted for 68 of the 94 points, shooting 24-of-37 from the field.
The road win against the Purple Aces (1-1) is the first for the Hoosiers since beating Penn State, 67-61, Jan. 21, 2010.

IU Coach Tom Crean said the Hoosiers had a pair of good practices the last two days, and they were prepared for their first of what will be many road tests during the season.

“I thought out defensive intensity and our intelligence combined were really, really good,” Crean said. “When you go on the road, everything has to turn up a notch, and for this team to have their first game on the road be a victory this way and to play the way they did, especially in the first half, says a lot about that intensity and that
intelligence.”

Jones led the Hoosiers with 17 points, including tying a career high with four three-pointers.

Seven IU players scored at least eight points Wednesday, and Jones credited the attention given to the man in the middle for the offensive outburst.

“It all started with getting the ball to the big fella right here, Cody, and he is making plays,” Jones said. “They’re double-teaming, and he’s kicking it, and we are driving it and kicking it. It is just a good thing to have Cody demand a double team like that.”

Imploring their will down low, the Hoosiers scored 40 points in the paint, and the Purple Aces had no player taller than 6 feet, 6 inches play more than 13 minutes.

One beneficiary of the production inside was Zeller, who played less than 90 minutes away from his hometown.

Zeller had 14 points and nine rebounds on 6-of-7 shooting. Through three games, the freshman leads the Hoosiers in shooting 81 percent (13-16) from the field.

Oladipo once again took the assignment of the opponent’s leading scorer, keeping Evansville guard Colt Ryan at four points on 1-of-6 shooting in the first half.

The Hoosiers kept the Purple Aces to 34.5 percent shooting in the first half, and the team effort on the defensive end of the floor started with Oladipo.

“Vic is one of the best players I’ve ever faced,” Jones said. “He’s so strong and long and active. He did a great job on (Ryan).”

Following the season opener against Stony Brook, Crean said his team had seven starters, including sophomore Will Sheehey and junior Derek Elston.

The seven starters combined for 87 of the 94 points Wednesday.

After the game, Crean and the players made it clear that thinking about their first road win in more than a year and a half was far from their minds.

“We are 1-0 this year on the road,” Jones said. “We don’t look in the past. We are going from here on out to the future.”