IU looks to avoid exhibition upset

Two years ago it was Valparaiso. Last year it was Tennessee.

Now, for the third consecutive season, the University of Indianapolis looks to knock off a Division I opponent when it heads to Bloomington this Saturday evening to take on IU in the Hoosiers’ only exhibition game of 2011.

Indianapolis Head Coach Stan Gouard is in his fourth season, and his Greyhounds were the early talk of the college basketball season last fall when they defeated No. 23 Tennessee 79-64.

IU Coach Tom Crean said he is anxious to see his team compete against someone else who has a history of knocking off Division I teams.

“It will be really good to see them in a live atmosphere, a great atmosphere, against a team that plays in as good of league as there is in all of Division II,” Crean said. “I don’t know if anyone has close to the league that they’re in.

“There is no doubt that they compete at a high level in their league, and even if we didn’t know any of that, it gets your guys’ attention right off the bat knowing that they went into Tennessee last year and beat them, and beat them handily.”

The Greyhounds return starting guard Adrian Moss, a transfer from IUPUI who scored 20 points against Tennessee, along with Wilbur O’Neal, a 6-foot-7-inch, 245-pound center.

Throughout much of the offseason, the talk has centered on the defensive end of the floor for the Hoosiers, and that has continued with the first regular season game just a week away.

All the emphasis on defense has put the Hoosiers behind where they would like to be on the other end of the floor, Crean said.

“This is by far the least amount of offensive development that I’ve been a part of as a head coach when it comes to how we really want to play on offense,” Crean said. “Our offensive execution is not even close to being ready to play a game.”

Despite not having an entire playbook at their disposal, the Hoosiers’ ability to get out in the open floor won’t be stopped, junior forward Derek Elston said.

“We are best when we’re on the fly,” Elston said. “We are a team that likes to get out and run and we will run it down your throat if we have to.”

Last year, IU faced its closest exhibition test in the Crean era when Ferris State had a 13-point lead with just more than seven minutes left in the second half.

Then-freshman guard Victor Oladipo converted a four-point play with 10 seconds to go, sending the game into overtime where the Hoosiers went on a 17-4 run for the 78-65 victory.

Crean made it clear that the Hoosiers will play to win Saturday.

However, a loss in an exhibition game does not necessarily indicate what is to come during the regular season.

In the last four years, Michigan State, Ohio State, Syracuse and Tennessee have all lost exhibition games, but have averaged 24 wins in the regular season.

A starting lineup is still to be decided, but Crean said all 17 players are expected to play, including senior forward Tom Pritchard and junior forward Christian Watford. Both are recovering from ankle injuries.

The practice of splitting into cream and crimson teams is finally over, and the Hoosiers are set to see players other than themselves on the court Saturday.

“We are ready to play against other people, and we are ready to showcase our talents,” Oladipo said.

“We’ve worked really hard this preseason and, hopefully, it can carry over into the real season.”