IU stifles Chattanooga 78-53 to earn 2nd win

Tom Crean, IU coach, has preached defense since day one of this season.

On Sunday, Crean saw the defensive performance he was looking for from his squad.

IU (2-0) rode the momentum of its defensive effort to a 78-53 win against Chattanooga (0-1) in the first game of the Hoosier Invitational at Assembly Hall.

“I thought our defense was really, really good,” Crean said. “Obviously, the numbers bear that out.”

The numbers Crean was talking about is the 27 percent shooting from Chattanooga, the second lowest in the Crean era. IU also unofficially had 66 deflections, a number Crean said was something he hadn’t seen before.

“That’s the highest we’ve ever had at Indiana,” Crean said. “No question about it.”

Leading the defensive effort was sophomore guard Victor Oladipo. After keeping Stony Brook’s leading scorer Bryan Dougher without a basket in IU’s win Friday, Oladipo was responsible for putting the clamps down on another scorer.

Chattanooga senior forward Omar Wattad scored six early points to fuel the Mocs’ offense. Crean said the focus was actually on senior guard Keegan Bell, who averaged 9.7 points per game for the Mocs last season.

“The key for us was the Bell kid, and to hold him scoreless was a really big deal,” Crean said. “Starting Victor on him and Verdell did an excellent job on him.”

Oladipo switched off of Bell to guard Wattad after his fast start.

“(Wattad) got going early, and my objective at first was to slow down (Bell), and I think did a pretty good job of that,” Oladipo said. “When Wattad got hot, Coach Crean asked me to go on him. So I did whatever it took to slow him down a little bit because he’s a real good player with a real quick release.”

The switch paid dividends for the Hoosiers and allowed IU to stymie the Mocs with an 18-3 run to end the first half. Oladipo said the defensive game is what opened IU’s
transition offense.

“When we have great defense, we can just run the floor,” Oladipo said. “I think we can run. I think we can run with anybody in the country, so we might as well just do it.”

After IU’s 18-3 to end the half, it started the second half on a 12-3 run in the first 3:26.
While Oladipo was able to contain Wattad, he also posted a career-high 21 points, marking the second straight game he led IU in scoring.

“That’s what separates Vic is that he can play both sides of the ball,” junior guard Jordan Hulls said. “He can guard their best player ... and be a huge threat for us.”

Also joining in on the defensive effort was freshman forward Cody Zeller, whose six steals set an IU freshman record. The record came on a night in which Zeller was held to seven points.

But Hulls said like Oladipo, Zeller provided a boost on both ends of the floor.
“He’s not going to let the game get him down if he’s not scoring or getting enough touches,” Hulls said. “He’s always going to bring that defensive edge.”

The Hoosiers will play their third game in six days when they travel to Evansville on Wednesday. Crean said Sunday was a game that his team will put in its back pocket.

“When you have four guys that scored 25 or more in games last year, well then you know they’ve got some high-level scorers, and I think they’re good,” Crean said. “I think a win like this can really come back and help us down the road because this is a team picked win their division.”