Column: Keeping the magic alive

This time, they didn’t need a buzzer beater.

The Hoosiers steamrolled No. 5 Michigan State by 15 points Tuesday, and the win proved something.

It was a fleeting idea when senior guard Verdell Jones III slapped the floor as the Hoosiers started a defensive possession 3:30 into the game.

It was becoming more evident when junior forward Christian Watford, who recorded a double-double, somehow banked a 3-pointer to put IU up 10 with 6:02 left.

And it was all too clear when freshman forward Cody Zeller slammed a one-handed dunk over Spartans forward Derrick Nix with 3:17 to go in the game to give IU a 14-point lead and blow the roof off Assembly Hall.

The Hoosiers still have some of that magic left.

The Kentucky win made this an unforgettable season, but at the time, it didn’t make it a complete one.

Victories like Tuesday’s affect the program on a larger scale — this is the first time an IU team has ever defeated three top-five teams in the regular season — but on a smaller scale, as well.

This is the best the Hoosiers have looked all season.

“I think we’re a different team all-around, period,” Jones said. “I think our mindset is on a whole different level right now. We got two great starts and played well at Minnesota, played well today, and I think our mindset is a lot different right now.”

Watford said it was as complete a game as this team has played thus far.

The defense, after allowing just 50 points to Minnesota on Sunday, limited Michigan State players not named Draymond Green to 10-of-34 from the field and recorded 10 steals. That’s 29.4 percent, for you folks playing along at home.

IU outrebounded a Tom Izzo squad that pulls down the most rebounds in the Big Ten.

Fueled by their spectacular defense, the Hoosiers set the tone for offense by attacking the basket early and finished with five players in double figures. IU Coach Tom Crean’s squad committed just nine turnovers and looked poised from the beginning.

“When we beat top teams like that, we’re nasty, we’re scrappy, we’re fighting, and I just don’t think against Iowa we came out that way,” Jones said.

It’s clear the magic is there in Assembly Hall. That’s where the three signature upsets took place.

“How about that stadium tonight, dude?” a Michigan State student newspaper photographer said to his writer. “Crazy.”

That’s pretty high praise coming from individuals who are consistently in one of the loudest student sections in the Big Ten with the Izzone.

Following the game, Crean took the mic and gave four emphatic and deserved “thank you”’s to the crowd.

“There’s no question that Indiana on the road is a very tough game on the road,” Izzo said. “You’ve got to play at the highest level.”

Now there is no question that Assembly Hall is the hardest place to play in the country. Please, try to debate me. I’ll have a good time proving you wrong.

But the Hoosiers have to take this magic wherever they go after the Big Ten Tournament.

I don’t know how much is left of it. Maybe enough to take them to the Sweet Sixteen. It might be enough to only last one round.

But I do know that three wins does not make a season.

This was a monumental accomplishment that can’t completely define this season.
 
“I think this team has a lot of basketball left in it,” Crean said. “My biggest thing is making sure we just continue to put them in an environment where they know they have to get better, not where we want them to get better.”

If this team has any magic left in it, I can’t wait to see where it takes them.