Leaders Watford, Jones find stride during win against Minnesota

A week after not making a field goal during 46 minutes of action during a road loss to Iowa, IU veterans senior Verdell Jones III and junior Christian Watford made sure that wouldn’t be the case for their final road game of the season.

Jones and Watford combined for 23 points and helped offset a night during which leading scorer freshman Cody Zeller battled foul trouble in scoring just seven points.

A total of four IU players scored in double figures as the No. 23/24 Hoosiers (22-7, 9-7) beat Minnesota (17-12, 5-11) 69-50 Sunday afternoon in Williams Arena.

During Minnesota’s 77-74 victory against then-No. 7 Indiana on Jan. 12, Jones and Watford struggled to a combined 1-of-13 from the floor and had seven of IU’s 15 turnovers.

On Sunday, however, the scoring of Jones and Watford came during a balanced afternoon for the Hoosiers’ offense as Zeller’s seven-point performance marks the first time in a month the freshman hasn’t scored in double figures.

“It was a great team effort tonight,” Watford said. “We did a great job of sharing the basketball, and it led to a lot of us getting double figures tonight.”

Watford had missed his previous 13 shots in the past two games, but came out and knocked his first two jumpers Sunday afternoon.

His jumper at the 12:33 mark of the first half broke a 9-9 tie and ended up being the closest the Gophers would be the rest of the way.

The 6-foot-9-inch Watford was a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line Sunday, and IU is now 15-2 on the season when the junior forward attempts at least four free throws in a game.

Following the game, IU Coach Tom Crean alluded to Watford’s play on the other end of the floor, which got his offense going.

“Christian’s defense and energy on the defensive end, especially starting out on (Minnesota point guard) Andre Hollins, was a big part of our game,” Crean said. “He’s worked extremely hard to just continue to feel real good about his shooting and his scoring.”

Throughout conference play, Watford has had to guard a variety of players, and Crean said he is one of three players on IU’s roster who can guard any of five positions.

“I think it kind of helps me get going a little bit,” Watford said of his defense. “That’s what I got to be able to do, guard multiple positions.”

Coming off the bench for the fourth time since returning from a shoulder injury, Jones scored nine of his 11 points Sunday after halftime.

The two points Jones scored in the first half came off a breakaway dunk, the first of the season for the senior guard.

Thanks to the Hoosiers’ third road win of the conference season, they have some momentum heading into a week in which they will have a pair of home games against Big Ten-leading Michigan State and Purdue.

“It solidifies that we can get a road win,” Watford said. “That’s something that people have been talking about that we really needed. We came out here and got that tonight.”