Watford does it all in IU win

Christian Watford was nowhere near the 26-point outburst he had the first time IU faced Michigan State on Dec. 28.

The junior forward had just seven points and hadn’t made a field goal attempt in more than nine minutes with Michigan State, having cut the lead to six. But when he pulled up to the same spot where he hit a game-winning 3-pointer to beat No. 1 Kentucky on Dec. 10, 2011,, Watford pulled the trigger once again.

This time, Watford’s shot needed some Assembly Hall love.

“Exactly how I drew it up,” Watford said of his banked-in 3-pointer. “No, I can’t call that. I don’t know what I was doing, but it just so happened to bank for me.”

Watford’s shot — along with a career-high 14 rebounds — helped cement No. 18/20 IU’s (23-7, 10-7) 70-55 victory against No. 5 Michigan State (24-6, 13-4) on Tuesday at Assembly Hall.

“He played well,” freshman forward Cody Zeller said of Watford. “He can defend one through five like he did tonight. He rebounded really well tonight. He can kind of do it all.”

Watford came in matched on Spartan guard Keith Appling, who torched IU for a career-high 25 points when IU lost 80-65 in East Lansing, Mich.

IU Coach Tom Crean said the decision to start Watford against Appling stemmed from the types of defensive matchups he has succeeded with lately.

“We were very confident with him on Keith Appling,” Crean said. “He guarded Andre Hollins the other day. He’s guarded Lewis Jackson. We’re very, very comfortable with Christian guarding the point guard because when he’s down and when his hands are active, that’s a tough guy to get around.”

Watford did that, and Appling went into halftime without a point.

But while Appling struggled to find an offensive rhythm with Watford draped on him, Michigan State forward Draymond Green was a different story. The Big Ten Player of the Year candidate had 16 first-half points.

When Green came out of the break and scored two baskets in the first two minutes and 23 seconds of the second half, Watford called upon himself to slow him down.

“I asked for it during the game,” Watford said. “I think I was doing a pretty job on Appling using my length, but once I went on Draymond, I tried to make it tough for him.”

Again, Watford stepped up to the task. After having shot 8-of-11 from the floor, Green shot 2-of-6 the rest of the way with Watford on him.

“The job Christian Watford did defensively is where I would start talking about him,” Crean said. “Obviously, he had a double-double, but the eight deflections, the job he did on Keith Appling, then the job of going into Draymond Green, I thought that was big.”

Watford’s defensive effort on the glass earned him high praise from his teammates.
“Christian had 14 rebounds today,” Jones said. “I don’t know when that’s ever happened. I’m proud of him. He was busting his butt.”

Watford’s rebounding effort came against an MSU squad that entered Tuesday ranked third in the country, averaging a 9.6 rebounding margin per game.

He hadn’t had a double-double since that first meeting against Michigan State. He had only averaged 4.7 points in his past three games. But Tuesday night, Watford said he tried to take care of everything for IU.

“I just wanted to get after it on the defensive end and let that lead into my offense,” Watford said. “I just wanted to try to do it all tonight.”