Hoosiers look to stop VCU from becoming NCAA Cinderella again

PORTLAND, Ore — Before any player on the IU basketball team thinks about a potential rematch with No. 1 Kentucky, a giant test awaits the No. 4-seeded Hoosiers.

The Hoosiers' (26-8) sole focus Saturday evening will be on the Rams of Virginia Commonwealth (29-6), who are back it with their upset specials.

After being the Cinderella story of the 2011 NCAA Tournament, the Rams knocked off No. 5 seed Wichita State 72-69 Thursday afternoon.

The challenge of constant, full-court pressure is something that the Hoosiers haven’t seen much of this season.

“Big Ten teams don't really press and stuff like that,” junior forward Christian Watford said. “Their length kind of reminds you of Kentucky the way they're long on length, but as far as pressure, we really haven't faced anybody like them.”

The opportunity to play VCU came thanks to IU executing its two keys to the New Mexico State game nearly flawlessly as the Aggies shot just 10 free throws, which was nearly 20 under its season average.

The Aggies came into the NCAA Tournament third in the nation in rebounding margin at 8.6 a game, but the Hoosiers held their own on the glass, only getting outrebounded by two.

Those factors were two of the main reasons IU finds itself in position to advance to its first Sweet Sixteen since 2002.

Now, the focus turns to the defensive pressure of the Rams and the ability for IU to handle it without one of its primary ball handlers in senior guard Verdell Jones III.

Junior guard Jordan Hulls played 35 minutes on Thursday evening, his highest amount in 11 games.

The main responsibility of handling the ball will rest on the Bloomington native, but he did get some help from freshman Remy Abell on Thursday.

This time last year Abell was a foreign thought to Hoosiers fans but after Jones injury, Abell has played 15 and 17 minutes respectively in IU’s past two games.

The task for the Hoosiers will be trying to break the Rams pressure that produced a nation-leading 10.7 steals per game.

“We've just got to come in and work the ball, move the ball," Abell said. "We've just got to be ready to attack. We've got to be aggressive and I think if we do that, we'll be fine."

On top of dealing with the Rams full-court defense, IU will be faced with another short turnaround.

Late in the Big Ten schedule, the Hoosiers swept two games in three days by winning on the road against Minnesota on Feb. 26, then returning home to knock off No. 5 Michigan State a little more than 48 hours later.

Both IU and VCU face the same challenge of short preparation, but IU Coach Tom Crean said assistant coach Tim Buckley already has a head start on scouting the Rams.

Buckley watched the entire VCU/Wichita St. game from press row on Thursday evening and observed the Rams pressure forcing seven turnovers and holding the Shockers to 11-of-35 shooting in the first half.

“We've just spent a lot of time watching segments of how they played,” Crean said. “We've spent a lot of time trying to really understand their pressure, to understand the things that are not as normal for our guys of what they've seen.

The rematch with Kentucky will be put on hold for at least another few hours as the Hoosiers are locked in against a team that is 5-1 in its last six NCAA Tournament games.

The nervous energy causing a few early turnovers Thursday evening is long gone now. Now, it’s time to make a run to the second weekend.

“It's like once you get into the game and the ball is thrown up and you are with your teammates, the nervousness and the pressure kind of goes away,” sophomore guard Victor Oladipo said. “Now that we have a game under our belt, there's no really reason to be feeling any pressure or feeling any anxiousness. It's just time to play basketball now."