Hulls honored for milestone achievement

Even before tipoff in Sunday’s 101-53 shellacking of Ball State, the crowd roared for Jordan Hulls.

The senior guard from Bloomington High School South stood at midcourt of the wooden floor he knows so well as IU Coach Tom Crean raised Hulls’ hand high above him and turned him to face the clapping crowd.

His last time out on this floor, in front of these fans, Hulls scored his 1,000th point as a Hoosier, and this was his moment of recognition.

Once the action commenced, it took a little bit of time – 14:25 to be specific – but Hulls came through with an encore.

After not even attempting a shot until 5:35 remained on the clock in the first half, Hulls was a perfect 5-5 from the field in the remainder of the half and entered the break with a team-leading 12 points.

“I just wasn’t trying to push anything,” Hulls said. “We were getting inside to (sophomore center) Cody (Zeller) and (senior forward) Christian (Watford), and we were just doing different things. I just let it come to me.”

Hulls finished as the team’s second-leading scorer in the blowout with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting. His point total matched his season-high.

“I was just trying to be more aggressive and do whatever the team needs me to do,” Hulls said. “I was waiting to get in the flow. I didn’t really shoot early in the first half. I was able to hit a couple of shots and then continue to be aggressive and then that’s just how it went.”

All in all, the last 11 days have been pretty good to Hulls.

On Nov. 15 against Sam Houston State, he became the 44th player in IU history to score 1,000 points, joining Watford in that club among legions of past Hoosiers. Hulls said after that game that he did not even realize the milestone at the time.

He now has 1,048 points, good for 41st on the team’s all-time scoring list after surpassing Jay Edwards on Sunday.

Then, during Thanksgiving break, Hulls stuffed the statistics sheet, pouring 31 points during the course of IU’s two games at the Progressive Legends Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. IU won the tournament, and Hulls took home MVP honors.

Which brings the team back to tonight, with Hulls standing on the court, his arm raised by his coach, as he held a special commemorative basketball for his achievement.

“He has worn that swipe card out, coming into Cook Hall, from the first day he ever came here,” Associate Head Coach Tim Buckley said. “Jordan Hulls, he does things behind the scenes that you get to see on game night, but he works every single day.

“It might be two, it might be three times that he goes in there every single day and works. That’s what really got the culture going, and then that comes about on game night.”