Column: IU enters winter break strong but with more work to do

As students prepare to return home after a long fall semester, the IU men’s basketball team still has plenty of work to do before they can close the book on their non-conference schedule.

During the break, IU will play five games, three at Assembly Hall and two on the road.

The stretch will include the Hoosiers’ New Years Eve meeting with the Hawkeyes in Iowa City, Iowa, to kick off the Big Ten season.

With more than a quarter of the season already in the books, the Hoosiers enter the winter break portion of the schedule with an undefeated record for the second time in two seasons.

Despite playing a rather pedestrian non-conference schedule that has lacked a true road game, the Hoosiers have electrified every step of the way.

Through nine games, the Hoosiers are first in the nation in scoring, averaging 89.1 points per game, and are ranked seventh in the nation with a 51.1 field goal percentage.

While some of these numbers have been produced against lesser opponents, the Hoosiers’ next game, in Indianapolis against Butler, could be the toughest test of the season for IU.

Behind Butler Coach Brad Stevens and senior transfer Rotnei Clarke, the Bulldogs are 7-2 and have impressed early with a win against North Carolina on their way to a second-place finish in the Maui Invitational.

The Hoosiers are the top dogs in the matchup, but in-state battles like this can be evened out with emotion and intensity.

The battle to be the best basketball team in the state of Indiana is important for both teams’ recruiting success, so expect a hard-fought game on both sides.

In a sense, the game against Butler also symbolizes the start of a new season for IU, because for the first time this season, freshmen center Peter Jurkin and forward Hanner Mosquera-Perea will be eligible to suit up in the candy stripes to play for IU.

Though the Hoosiers would have loved to have had Jurkin and Mosquera-Perea playing with them throughout the entire season, the timing of their return is almost ideal if you are IU.

After losing sophomore forward Austin Etherington for the season to a knee injury Saturday night, the Hoosiers’ already depleted frontcourt will welcome the addition of the two big men with open arms.

With four games remaining before the Big Ten season, Jurkin and Mosquera-Perea will have an opportunity to work themselves back into the flow of the game against weaker opponents than the Hoosiers will see in Big Ten play.

If nothing else, Jurkin and Mosquera-Perea will be fresh and ready to inject the already hyped Hoosiers with more energy and muscle as the team closes out the non-conference schedule.

“They can do a lot of things that I can’t,” sophomore forward Cody Zeller said after Saturday’s game. “I mean, have you seen their arms? I have to practice against that.”

After Butler, the Hoosiers’ final three games of the non-conference schedule are stocking stuffers. IU returns home to play Mount St. Mary’s, Florida Atlantic and Jacksonville.

Obviously, they are not the prime matchups diehard college basketball fans dream of, but they are just as important to IU’s long-term success.

In those games, the Hoosiers can practice different defensive and offensive techniques in real game situations that can benefit them in Big Ten play.

Look at the game against Coppin State as an example of when the Hoosiers were able to apply what they learned in practice as an in-game adjustment.

Leading 33-19 at halftime, IU cleared out the hallway by the Varsity Shop in Assembly Hall, and Crean ran through a crash course of the full-court press.

The on-the-fly adjustment helped the Hoosiers crush Coppin State in the second half en route to a 87-51 victory.

To become champions, the Hoosiers believe they must use every moment on the court and in the weight room as a chance to get better.

Through these games, the Hoosiers can learn more about their strengths while smoothing over their weaknesses.

With Big Ten season right around the corner, you know the rest of the league has been watching and preparing for IU.

If the Hoosiers want to stay ahead of the curve, they must continue studying themselves while the rest of their classmates are home for the holidays.

­— mdnorman@indiana.edu