Hoosiers defeat Northwestern in defensive battle

EVANSTON, Ill. - For the second straight game, Indiana saw its opponent dictate the pace of the game as Northwestern slowed it into half-court matchups.

This time, though, the Hoosiers beat their foe at its own game.

IU defeated Northwestern 67-59 Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena after stifling the Wildcats into miss after miss and dominating the ensuing rebounds in the first half.

The Hoosiers then rode out a comeback in the second half to remain undefeated in Big Ten road games this season and win in Evanston for the first time since Feb. 23, 2008.

“I hope everybody understands that’s three straight wins on the road,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “I don’t care where they’re at. When you’re in any league, but especially a league like this, and you go out and you find a way to win on the road, that’s a big, big deal.”

IU never trailed after a 4-3 deficit 1:56 into the game. The team reeled off 10 consecutive points following that moment to take a lead that reached as many as 17 points in the first half.

Northwestern had 17 points on 7-for-23 shooting at the half, the fewest points allowed in a half by IU since Jan. 27, 2011, in a home win against Illinois.

Senior forward Christian Watford figured prominently on both ends of the court, leading IU with 11 first half points on offense and allowing few easy shots playing both in the paint and out toward the perimeter.

“Christian really got us going,” Crean said. “When we can find a match-up that works when they really can’t defend Christian, we’ve got to ride it as much as we can and we did.”

Sophomore forward Cody Zeller missed several shots early, but staked his presence on the glass. His eight boards at halftime were already more than his season average of 7.9. He finished with 13 as IU won the rebounding battle 36-24. Wildcat centers had only a single board.

Northwestern threatened to claw back into the game as the second half opened with a flurry of Hoosier fouls and improved shooting and rebounding from the Wildcats.

However, Zeller scored six of IU’s first 10 points in the period and kept the IU lead in double digits. He ended up with a team-leading 21 points after an 8-for-8 second half effort from the free throw line.

“We always have to be aggressive,” Zeller said. “Keep attacking whether shots are going in or not.”

An IU shooting slump of its own, from both the field and foul line, saw a 16-point lead evaporate down to five as the offense lacked the rhythm to set up proper plays, instead improvising with little success.

Meanwhile, Northwestern found its outside touch, connecting on 5-of-10 shots from 3-point range after its 11.1-percent first half performance.

“The problem with a team like Northwestern — they keep coming and coming and coming with the screens,” Crean said. “But our defense was really good. We had a couple of different things that we wanted to do today defensively, depending on who is on the floor, and we did it.”

Unlike in past games this season when IU has seen opponents attempt comebacks, turnovers were hardly a factor. Each team committed only six, a season low for the Hoosiers.

Senior guard Jordan Hulls in particular struggled during the Northwestern comeback, missing three free throws and missing on several open looks.

“I’m getting better at just shaking off one, but if I miss three in a row, that’s kind of tough on me,” Hulls said.

Yet with the lead hovering at five points with 1:31 remaining, it was Hulls who blew past his defender then pulled up for a midrange jumper.

Looking to exploit his recent free throw struggles, Northwestern fouled him twice in the final 57 seconds. He made all four shots, putting the game to bed once and for all.

“Free throws are going to be huge for us,” Hulls said. “I know I missed three, and if we’re going to win big, we can’t miss free throws. I think overall as a team, we did a really good job of knocking down the shots we needed to.”