IU Coach Tom Crean has repeatedly insisted that Hanner Moquera-Perea has the ability to play basketball at the next level. Against Nebraska, the junior forward showed a glimpse as to why.
Mosquera-Perea had his first career double-double in the Hoosiers 70-65 win against the Cornhuskers. He finished the game with 12 points and 10 rebounds in what was a dominant game for IU in the paint.
IU connected on a season-low seven 3-pointers but outscored Nebraska 38-26 in the pained area, making up for a relatively tame night from beyond the arc.
At the center of that was Mosquera-Perea, who did most of his work in the second half. He picked up two early fouls and only had one point and three rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.
In his place, freshman forward Emmitt Holt provided a bit of a spark with six points, four rebounds and a block.
But when Mosquera-Perea returned, he did so emphatically.
Nebraska (8-5, 0-1) went on a 24-4 run spanning the course of both halves to retake a 43-42 lead, but Mosquera-Perea and the Hoosiers (11-3, 1-0) started to heat up.
In the second half, he threw down a pair of highlight reel alley-oops on assists from junior forward Yogi Ferrell.Another score saw him drive across the lane and convert on a one-handed shot just before the shot clock expired. All in all, he was a consistent force around the rim.
On the rebounding end, Mosquera-Perea was just as productive. He pulled in a handful of boards late in the game as IU was securing the win which went a long way toward helping IU win the rebounding battle 44-31.
That type of production could be exactly what IU needs out of its big man throughout the Big Ten season.
Crean, Miles express words in the second half
Midway through the second half, Crean and Nebraska Coach Tim Miles got into a heated argument at mid-court that led to a stoppage in play.
The confrontation took place with just about 10 minutes left in the half shortly after Ferrell attempted a lob pass to Mosquera-Perea who was fouled on the play. Just before Mosquera-Perea took his free throws, the two coaches, both upset, began to walk toward the scorers table to talk to one another.
On a replay, Crean was shown shouting something at Miles before the two met along the sidelines. When they got together, Miles was restrained by an assistant with officials nearby as he jawed with Crean.
While Miles appeared frustrated as he yelled at the Hoosiers' coach, Crean said nothing. Hardly changing his expression, Crean stared at Miles as he yelled and eventually headed back to the sideline.
After the game, the two coaches shook hands without further drama unfolding.
It marked the second time in the last week that Crean has had a confrontation with an opposing coach during a game. He and New Orleans Coach Mark Slessinger also exchanged words at Assembly Hall on Dec. 22.
While addressing the media, neither coach would get into the specifics of the disagreement.
Miles sarcastically insisted that the two talked about a variety of topics ranging from the weather to tulips.
"I have no comment," Miles said.
Ferrell becomes distributor
Nebraska’s defense was determined to not let junior guard Yogi Ferrell score.
He didn’t.
But that doesn’t mean he was taken out of the game.
Ferrell, who was averaging 21.3 points per game over his last three contests, scored just five points on 2-for-7 shooting against Nebraska, but dished eight assists and hauled in eight rebounds.
Ferrell was nearly constantly double-teamed throughout the night, which didn’t allow for him much room to orchestrate on the offensive end. Nebraska’s Benny Parker was almost always hounding Ferrell, seemingly determined to keep him out of the game.
Ferrell’s scoring absence opened the door for other Hoosiers to contribute. After getting only four bench points in last Saturday’s loss to Georgetown, nine different Hoosiers scored points against the Huskers.
In all, IU had 18 points off the bench. Freshman guard Rob Johnson led the way with 14 points. Sophomore forward Troy Williams had 13 points and junior forward Hanner Mosquera-Perea had 12.
