The Hoosiers haven’t lost since.
An 85-60 win against Ohio State on Sunday is their ninth consecutive victory and marks the first time since the 2007-08 season that IU has started 4-0 in Big Ten play.
Senior guard Yogi Ferrell said the the first half of Sunday’s game, which ended with IU leading by 30, was the most fun he’s had playing basketball at IU.
That’s the largest halftime lead in a conference game since 1996-97, and it came against a team that beat No. 9 Kentucky earlier this season.
Consistent contributions from a couple of Hoosier freshmen and recent improvements on the defensive end have led to the turnaround and have begun to restore fans’ faith in their team.
Freshman forward OG Anunoby was a pleasant surprise for IU when Big Ten play began.
He stepped in to help with the absence of sophomore guard James Blackmon Jr., and he’s only gotten better during the past four games.
On one possession in the first half, Anunoby grabbed the offensive rebound, scored and made the and-one free throw for a 3-point play.
Seconds later, senior guard Yogi Ferrell fed Anunoby for an alley-oop dunk and the Assembly Hall crowd erupted.
Ohio State was forced to call a timeout and a smile spread across Anunoby’s face.
It was just the start of a 15-0 run that broke the game open.
“I feel like when we get stops, we have a little bit of pride to ourselves and we want to go down to the other end and score,” Ferrell said.
Anunoby is averaging just fewer than 10 points a game over the last four. Fellow freshman Thomas Bryant recorded a double-double against the Buckeyes with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Juwan Morgan and Harrison Niego, both freshmen, have also given the Hoosiers a lift off the bench.
With the development of the younger players has come more of a team mindset, especially defensively, IU Coach Tom Crean said.
He said he was pleased with how aggressively his team played on both ends. They forced the Buckeyes into 14 turnovers and had 50 defensive deflections.
“We had to make sure that we did the best job we could every possession of staying connected,” Crean said.
Weeks ago against Duke, there were too many turnovers and not enough defensive stops to give IU a chance. Crean said there’s a sign hanging in their locker room that says, “Victory favors the team that makes the fewest mistakes.”
The step after that is where Crean said he sees additional room for improvement.
“It also favors the team that plays through them the best and learns from them the quickest,” Crean said.
