For the 12th straight time, the Hoosiers won. They are still undefeated at home.
They have now won three Big Ten home games in a row by at least 25 points for the first time since the 1987-88 season and have won the last two Big Ten home games by at least 30 points.
And with No. 25 IU’s 89-57 win against Northwestern on Saturday, the Hoosiers improved to 7-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since 1993.
“When we can get a stop and get the game going it’s really, really good for us,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “The ball movement is strong because the body movement is strong, meaning that we’re getting a lot of cutting and movement and the more that ball can move the better we are.”
IU (17-3, 7-0) was helped to another blowout win by almost everyone on the team. Senior guard Yogi Ferrell led the Hoosiers in scoring with 17 points, 12 of those coming in the second half to go along with six assists.
He had a stretch early in the second half when he scored seven straight points, including two fade-away jumpers with a hand in his face.
But IU also got 13 points from senior forward Max Bielfeldt off the bench and 11 points from junior forward Collin Hartman, including eight of the Hoosiers’ first 13 of the game.
The fast start by Hartman was part of an early game run that entailed the Hoosiers jumping out to a 10-0 lead, capped off by an emphatic dunk from freshman center Thomas Bryant.
“It’s all mindset,” Hartman said. “You have to come in being aggressive. The Big Ten’s a tough league on any given night. If you don’t come in ready to play, you’re going to get beat.”
Bryant would finish the game with seven points on perfect 3-of-3 shooting. In total, 11 different Hoosiers scored Saturday, with eight players scoring at least seven points. There were seven different Hoosiers who also made 3-pointers.
“I’d say we’re moving the ball and making the simple play,” Bielfeldt said. “We’re finding shooters. With that movement, guys are getting open a little better and we’re just knocking them down.”
Northwestern (15-6, 3-5), on the other hand, was led by primarily two players. It took more than 15 minutes for someone other than Tre Demps or Alex Olah to score, when Greensburg, Indiana, native Bryant McIntosh made a jumper from the right wing.
That jump shot by McIntosh also accounted for the only two points not scored by Olah or Demps in the first half.
McIntosh, Northwestern’s leading scorer, only managed four points on 2-of-12 shooting. He was shut down primarily by a combination of Ferrell and sophomore guard Robert Johnson.
And after scoring 14 points in the first half, Demps was limited to just three points in the second half, once again thanks to the efforts of Ferrell and Johnson.
Northwestern also entered the game as the top offensive rebounding team in the country, but was kept scoreless in terms of second-chance points and only grabbed five offensive rebounds.
For the third time in four games, the Hoosiers managed to score at least 85 points. Northwestern Coach Chris Collins said his defense was exposed Saturday against the Hoosiers, as with every other team they play.
“There hasn’t been a team to slow them down yet,” Collins said. “Our defense was exposed and so has the other six defenses that they’ve played. It was them. They scored 105 in their last game so I think we did a good job by holding them to 89.”
