The most telling moments of IU’s clinching of an outright Big Ten title Tuesday came when just about everybody was gone. There were maybe 200 people remaining in Carver-Hawkeye Arena compared to the 15,500 capacity.
IU Coach Tom Crean was waiting for senior guard Yogi Ferrell and junior forward Troy Williams to finish talking to a television reporter post game. Things were relatively quiet.
Crean saw a faction of IU fans or friends or family in the corner by the IU bench.
He just couldn’t help himself.
Crean strutted away from his group over to the IU faithful. He clapped his hands as he motioned toward them, a bounce accompanying each step. He sported an open-mouth smile and jutted out his jaw.
He looked uncompromisingly happy.
The Hoosiers had just earned their second outright title in four years, a rare feat in the Big Ten. It came during a game in which IU looked as unstoppable as ever at times and at others bordered on disaster.
No. 16 Iowa almost pulled off an absurd comeback in the final quarter Tuesday. IU won in the kind of way that makes a fan’s stomach sick. It gave up two wide-open, potentially game-tying 3-pointers in the final seven seconds.
But none went in and IU won, nonetheless.
Another image of Crean in the first half has stuck in my mind since the final buzzer went off.
Crean was thrusting his hips forward and throwing both arms toward the opposing basket. Get up court, that was the objective. Keep pushing the tempo, that was the goal.
Against an Iowa team with the third-fastest adjusted tempo in the Big Ten, IU was beating the Hawkeyes early by going even faster than them. The Hoosier shooting was lights out and the offense was borderline unstoppable.
But call me corny, because Crean’s spastic motions in the first half were more about the season than the tempo.
Lose sophomore guard James Blackmon Jr. — move forward.
Lose sophomore guard Robert Johnson for the past two games — move forward.
Give up a 14-point lead on the road at Iowa — move forward.
This season has been one of constant struggle. The excuses for IU to falter down the stretch were plentiful.
Despite all of these potential trip-ups, IU has dominated. We kept pushing for reasons to not buy in. There was a weak nonconference schedule. The Big Ten schedule was backloaded.
Now, with one regular season game remaining, IU has made it to the back end of that backloaded schedule and it’s still doing everything asked of it.
The barriers of doubt keep fading one by one. It just won this game down several injured players and with others in foul trouble. If this team starts getting players back, watch out.
But isolate Tuesday, because it was a night of celebration. It was a night for Crean to embrace players like Ferrell for long stretches. It was a night for the players to walk out of the locker room and take pictures in front of the court with their families.
No matter what happens in the postseason for the Hoosiers, they have this.
brodmill@indiana.edu
@BrodyMillerIDS
