The Hoosiers were winning in the first round of NCAA Tournament and winning by a lot.
But up by 16 points in the second half of IU’s 99-74 win against Chattanooga on Thursday, IU Coach Tom Crean wanted more.
He wanted freshman forward OG Anunoby to guard the man inbounding the ball in the backcourt and for the Hoosiers not to let up.
“He’s just being on us so we don’t relax,” junior forward Troy Williams said. “A lot of teams relax when they get up a certain amount of points and that’s how teams get back in the game.”
The Hoosiers have struggled with this at points this season. Williams said when it really struck him and his teammates that they needed to improve was after IU’s 77-73 win against Purdue on Feb. 20.
IU still won, but it came down to the final minute of a game that IU once led by double digits with a little more than four minutes left.
And now that it’s the NCAA Tournament, where one letdown can be the end of a season, Crean didn’t let his team relax Thursday.
Every time a rotation wasn’t right on defense, Crean was yelling. Every time the ball stopped moving on offense, Crean was yelling. Every time anything wasn’t quite right, you could see Crean yelling and pacing up and down IU’s bench.
Anyone only watching Crean and not the game might have thought the Hoosiers were down 20 points instead of up 20.
“We had spurts where we played great, and we had spurts where we didn’t play so well,” junior forward Collin Hartman said. “So there are going to be some spots in the film where we can see how we win and see how we lose.”
Moving forward in the NCAA Tournament, the Hoosiers said they know Crean isn’t going to let up. With each passing game, the stakes are raised.
If IU finds itself winning against Kentucky on Saturday, there’s a good chance Crean will be yelling for his team to keep pushing. The Hoosiers know that, because they also know how important every detail can be.
“It’s kind of just ingrained in us at this point,” senior guard Nick Zeisloft said. “Every possession matters and especially at this time of year, one little thing can be the difference in the game.”
So even if they’re being yelled at, the Hoosiers understand. Against a team like Chattanooga, IU might be able to afford a few defensive breakdowns. A couple possessions that end with a contested jump shot because the ball stopped moving might not be the difference.
But as the NCAA Tournament progresses, mistakes like turnovers and unnecessary fouls could cause the Hoosiers to watch the rest of the NCAA Tournament from home.
“Moving on in this tournament, we’re going to see bigger and bigger teams, and you can’t have lapses like that throughout the game,” Hartman said. “There’s always something to learn from, whether it’s a huge win or a loss.”
