IU 81 Minnesota 78 (OT)

Wow, this one was starting to look all too familiar.  IU had another 15 point lead in the second half and once again they blew it. The Hoosiers were still up by 11 (68-57) with under 6 minutes to go, but they would score just 2 points in the final 6 minutes and 38 seconds of regulation.  After IU literally led this game for 39 minutes and 51 seconds, Minnesota tied the score at 70 with 9 seconds to go.  Watford had a good look at the end of regulation, but he missed and we went to overtime.

This game played out almost identically to the Illinois game.  The difference was that this one went to overtime.

The OT started and it quickly looked like IU was indeed going to blow another big lead and lose.  Minnesota hit 3's on their first two possessions and IU was down by 5 in the extra session.  They looked like they were done at this point.

Verdell Jones stayed aggressive and the Hoosiers battled back.  Verdell had been effective from the FT line all game long but then lost his stroke in overtime.  He was just 3-7 from the line in OT, but he hit two big jumpers in the final 1:15 of overtime to first cut the lead to 1 and then to give IU the lead on a beatiful shot where he fell to the floor as he was fouled.  He did miss that FT so IU had a 1 point lead with 32 seconds to go. 

Rivers had swithced to defend Joseph who hit the 2 big shots to send the game to overtime as well as a 3-pointer to start overtime.  Rivers played solid defense and forced him into a contested fadeaway that he missed. 

Watford grabbed a strong rebound with 4 seconds to go and was fouled.  He calmly hit both FTs to give IU a 3-point lead with 4 seconds to go in OT.

IU played good defense, but Minnesota did get up a good shot that bounced off the rim and the Hoosiers pulled out the victory!

Obviously, you hate to blow a 15-point second half lead for the second time in 3 games, but I was impressed with how IU pulled this one out after being down by 5 points with just 2 minutes to go in overtime.  They kept fighting and got it done.

IU was able to build the big lead by finally hitting some 3-pointers.  I believe the Hoosiers had been 2-26 from the arc against Michigan and the second half against Illinois.  Dumes came in and played well with 13 points in the first half including 3-5 from downtown.

The other big factor for IU was their rebounding.  IU was outstanding on the boards.  So, even though they started the game with 8 turnovers in the first 8 minutes, it didn't cost them too much because they were out-rebounding Minnesota 15-3 at one point.  IU did clean up the turnovers as they had very few the rest of the game.

I thought Bobby Capobianco played his best game of the year.  He contributed offensively with 5 points that included a 3-pointer and a jumper where he had to grab a weak bounce pass and quickly shove up a shot to beat the shot-clock buzzer....swish.  So, the offense was nice, but I really liked his toughness and the way he went after loose balls and rebounds with aggression.

We also saw a little bit of life out of Tom Pritchard.  Of course, both Pritchard and Capobianco continue to foul at alarming rates and both of them fouled out of this game.

Watford came up with some nice rebounds including the important one at the end of overtime.  He also looked more aggressive which is really good to see out of him.  A very nice double-double (16 points and 10 rebounds) for the freshman.  Watford also had 2 dunks in this game including a one-hander that he threw down with authority over a defender.

Rivers had a good all-around game with 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and just 1 turnover.  He continues to struggle at the line as he was just 1-4.

Hulls was solid and hit a couple treys as IU built it's lead.

Dumes had the great first half as IU built the lead, but he disappeared in the second half.  In the second half, he did not score, missed all 3 of his 3-point attempts, missed an important front end, and got a technical foul.  In his defense, it was a double technical foul for jawing with another player and I actually didn't see Dumes say anything at all on the replay.  Seemed to be an over-reaction by the official.  Another interesting part of that play was that Dumes had been fouled to go to the FT line.  Then, the double technical was called which was Minnesota's 10th team foul before Dumes went to the line.  However, he still only received a one-and-one.  I guess because when he was actually fouled, it was only the 9th team foul. 

This team definitely needs a go-to guy and Verdell stepped up as that guy today.  It would have been nice if he would have hit his FTs in OT, but he did hit two HUGE jumpers late in overtime.  Verdell finished with 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Even though the Hoosiers were able to impressively pull out this victory in overtime, you still have to be concerned with the way they are finishing games.  That's now 3 straight games where they have only scored 2 or 3 points in the final 6 minutes of the game.  A rather disturbing trend.  Two of those draughts caused them to blow double-digit leads at home and the other one resulted in them getting blown out on the road after they were in the game for 34 minutes.

I'm not sure about the other 2 games, but in this game it was pretty clear that IU stopped being aggressive.   They stood around and did nothing for 25-30 seconds and then with the shot clock running down, they would have to force something.  Crean can't let that happen.  You can play smart and still be aggressive.  You could hear the crowd repeatedly trying to urge them to get moving into some sort of offense.  So, if fans at Assembly Hall and at home know this, why don't the coaches and players?

I'm not going to focus too much on those final 6 minutes of regulation and that disturbing trend because they did win and now have the same conference record as Purdue (losers of 3 straight).

Man, now would be a great time go and get that first road win.  On Thursday, they are at Penn State, who is off to a rough 0-5 start in conference play.  Then, on Sunday, IU hosts Iowa.  I smell a winning streak!

Go Hoosiers!