Things Are Right in the World Again, IU WINS!

Indiana beats Northwestern.....finally, things feel normal again.....even it is only for a brief moment.

The best part about this game was that it was four freshmen that led the way:

* Jordan Hulls - A career-high 24 points on eight 3-pointers in just 12 attempts.  Only Matt Roth and Roderick Wilmont have made more triples in a single game.  Hulls also added 4 assists.

* Derek Elston - A career-high 17 points, 8 rebs, 1 stl, 1 blk.

* Bobby Capobianco - A career-high 8 points, career-high 7 rebounds, 2 stls, 2 blks.

* Christian Watford - A double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, 2 stls, 1 blk.

The only other player that truly contributed was Verdell Jones with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists.  Nice numbers by Verdell, but he struggled with his jumper today and had some tough turnovers in crunch time.  However, it was interesting to see him running the point today.  I liked it.

Coaches always say that it is not who starts a game that is important, it's who finishes the game.  Especially a close game.  Well, today, it was the four freshmen noted above along with Verdell that played in overtime and they were fantastic.  While the 11-game losing streak was extremely painful and included an average margin of defeat of more than 20 points per game in the last 8 games......forgot where I was going with this point.  See what happens when I merely mention the previous 8 games, I get too distraught to even finish a thought.  Ah, now I remember, my point is that we saw some very positive things from 4 freshmen and a sophomore today.  And from a fan's perspective, we sure needed that.

A few plays that stuck out in my mind from today's game and all 3 involve said freshmen:

* Watford with a great defensive rebound and quick outlet pass to Hulls who pushes the ball up the floor and deep into the lane.  Hulls makes a nice pass behind him to Elston who finishes with a tomohawk!

* This one isn't just one play, it's eight of them.  That's right, the eight 3-pointers from Jordan Hulls including one fairly late in regulation to answer a NW three and he nailed another in the overtime.

* The final one came with 1:26 to go in OT when Bobby C grabbed an airballed desperation three from Hulls and laid it in to beat the shot clock buzzer and got fouled.  The team and fans went crazy.  He made the freebie to put IU up by 7.  In fact, Capabianco was 4-5 from the line in the final 1:26 to help seal the victory.

And so it was, an 11-game losing streak that looked worse than last year.  But on this day, Senior Day I might add, the freshmen made this day a very good one for the Hoosiers. 

Now, if they can just string together an 11-game winning streak, then the Hoosiers will be NCAA champions for the 6th time.

GO HOOSIERS!