Game 3: Indiana vs. Sam Houston State

Hoosiers Destroy Bearkats as Five Players Score Double Figures

By Ryan Bramwell

     SHSU    25  20   45  (1-2)
#1 Indiana  52  47   99  (3-0)

Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana


Individual Performances:

• Christian Watford had his best offensive performance of the season so far scoring 23 points on 5-for-8 shooting as well as going perfect from the stripe (10-for-10) and the 3-point line (3-for-3).
• Will Sheehey was next on the scoring list with 18 points for his best outing yet.  Will also grabbed five rebounds, dished out a pair of assists and came up with a steal.  Will's performance can be attributed to not getting into foul trouble like he did in the previous two games.  He was able to play 26 minutes and lead all Hoosiers in playing time for this one.
• Victor had a terrific game as he scored 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting.  Not to mention he had seven boards to go along with four steals and an assist as well.
• Big Handsome did a little bit of everything as he scored 13, had seven rebounds including five on the offensive end, four assists, two steals and two blocks.  This is known as 'stuffing the stat sheet', ladies and gentlemen.
• Jordy Hulls hit a trio of treys and scored ten points.  He also filled it up by adding five assists and five rebounds.
• The Frosh: Yogi Ferrell had three points and seven assists while Jeremy Hollowell scored four and added six rebounds (four offensive).

Team Effort:

• Indiana held Sam Houston State to 30.2% field goal shooting (16-for-53) and 19.2% 3-point shooting (5-for-26).  Those are atrocious percentages if you weren't sure. 
• The Hoosiers themselves shot a splendid 56.6% from the field (30-for-53) and 43% from the arc (9-for-21).  Those are great numbers if you weren't sure.
• The Bearkats got to the charity stripe 12 times and made eight.  The Hoosiers, on the other hand, got there 44 times and made 30.
• IU more than doubled SHSU in rebounding 41-to-20 and also ripped down 16 offensive boards.
• Indiana had an amazing 24 assists on the night!  What is more astonishing is that they 30 field goals, and only six of them were not tied to assists.  30 field goals.  24 assists.  Wow.
• In some other categories, Indiana out-stole the Bearkats 11-to-4, out-blocked them 3-to-0, and committed 19 fewer personal fouls (31-to-12).

Thoughts:

• This was an absolute pounding. 
• Austin Etherington received an alley-oop pass from Maurice Creek which he threw down for the slam in the waning moments of the game.  There was much rejoicing in Assembly Hall when this occurred. 
• Jordan Hulls had 997 points before he knocked down a 22-foot three pointer to become the 44th member of Indiana's 1,000 point club.  Coach Crean was seen holding Jordy's arm up in the air with his own on center court during the subsequent time out.  It was a warm, fuzzy feeling for all of us.
• Christian Watford did not start.  It was only the second time in his career at IU that he hasn't been in the starting lineup.  He responded to this situation by having a terrific game.
• The Hoosiers rebounded over half of their missed shots!  23 missed shots.  16 offensive rebounds.  That's just crazy good.
• What is not good is the team's free throw shooting.  They have been getting to the line at an amazing clip but not converting at the rate in which we should expect and hold this team to.
• Indiana played a pair of good games to start the season, but this one was just out of hand.  The Hoosiers played good basketball from start to finish on both ends of the floor.