Marquee Win

I was wrong and I couldn't be any happier. I didn't think IU could handle a physical team like Pittsburgh. Not only did they handle the physicality, the Hoosiers were the tougher and more aggressive squad and they beat the Panthers 74-64 in Madison Square Garden. This was a huge victory and big step forward in the restoration process.

Limiting Turnovers
Indiana took care of the ball really well on Tuesday night. They didn't have very many mental lapses that resulted in dumb passes or careless mistakes. In total, IU had 12 turnovers. That number is inflated a little bit by the five turnovers they had in the last six minutes. They could have very easily been under 10! If the Hoosiers are able to limit their turnovers to around 12 a game, they are going to be very competitive in most of their contests this season.

Free Throw Advantage
IU used to make more free throws than their opponents attempted. That was the rule up until the late 90s. Tom Crean's uptempo and attacking style should get the Hoosiers back to something that resembles those numbers at the foul line. After some woeful free throw shooting in the first four games, Indiana has actually shot pretty well from the foul line. IU outscored Pitt by 13 points at the foul line. Ken Pomeroy is the king of college basketball statistics and one of his "Four Factors of Winning" is free throw rate. To find it, divide the number of free throws made by the number of field goal attempts. The number you get tells you the percentage of possessions that your team is getting to the line and making free throws. IU was pretty poor in this department against Maryland (37%) but had an astronomical leap against Pitt (63%). The other three factors are shooting efficiency, ball handling turnover % and offensive rebound %. Go to http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/help_with_team_page/ to see how stats tell the story and where each team ranks.

End Game
The last two minutes were a lot more stressful than they needed to be. I saw some images of complete collapses and I knew that if Pitt had a chance to beat IU with a buzzer beater, they probably would. However, the Hoosiers were able to get a hold of themselves and Pitt never really threatened.

Player of the Game
I thought there were a lot of guys that played well. Devan Dumes played his best game of the year. Jeremiah Rivers gutted through a pinched nerve in his back to lead the team, Tom Pritchard hit some lay-ups, Derek Elston was a beast in the first half, Christian Watford was very effective. However, the player of the game was Verdell Jones. Jones had 20 points, three assists and three blocks to lead the Hoosiers to the win. Perhaps the most impressive thing was that IU controlled this game while only hitting one three pointer (1-7 as a team). The Hoosiers beat Pittsburgh in the paint and on the foul line.

Great win! Until next time, God Bless.