By Craig Smith
BLOOMINGTON — It seemed like a recipe for trouble.
In their first game under Tom Crean and returning only two players, both bench players from last year’s squad, the Indiana Hoosiers faced a mid-major foe with a tradition of success and a style designed to maximize mistakes by its opponent.
“My stomach knew it was a real game tonight,” Crean said.
Despite falling behind 8-2 early, Indiana battled for a relatively easy 83-65 win over Northwestern State on Saturday night at Assembly Hall.
“We’re not shut out for the season, so we’re happy,” Crean said. “We want to give them a plan so they understand what it takes to win each and every game.
“We knew we were not close to [NSU] in terms of quickness and athleticism. So the hustle game kept us going.”
The Hoosiers and Demons traded leads early in the first half as Devan Dumes paced Indiana (1-0) with 13 points. The Demons used their fast-paced offense and full-court man defense to jump out to the early lead, but their style also proved to be their undoing.
After Indiana tied the game at 18 with 11:44 remaining in the first half, Northwestern State (0-1) had 10 turnovers and shot 4-for-18 from the field.
“They executed and broke us down,” said Northwestern State coach Mike McConathy. “I thought we were on our toes defensively for the first eight minutes and after that they had us playing on our heels.”
The Hoosiers had several promising developments. Walk-on point guard Dan Moore proved able to handle the Demons defense, scoring six points with three assists and only two turnovers in 15 minutes. True freshman Tom Pritchard had a double-double in his collegiate debut, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. And guard Nick Williams showed his physical presence with strong defense and a tenacious first-half block that forcefully sent the ball flying out of bounds. The Hoosiers forced 30 turnovers.
Pritchard picked up his second foul with 14 minutes left in the first half, only to return later in the half, grabbing a rebound and slamming home a dunk.
“I would have never done that with a veteran team,” Crean said. “But guys gotta learn how to play with two fouls in the first half or three early in the second half.”
That’s not to say that the Hoosiers did everything right. Indiana gave up 23 turnovers and was out-rebounded 52-41.
“Most of the guys are used to going up and getting the ball. They are used to out-jumping their opponents, but that is not the case in Division I, anywhere,” Crean said.
Dumes led the Hoosiers with 21 points while Verdell Jones added 18. Damon Jones led the Demons with 17.
“I thought Coach Crean was a great selection [for Indiana],” McConathy said. “He wants people to execute and work hard and be student/athletes. They played hard tonight. I’ve played in enough of these kind of games to know that teams don’t always play as hard as they are supposed to play.”
NOTES: Crean is the eighth consecutive Indiana coach to win his debut game. … Indiana hosts IUPUI on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. … Fourteen players found the floor for the Hoosiers.
