BLOOMINGTON — Tom Crean has two measures for judging his team’s progress: as compared to last year and as compared to last week.
By either measure, Indiana is getting better, even if it doesn’t always show up in the win column.
With the exception of a five-minute stretch, Indiana gave as good as it got in a 90-73 loss to No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday in front of a sold-out Assembly Hall and national television audience.
Last year, the Hoosiers (4-5) trailed 36-13 at halftime at Rupp Arena before falling 72-54. Crean said last year’s locker room was stunned.
After today’s game, the Hoosiers were sad, mad and frustrated that they let the game slip from their grasp.
As Kentucky coach John Calipari put it, Indiana came out and punched the Wildcats (10-0) in the mouth to start the game.
Freshman Maurice Creek had seven of his career-high 31 points in the first three minutes of the game as Indiana ran out to a 12-4 lead and sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Devan Dumes grabbed a rebound and put the ball back in as time expired at halftime to pull Indiana to 42-41 heading into the break.
Indiana even took the lead with a Jeremiah Rivers layup before Kentucky took off on its 18-0 run.
The Hoosiers’ rebounding woes were even more apparent during that stretch, as the Wildcats grabbed nine rebounds to Indiana’s three.
Kentucky dominated the boards, doubling Indiana up 49-24.
Crean said the Hoosiers needed more rebounds from their guards and Rivers agreed.
“The bigs were down there, clearing them out for us, but I think we caught up watching and standing there,” the junior point guard said.
Freshman sensation John Wall had 11 points, but Crean made special mention of his seven rebounds. Wall’s seven rebounds led to 11
Kentucky points on ensuing possessions because, as Crean pointed out,
Wall could take off down the floor because he didn’t need to wait for an outlet pass.
Wall also had an effect on the Hoosiers that showed up in Eric Bledsoe’s stat sheet.
Rivers admitted that while the defenses weren’t designed to shut down Wall, he did get extra attention and they sometimes forgot about
Bledsoe. Bledsoe scored 23 points on 8-for-23 shooting, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. He did have six turnovers, but those didn’t bother his coach.
“I told him that if he played that well, I’ll take your six turnovers.”
In the past 12 days, Indiana has gone from being a team that lost to Boston University and George Mason in Puerto Rico to one that traded punches with Maryland and Kentucky and beat Pittsburgh.
“We’ve made a lot of improvement since Puerto Rico,” Creek said. “I think we were still studying each other back then and we figured each other out.
“We’re playing as one unit. We still have some things to work on, but once we do those things, we will be back.”
n Notes — Creek’s 31 points were the most for an IU player since Eric Gordon had 31 against Illinois State on Nov. 23, 2007. … Saturday was Kentucky’s first win at Assembly Hall since 1981. … Kentucky leads the all-time series 30-23. … This marks Kentucky’s best start to a season since going 11-0 to begin the 1993-94 campaign. … Indiana hosts North Carolina Central next Saturday.
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Effort vs. Wildcats shows how far Hoosiers have come
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Indiana State connects on all 12 of its 3-point shots vs. SIU and sets three NCAA records in process
When you’re a shooter and you’re in a slump, the boilerplate cure is to summon amnesia, forget about your struggles and keep on shooting.
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ISU's Webb wins heptathlon
Indiana State’s Robert Webb captured the heptathlon Saturday at the Grand Valley State Big Meet as he totaled the second most points in ISU history while dominating the event. Webb scored 5,140 points, which is second only to former Sycamore Anthony Bertoli’s 5,189 points in 2008.
Webb, a senior, established three more personal best efforts enroute to the overall victory as he ran 8.45 in the 60 meter hurdles and 2 minutes, 50.73 seconds in the 1,000 meters while also clearing 13-1 1/2 in the pole vault. Webb entered the second day of the event in the lead with 2,893 points after winning three of the four Friday events and setting personal bests in the long jump and shot put. -
Perfect game: ISU shoots NCAA record 12-for-12 from 3-point range in win over SIU
Indiana State set an NCAA record for 3-point percentage and consecutive 3-pointers made Saturday afternoon in Hulman Center, connecting on all 12 attempts during a 78-68 win over Southern Illinois.
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‘Frustrated’ Sycamores regroup to face Southern Illinois
Indiana State’s men’s basketball struggles have hit one Sycamore senior hard.
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Thomas nets double-double as ISU women end losing streak
The halftime speech is one of the most time-worn clichés in sports, but once in a while, it’s meaningful. It certainly was for the Indiana State women’s basketball team on Friday against Bradley.
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Sycamore women looking to snap six-game losing streak
The Indiana State women’s basketball team is in dire need of a victory in Hulman Center this weekend.
Bradley visits Terre Haute tonight looking to sweep the season series from the Sycamores, who are in jeopardy of the program’s first seven-game losing streak since the 1995-96 season.
“I think it should [add to motivation]. There’s no doubt that group in the locker room in there is very disappointed,” Coach Teri Moren said. “As I keep saying, we’re in a rough patch right now, and there’s no group of kids that wants to get right back on track more than they do.” -
Leonard dominates in first half, but IU, Zeller earn the victory
The first half belonged to Illinois’ Meyers Leonard.
The win belonged to Indiana and Cody Zeller.
The 23rd-ranked Hoosiers (19-6, 7-6 Big Ten) took advantage of a glaring free-throw discrepancy to defeat the Illini 84-71 on Thursday. -
Rose women roll; Dickerson becomes all-time assists leader
Rose-Hulman senior Alisa Dickerson became the college’s career leader in assists as the Engineers cruised past Defiance 60-33 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s basketball Saturday afternoon in Hulbert Arena.
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MVC’s worst a tantalizing option for ISU
Even though the Indiana State men’s basketball team has played better of late, having won three of its last four games, there’s only one team with a worse record in the Missouri Valley Conference standings than the Sycamores.
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Sycamores can’t stop Stutz, Shockers
All or nothing. It was that kind of game for Wichita State center Garrett Stutz. Unfortunately for Indiana State’s men’s basketball team, the “all” came in the second half.
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McWhorter’s fortunes rise with ISU’s
More so than any other Sycamore, Steve McWhorter might embody the decline and the recent rise of the Indiana State men’s basketball team.
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Johnson dominates again for ISU track
Felisha Johnson continued to dominate women’s weight throw while two Indiana State hurdlers moved into today’s finals after solid performances in the preliminaries Friday at the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame.
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Indiana State women lose at Illinois State
Playing short-handed again, Indiana State’s women suffered their sixth straight Missouri Valley Conference basketball loss Friday night, falling 78-67 to host Illinois State.
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Indiana, Purdue meet with both looking to regain momentum
Indiana University’s stint in the Top 25 may be coming to an end. Purdue is just looking for a winning streak.
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ISU women looking to end five-game losing streak at Illinois State
Within a few points in the final minutes, Indiana State had chances to win women’s basketball games at Missouri State and Wichita State last weekend.
But the Sycamores lost for the fourth and fifth straight games, also losing freshman Jessica Valley for the season at Wichita State. The promising backcourt player tore the ACL in her right knee and began strengthening exercises this week in order to make plans for surgery. -
ISU Senior Day game to be televised on ESPN
The Missouri Valley Conference announced Thursday that Indiana State’s regular season finale against No. 12-ranked Creighton on Feb. 25 in Hulman Center has been chosen as the MVC’s “wild card” game that will be telecast on either ESPN or ESPN2.
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Hoosiers load up on in-state players
With a 1-11 record in his first season as IU football coach, Kevin Wilson knew there were a lot of holes to fill in terms of personnel.
- Wabash Valley verbal commitments
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It’s on: Sycamores, Bulldogs to play at Hinkle on Feb. 18
How badly did Indiana State want to get Butler as its BracketBusters opponent?
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METRO ROUNDUP: Four from Rose receive weekly honors
Four Rose-Hulman athletes earned Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference weekly honors, the HCAC announced Monday.
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Hoosiers reclaim needed offensive momentum
Indiana hadn’t allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40 percent in three straight games heading into Sunday’s home game against Iowa.
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Sycamores will have to match Aces’ toughness
Indiana State men’s basketball coach Greg Lansing has an enduring respect for the toughness Evansville coach Marty Simmons coaxes out of his Purple Aces.
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Rose, The Woods post weekend victories
Rose-Hulman relied on a balanced scoring attack and a strong defensive effort to earn a 55-44 women’s basketball victory Saturday over Mount St. Joseph.
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ISU's Stacia Weatherford sets school record in 60-meter hurdles
Indiana State junior Stacia Weatherford set the school record in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, while sophomore Greggmar Swift dominated the action in the men’s 60 hurdles during competition Saturday at the Indiana Relays.
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Rose takes first in Engineer Track and Field Invitational
Rose-Hulman relied on nine event victories, 13 top-two finishes and three school records for a strong performance at the ninth annual Engineer Track and Field Invitational on Saturday.
The men’s squad captured first place honors in a meet that featured two of the nation's top 20 NCAA Division III squads and 12 institutions from seven states. The day’s competition also included 10 meet records. -
Mattox’s 31 not enough for ISU women
Indiana State pulled within 63-57 with a 6-0 run with 8 minutes, 50 seconds remaining Friday night at JQH Arena, but the Sycamores lost 84-70 to host Missouri State in a Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball game.
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Mattox, Sycamores staying positive on road trip to Missouri State, Wichita State
Indiana State seniors Brittany Schoen and Deja Mattox are within striking distance of passing 1,000 points in their women’s basketball careers, and they would join classmate Shannon Thomas in that club. Schoen needs just 16 points, while Mattox is 89 points away.
But Mattox has been on a roll of late, scoring a team-high 15.1 points through ISU’s 4-3 start to Missouri Valley Conference play. -
IU triumphs
When Indiana’s Will Sheehey left the floor after receiving his second technical foul, the Hoosier fans cheered.
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ISU women nipped at buzzer
Creighton sophomore Carli Tritz — blanketed by Indiana State senior Brittany Schoen — had just two points at halftime Friday in Hulman Center.
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ISU needs to find chip on its shoulder
When one looks back at the totality of Indiana State’s 2010-11 men’s basketball season, there’s a recurrent theme that tied together the high points in a 20-14 campaign. A recurrent theme that might give ISU a lifeline in what has been a disappointing 2012 season.
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