IU Escapes Pesky Northwestern for First 20-Win Season Since 2007-08

Most of this Big Ten conference game was close and physical. The game went back and forth as both teams fought hard the entire match.

Indiana (20-6, 9-7 Big Ten) showed why they were the better team and narrowly escaped with a 71-66 victory in Assembly Hall Wednesday night over Northwestern (15-10, 5-8 Big Ten). The win marked the first time since the 2007-2008 season that Indiana has won 20 games in a season and the 31st time in school history with 20-plus wins in a season.

The win also was the eighth conference win for the Hoosiers, which gives the team more wins this season in conference play than in the first three years combined under head coach Tom Crean. It also was only the third time since 2006 that the Hoosiers have beat the Wildcats in Bloomington.

The game was won because of the play of Cody Zeller, Victor Oladipo and Verdell Jones III.

The trio combined to score 41 of Indiana's 71 points with Zeller leading the way with 23. Jones III sealed the Hoosiers victory with scoring all six of his points at the end of the game with three big shots that made the difference in the score.

Before Jones III's three buckets, the game was tied at 65, but Jones III hit a baseline shot to break the tie then hit a driving lay-up to the left side to make the score 69-65. Sandwiched between those two possessions, Indiana held Northwestern to a shot clock violation with stiffling defense.

Following a couple of possessions, Jones III hit a deep two with his left foot on the three-point line to make the score 71-66 with 29.4 seconds left. That was all Indiana needed.

The Hoosier faithful also need to thank Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo.

When Indiana took Zeller and Oladipo out of the game, the intensity level dropped and Northwestern went on big runs.

Northwestern jumped out to a 12-5 run to start the second half after trailing 37-31 at the half, including an 8-0 run in the first few minutes.

From there, the Hoosiers leaned on Zeller and Oladipo, as Indiana took a two-point lead with 14:56 left in the game on a Zeller jumper around the basket. Once Zeller picked up his third foul, coach Crean took both him and Oladipo out and the Wildcats went on an 11-2 run.

Crean had no choice but to put Zeller and Oladipo back in and Indiana scored four quick points to tie the game at 54.

In the first half, Indiana looked like they were going to get blown out of the gym due to their inability to guard the dribble drive. Northwestern run a fast paced Princeton-type offense and used John Shurna to set a screen at the top of the key. The Hoosiers respected the Big Ten's leading scorer as they should have and failed to hedge the screen.

That allowed Northwestern to expose Indiana, as the big men were forced to foul the Wildcats on three straight possessions. Derek Elston picked up two quick fouls and Zeller had one.

Credit goes to coach Crean for making the necessary adjustments and giving Indiana a way to cut the fouls down by midway through the first half.

The only problem with shutting down the dribble drives was that senior John Shurna went off for Northwestern. He had a game-high 29 points for the Wildcats and is truly a great ballplayer. The Hoosiers kept playing physical with him though, and it wore him out in the end as he only sat out for 30 seconds of the 40-minute contest. It really showed in the end.

The other explosive player for Northwestern, Drew Crawford, added 18 points of his own in the losing effort.

Indiana will next take their three-game win streak to Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes in Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 6 p.m. on Sunday. The Hoosiers broke 100 points just a few weeks ago in the win over Iowa at Assembly Hall.

Expect another high-scoring game on Sunday evening.