Indiana Basketball: 5 Reasons Why the Hoosiers' Win at NC State Was Huge

Indiana University basketball used to be one of the storied programs in all of collegiate sports.

Tom Crean (pictured) was brought in to clean up the mess that followed a series of NCAA violations under Kelvin Sampson's watch.

The Hoosiers, however, haven't won more than 12 games in a single season since 2007-08 when they went 25-8.

It has been brutal for Crean and the Indiana basketball program

However, Indiana is 7-0 in 2011-12.

The first five wins of this new season have been at home against a collection of cupcake teams.

But last night's win was different.

Here's five reasons why the Hoosiers win against North Carolina State was huge:

Indiana Hasn't Won Too Many Come-from-Behind Games Recently

There haven't been too many come from behind victories in a while at IU because there haven't been too many victories.

NC State was ahead with less than eight minutes to play.

But, the Hoosiers outscored the WolfPack 30-12 for the remainder of the game, pulling ahead for good when Christian Watford (pictured) hit a three-pointer with 4:03 to go.

Indiana Didn't Win a Road Game Last Year

Indiana won three Big Ten games last year. All of them came at Assembly Hall in Bloomington.

The Hoosiers had 12 total victories in 2010-11. Every single one of them came on their home court.

In fact, IU's last road victory of any kind was on January 21, 2010 against Penn State.

Beating NC State on NC State's court is something from which Crean can build.

IU Hasn't Won a Road Game Against a Legitimate Non-Conference Team Under Crean

Indiana won nine non-conference games last season, which sounds impressive, until you see a list of those teams:

Florida Gulf Coast, Wright State, Mississippi Valley State, Evansville, North Carolina Central, Northwestern State, Savannah State, SIU-Edwardsville and South Carolina State.

All of these games were at home.

No disrespect to any of these institutions but these aren't exactly what you would call "quality wins."

The Hoosiers lost their other four non-conference games last season against Boston College, Kentucky, Northern Iowa and Colorado.

In fact, this could be considered the first legitimate non-conference road win on Crean's watch.

The Hoosiers beat Pittsburgh on December 8, 2009 but that was a neutral court game at Madison Square Garden.

So, beating NC State gave the Hoosiers something that hasn't happened since before their current coach came to town.

Indiana Has Had Five Different Top Scorers This Season

One of the strengths of this Hoosiers team is balance.

They do not depend on one star player to get it done every night.

In fact, in their first seven games, Indiana has had five different top scorers.

Jordan Hulls (pictured) scored 20 in the victory at NC State, leading four IU players who scored in double figures.

Indiana Has the Real Deal in Cody Zeller

Cody Zeller has come in and demonstrated why he was an elite-level recruit.

He shoots the ball well (15.4 ppg), he crashes the boards (7.6 rpg), and causes havoc in passing lanes (2.4 spg).

Zeller not only leads the team in scoring, rebounds and steals but he is the kind of player that makes everyone else around him better.

As good as his brother Tyler is at North Carolina, Cody is much further along as he begins his collegiate career.

This win against NC State shows that Zeller is not just effective against low and mid-major competition.

His 19 points and seven rebounds in Raleigh may be his official entry into Big Time Basketball.