2010 January | Inside the Hall | Indiana Hoosiers Basketball News, Recruiting and Analysis

Patterson leads Broad Ripple to City Championship

by Alex Bozich in Recruiting | January 24th, 2010

Throughout the season, Inside the Hall will keep you posted on how 2010 signees Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey and 2011 commitments Austin Etherington and Matt Carlino, as well as other notable prospects being recruited by Indiana, are performing at their respective schools.

You can send us stats or results for this report at tips@insidethehall.com. Here’s our latest update:

+ Victor Oladipo – DeMatha (MD): 15 points in a 79-71 loss on January 18 to Mater Dei (CA). DeMatha bounced back with a 83-55 rout of O’Connell on January 20 and Oladipo had six points. On January 22, Oladipo scored 14 points in 70-64 win over Carroll.

+ Will Sheehey – Sagemont (FL): 20 points, seven rebounds and three steals in 55-45 loss to Coral Springs Christian on January 21.

+ Austin Etherington – Hamilton Heights (IN): 20 points in 76-53 win at Sheridan on January 23. Hamilton Heights fell 61-51 at Eastern (Greentown) on January 22.

+ Matt Carlino – Bloomington South (IN): 13 points in a 77-48 blowout victory over Martinsville on January 22. 13 points in 61-48 win at Franklin Central on January 23. Bloomington South has won 40 straight games.

+ Ron Patterson (pictured) – Broad Ripple (IN): 14 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with six seconds remaining, to lift Broad Ripple over Howe, 62-61, for the City Tournament championship on January 23. (Game story by Kyle Neddenriep here.) 15 points in 59-46 win over Manual earlier that day. 28 points, including 6-of-8 from behind the 3-point line, in 61-48 win over Cathedral on January 21. 22 points in 75-57 win over Indianapolis Washington on January 19. Averaged 19.8 points in four City Tournament games.

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Tags: Austin Etherington, Matt Carlino, Victor Oladipo, Will Sheehey

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Pick to Click: Iowa

by Alex Bozich in Pick to Click | January 23rd, 2010

Get in your picks before 5:45 pm ET on Sunday. Please state your selection first thing in your comment. Overriding PTC principles are here and updated standings are available here. Good luck.

Player Pick to Click Wins, Season to-date:

+ Verdell Jones: 6

+ Maurice Creek: 5

+ Christian Watford: 4

+ Jeremiah Rivers: 2

+ Devan Dumes: 1

Tags: Iowa Hawkeyes

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Iowa game presents Indiana a new kind of test

by Zachary Osterman in Commentary | January 22nd, 2010

Well, OK then, Indiana can win on the road in the Big Ten.

No, Penn State hasn’t won a conference game yet, and yes, the Hoosiers almost let a comfortable lead slip away, (again) but given all that this team has endured — and must still endure — opponents really aren’t the concern right now.

And, given all their lessons in the stark reality of college basketball, surely the Hoosiers know what comes next: another test.

Iowa makes the trip east Sunday evening to meet Indiana inside Assembly Hall. Beset by transfers, player ineligibility and a general post-Steve Alford malaise that’s left the program appearing almost drunken at times, the Hawkeyes were the one team in the Big Ten that stood any chance of being worse than Indiana when the season started.

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Tags: Anthony Tucker, Todd Lickliter

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Good, Bad and Ugly: Penn State

by Ryan Corazza in Good Bad Ugly | January 21st, 2010

THE GOOD: BENDING, NOT BREAKING.

Heck of a win tonight in Happy Valley.

Sure, Penn State was a meek 0-5 in the Big Ten heading into this game, but a young Hoosiers team like this isn’t supposed to get conference road wins, no matter whom the opponent is. And unlike we’ve seen in previous road adventures, IU came out of the gate tonight and controlled the game from the onset. They hit shots early — was that Jeremiah Rivers hitting two jumpers? — didn’t look scared, and played with a swagger and confidence we’ve yet to see outside of Assembly Hall in conference play.

It was really just the perfect set of circumstances for the Hoosiers tonight: they came off arguably their biggest win of the year against Minnesota on Sunday, and their next game just happened to be against a team that had yet to win in conference play. They had confidence, and showed it tonight.

But what was even more impressive to me this evening was not the double-digit lead IU was able to mount in the first half thanks to a hot start, it was withstanding Penn State’s run in the second half, especially when you factor in Jeremiah Rivers was basically a non-factor with his foul trouble. (Sidenote: how great is Rivers at that chase-down block on layups? Love that.) When the score got to 40-40 with 13:44 to play, and the momentum shifted in the Nittany Lions’ favor, IU held court.

Watford came down, made a nice move in the post and scored. Penn State came up empty, then Verdell Jones — who along with Devan Dumes were big keys on the offensive end — hit a three and suddenly IU was up 45-40. And though there were a few moments where I thought Penn State might have a shot to get back into it after that, there was never any real OH CRAP IS IU GOING TO WIN THIS OR WHAT moments tonight.

Calm, cool and collected on the road? I can get used to that.

THE BAD AND UGLY: BLANK SLATE.

I’ll leave this one up to you guys. I wasn’t expecting a win on the road this year, especially after how the Hoosiers looked against the Buckeyes and Wolverines earlier Big Ten season. Therefore, no gripes from me tonight.

Tags: Penn State Nittany Lions

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Hoosiers never trail, win 67-61 at Penn State

by Alex Bozich in Recaps | January 21st, 2010

Winning on the road is never easy. It’s made even tougher when the only player on your roster that’s experienced a conference road win is a walk-on named Brett Finkelmeier.

But in what will be looked at down the road as a valuable learning experience for this rebuilding Indiana program, the Hoosiers went to Penn State Thursday night and left with a 67-61 victory. Even more impressive was this: Indiana never trailed en route to victory.

“They’re gaining conference,” Indiana coach Tom Crean told Don Fischer on the postgame radio show. “If you don’t have a win like Minnesota, the way that we won it, maybe they don’t feel like they can win this one. We held on. We got big stops. We attacked in press offense.”

The Hoosiers (9-9, 3-3 Big Ten) hit 9-of-20 from behind the 3-point arc, 10-of-14 free throws and committed just 12 turnovers to 15 assists. Devan Dumes, IU’s leading scorer last season, had a season-high 15 points.

“He really, really stepped up,” Crean said of Dumes. “I’m really proud of the way that he played. He made some big plays in 26 minutes of basketball. He answered the challenge of Talor Battle when Jeremiah (Rivers) had some foul trouble.”

After Indiana led 35-28 at halftime, Penn State (8-10, 0-6) opened the second half with a 12-5 run to tie the game at 40 with 13:44 remaining.

But unlike previous road games at Ohio State and Michigan where the Hoosiers had lengthy scoring droughts, Thursday was different: Indiana immediately answered with six straight points.

Penn State, which shot just 37 percent and got little offense besides 22 points from Battle, never got closer than three the rest of the way.

“Again tonight just like Minnesota, we went and earned the game,” Crean said. “We never lost the lead and that’s the key. We never had to play comeback on it. They bought into the fact that it’s not about running good offense, it’s about executing good offense.”

Verdell Jones had another game in double figures with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists and Christian Watford added 11 points and nine rebounds.

+ Box score

Tags: Devan Dumes, Penn State Nittany Lions, Tom Crean

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