INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana looked dead in the water. Down 74-69 with 38 seconds left in regulation Saturday afternoon against Butler, the No. 1 Hoosiers went to full-court pressure, desperately trying to remain undefeated. They swarmed around and did everything possible to get their hands on the ball. And eventually, they got within three points at 76-73 with 16 seconds to go.
That’s when freshman point guard Yogi Ferrell — who had struggled all afternoon — stepped up like a veteran and nailed a game-tying 3-pointer from the right wing.
“That’s Yogi,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said afterward. “He did the same thing in New York [against Georgetown], he’s done the same thing in a couple of practices. He’s got great toughness. He really does. He’s a ‘next play’ guard. That’s why he’s such a special guard, especially at that age.”
The Hoosiers surrounded Ferrell at midcourt, celebrating like they had just won the game. They hadn’t. They had merely gotten it to overtime. And Butler, with two of its starters already fouled out, refused to go away.
After Indiana (9-1) jumped ahead 84-80 and looked to be headed for its 10th straight win, Butler’s Rotnei Clarke and Chase Stigall hit back-to-back 3s to put the Bulldogs back on top. Stigall’s attempt was uncontested as there was miscommunication between Will Sheehey and Remy Abell.
“There’s no question we cost ourselves at the end of the game defensively,” Crean said. “They made the plays and they get credit for that, but we made the mistake in how we guarded it.”
Cody Zeller quickly scored to tie the game at 86-86. And then came the final possession of the game.
Tom Crean’s recruiting philosophy has always been fairly clear during his tenure at Indiana: Pursue players that will fit your program — no matter where they are ranked — and develop them.
Fred Glass knew what Indiana basketball was supposed to look like. Glass graduated from IU in 1980, and he was at Assembly Hall for numerous games during the Bob Knight era.
The Indiana staff has had a great deal of recruiting success on the East Coast recently, and they seem focused on continuing to hit that part of the country hard.
Indiana sophomore guard 
After a week without a game, 
Hoosiers will learn from Saturday’s loss
But maybe, just maybe, the right answer you’re so desperately looking for doesn’t have all that much to do with Indiana. Perhaps it has more to do with Butler.
There’s no question the Hoosiers didn’t play like the nation’s best team in Saturday’s 88-86 overtime loss. No question at all, they have to play better going forward.
At the end of the day, though, no matter how good and how talented the Hoosiers are, they continue to run into situations they haven’t experienced before. On Saturday, it was an overtime game against a smaller but more physical team. They had to adjust inside of the game and, for the most part, they failed to that.
It doesn’t happen often, but Tom Crean and Indiana were outcoached on Saturday. And that’s no insult to Crean. It’s more a compliment to Butler coach Brad Stevens, who continues to prove his value as one of the best in-game coaches in college basketball.
Stevens and Butler have been there before. They’ve been to two national championship games. They’ve played against and beaten bigger teams. They’ve taken on the so-called “best” of college basketball and won.
Saturday’s game was nothing new for the Bulldogs. Even as their best players began fouling out — first Roosevelt Jones, then Andrew Smith and Erik Fromm — Butler remained calm.
“It’s no surprise to us,” Smith said afterward. “People are going to be surprised when an unranked team beats a team like IU, but we have a great team.”
And that’s just it. These are the kinds of games Indiana needs to learn how to win. The Hoosiers won’t always be able to win in run-away fashion. Sometimes, they’ll have to grind them out.
Continue reading this post »