“Indiana didn’t show up,” Dakich told Dave Revsine immediately following IU’s 83-55 loss. “It was the third straight game. This time they lose by 28. Two previous games by 17. Without much energy, without much pride.”

The humiliating loss, IU’s sixth straight, dropped the Hoosiers to 9-15 overall and 3-9 in the Big Ten. And while the outcome was not unexpected, the lack of resistance Indiana showed from the opening tip was discouraging.

There was no fight. There was no determination. And perhaps most disturbing, the effort on defense was non-existent.

Indiana looked more content to lay down and take a loss than engage in a battle with Wisconsin. And the final score, the worst loss of the season, was indicative of that.

“We’re having a major confidence issue in the sense of playing through anything that is even remotely tough to us right now,” Indiana head coach Tom Crean told Don Fisher on the postgame radio show. “We’ve got to get that mojo back of that toughness that we had.”

The outcome was never in doubt as the Badgers (19-6, 9-4) led by 20 before the second television timeout and shot 53 percent in the first half.

In all, Indiana surrended 10 3-pointers to Wisconsin, led by seven from Jason Bohannon, who scored a career-high 30 points.

“We’re not keeping the dribble in front of us right now,” Crean said. “That’s why we’re trying to play some different things defensively. We’re just not really helping with a purpose. We never got off to a great start with our defense, they got a ton of confidence and we just gave up far too many open shots.”

Indiana also reverted back to early season form in the turnover department, coughing it up 21 times. Wisconsin won the battle on the glass, 33-26, and had 18 assists to just 10 turnovers. Trevon Hughes — 16 points — and Jordan Taylor — 11 points — joined Bohannon in double figures.

Christian Watford scored 15 points to lead Indiana, but shot just 4 of 12. Verdell Jones, battling flu-like symptoms, added 11 points in 33 minutes.

+ Box score

Fast forward the calendar five weeks and the rematch was the same old story.

Too much Will Buford, Dallas Lauderdale and Evan Turner. No offensive cohesion. And not nearly the defensive intensity needed to be competitive.

The result: A fifth straight loss for Indiana – 69-52 – dropping the Hoosiers to 9-14 overall and 3-8 in the Big Ten.

“It was pathetic in a lot of ways,” Tom Crean told Don Fisher on the postgame radio show. “It was pathetic defensively. It’s inexcusable, but I don’t have a lot of avenues to go right now in the sense of making different decisions. But we will and we’ll be able to correct it and fix it as we move along.”

Through the first 12-plus minutes, Indiana looked like it might make a game of it. With Turner on the bench with two fouls, the Hoosiers were within one at 18-17.

Ohio State responded with a 16-3 run the last 7:48 of the half to grab a 34-20 halftime lead. And the Hoosiers never got within 12 the rest of the way.

“The margin for error against teams like that are so poor for us, but we don’t have any chance when we don’t play harder than that,” Crean said.

Buford finished with a game-high 21 points, Lauderdale added 14 points and eight rebounds and Turner, the front runner for Big Ten Player of the Year, had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists in 21 minutes.

It was the eighth straight Big Ten win for Ohio State, moving the Buckeyes into a tie for first place.

Indiana, which shot just 37 percent from the field, got 15 points and seven rebounds from Christian Watford and 13 points from Jordan Hulls.

+ Box score

But when the dust settled, Indiana looked nothing like the team that had just taken Illinois and Purdue to the wire in a pair of hard-fought losses.

And Northwestern, which inched closer to the .500 mark in conference play, looked like a team poised to work its way back into the NCAA Tournament conversation with a convincing 78-61 win over the Hoosiers.

“We just don’t have a toughness about us that’s there everyday,” Indiana coach Tom Crean told Don Fisher on the postgame radio show. “We didn’t come with a street fight mentality at the beginning of the game at all.”

The Wildcats (16-8, 5-6 Big Ten) jumped out to a 10-2 lead, hit 10 of 25 from behind the 3-point line, shot 52 percent from the field and were never really challenged by Indiana.

All five starters for Bill Carmody’s team, which had 21 assists and just 10 turnovers, scored in double figures, led by 16 from John Shurna. The 6-8 sophomore hit five 3-pointers and had six assists, five rebounds and three blocks. Luka Mirkovic added 14 points and Jeremy Nash had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

“We did not come out with the mentality that we were going to get into these guys,” Crean said. “The bottom line was that we had to defend the 3-point line. We had to pressure up, they’ve shot 100 more three’s than us. There’s a reason for that. We did not have the fight in us at the beginning that you need to get started and then you’re playing in an uphill battle the entire game.”

The one bright spot for Indiana (9-13, 3-7) was Verdell Jones. The sophomore guard turned in his best scoring effort yet as a Hoosier with 28 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Jones hit 12-of-13 free throws for his seventh game of 20+ points this season.

“He’s continued to get better. We’ve got to continue to find different ways to get him the ball,” Crean said. “Verdell is certainly getting a lot of things done.”

The Hoosiers had a season-low eight turnovers, but shot just 35 percent from the field and trailed by as many as 20 in the second half.

Up next: Ohio State at Assembly Hall on Wednesday. The 6:30 tip will be shown on the Big Ten Network.

+ Box score

Note: The Minute After will be a bit later than usual as Ryan attended today’s game.

Indiana had scored eight straight points. Matt Painter called for a timeout.

But what happened after that point will be incredibly tough for this Indiana team to swallow.

Indiana missed the front end of three one-and-ones. And the No. 8 Boilermakers, led by Robbie Hummel, played like a veteran team coming together at the right time in a 78-75 win, their fifth straight.

Verdell Jones scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Hoosiers (9-12, 3-6 Big Ten) and Tom Pritchard added 13 points and five rebounds.

For now, I’m headed to the media room to listen to Matt Painter and Tom Crean address the media. Ryan will chime in with The Minute After soon and I’ll have some postgame audio and video later.

+ Box score

I bring that up, because many of you have, at various points this season, asked for more visible improvement from the Indiana basketball team than what you’ve seen so far.

Well, I offer you this: Just 385 days after a 24-4 game-opening run begat a 76-45 pasting at the hands of the Illini, Indiana took what some considered an NCAA Tournament team inside the game’s last second — literally — before succumbing by just two points, 72-70 in one of the Big Ten’s toughest road environments.

No, this isn’t a moral victory. Moral victories are stupid. Really stupid. Annoyingly stupid. This was a loss, and surely a tough one to absorb.

But if you don’t look at this game and see the obvious improvement, then your eyes are closed.

The Hoosiers overcame a sluggish beginning with big early points from Jordan Hulls, who found his 3-point range to score 11 in the first half. Verdell Jones finished the period strong with 11 as well, and four assists.

We’ll always remember Devan Dumes’ halfcourt shot, when he poked the ball away from D.J. Richardson, chased down the loose ball and tied the game from midcourt, thumping his chest as his team skipped down the tunnel to halftime.

The shot was vital, obviously, because it capped a 16-4 Indiana run to end the half. But it also seemed like a turning point in the action, one that cued a more veteran performance from Indiana in the second half.

Yes, there were still turnovers, still head-scratching decisions. But there was also defensive focus, excellent individual performances and a collective team effort at the free-throw line (19-23) that has rarely been seen from this team in the last year-plus.

“We didn’t beat ourselves today and that’s the bottom line as you grow,” coach Tom Crean told Don Fischer on his postgame radio show. “You first have to learn how not to lose before you can win and we made a lot of strides in that area this week.”

Verdell Jones was immense, with 22 total points and a 10-of-12 mark from the charity stripe. Dumes and Hulls added 11 each off the bench and as a team, Indiana pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, had 22 points in the paint and outperformed Illinois 35-33 overall on the boards.

“Our confidence was high,” Crean said. “This team has to have an edge and an energy about them. And when they do, we play very well and we have a chance to win all the games that we’re in.”

In the end, Illinois won because IU had no answer for their post offense at times, and Demetri McCamey put in the kind of individual performance that made Kelvin Sampson so covet his services when the former was still balling up at St. Joseph.

You know, normal reasons for losing a basketball game. Isn’t that progress?

+ Box score

But when the dust settled, the Hoosiers (9-10, 3-4 Big Ten) looked nothing like the team that had just knocked off Minnesota in overtime or the team that won its first road game at Penn State on Thursday.

The result? A head-scratching 58-43 loss to Iowa.

“We didn’t have the same toughness level as Iowa had,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “And that’s the bottom line. There was a 15-round fight that every Big Ten game is and we decided we weren’t going to be in that fight.”

From the outset, Indiana’s effort, particularly on the glass, left plenty to be desired. The Hoosiers allowed the Hawkeyes (8-12, 2-5) to grab 18 offensive rebounds and score 20 second-chance points. In all, Indiana was beaten badly on the boards, 39-23.

“That was one of the softest low-post performances I’ve ever been apart of,” Crean said. “And I apologize to our fans. I apologize to everybody that made a great attempt to be here based on the fact that the Colts were playing. That’s not who we’re gonna be.”

After trailing 28-19 at halftime, Indiana opened the half on a 12-5 run and got within two at 33-31 with 13:23 remaining. Iowa responded with a 7-0 run of its own and the Hoosiers never got closer than eight the rest of the way.

Aaron Fuller led three Hawkeyes in double figures with 13 points. Jarryd Cole added 11 points and 10 rebounds and Brennan Cougill had 10.

For Indiana, Verdell Jones led the way with 14 points, but pulled down just one rebound. IU’s three starting guards combined for a total of just two rebounds in 87 minutes.

“When our guards don’t rebound, we do not play very well,” Crean said. “We just can’t win that way.”

+ Box score

No points from behind the arc: For the first time since facing Wisconsin in the 2001 Big Ten Tournament, Indiana failed to make a 3-pointer. The Hoosiers finished 0-for-9.

Assist-to-turnover ratio not pretty: Indiana committed 16 turnovers and had a season-low three assists. Crean attributed that to screening, or a lack thereof. “Our screening was atrocious. That’s what that is more than anything else.”

Jeremiah Rivers postgame comments:

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

On this night, it was the familiar blend of turnovers, poor shot selection and an overall lack of offensive rhythm that doomed Indiana in a 69-45 loss. The Hoosiers were just 1-of-15 from behind the arc, shot 36.5 percent from the floor for the game and committed 19 turnovers, leading to 21 Michigan points.

“We got a lot of good looks, but they just wouldn’t fall,” Verdell Jones said afterward, referring in particular to the 3-point shooting.

Indiana fans can take heart in the Hoosiers’ defensive effort, which the final score probably doesn’t do justice. The visitors forced 16 turnovers and never let Michigan find its 3-point shot, one of the Wolverines’ preferred scoring methods. And it wasn’t until late in the second half that Michigan truly pulled away — cued, unsurprisingly, by Manny Harris’ 17 second-half points, most of which came in the final minutes.

“Credit Indiana, they did a wonderful job,” Michigan coach John Beilein said after the game. “I was really impressed with how they played defense today.”

Christian Watford continued to prove a bright spot for Indiana, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. As a team, in fact, IU finished with a 32-28 advantage in points in the paint and pulled down 12 offensive rebounds.

But even in their statistical victories, there were flaws. Too often, Hoosier guards drove the baseline only to fall to traps and subsequent turnovers. And Indiana’s perimeter players struggled to get the ball inside to Watford and other big men on several occasions, forcing bad passes into double teams, leading to more giveaways.

“We’ve got to swing it and drive so that we can get the defense rotating and then try and throw it in there,” Jones said of Indiana’s attempts to feed the post. “I think we were doing one pass or no passes and trying to throw it in, and they were reading on it.”

Again, Indiana fell short of the kind of signature conference win its fans would like to see, but this performance was not so listless as the first road loss this season, a 79-54 loss at Ohio State. But the one-two punch of DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris — good for 41 points and 14 rebounds by night’s end — was too much for the Hoosiers.

“At the end of the day, two of the better players in the country — two of the very best players in this league — were too much for us to handle,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “When we’re not clicking on all cylinders defensively, we don’t have enough guys that can make plays individually to keep people from going where they want to go. And (Michigan) just did an excellent job with it.”

“We kind of came unglued at the end, after playing a very, very strong game for so long, and never letting ourselves get rattled. But we did get rattled at the end, and it was because of the abilities of Manny Harris and the abilities of DeShawn Sims.”

After missing six games in which the Buckeyes (11-4, 1-2 Big Ten) went 3-3, Turner returned Wednesday night with an impressive stat line in just 20 minutes: eight points, five assists and four rebounds.

But more importantly for coach Thad Matta, Ohio State picked up its first conference win, a 79-54 romp over Indiana at Value City Arena.

“We won a game,” Matta said. “I thought we had some decent intensity on both ends of the floor to start the game. I think there’s a lot of challenges. Getting him (Turner) back is huge for us. We’ve got a long way to go.”

If, as Matta said, the Buckeyes have a long way to go, Indiana may have even a longer road ahead.

The Hoosiers (7-7, 1-1) committed more turnovers (24) than they had made field goals (18). They shot just 34 percent from the field. And in the first 15:36 of the contest, they scored only eight points.

“We played like a team that was in its first road game and that’s disappointing,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “We certainly have the capabilities of being better than that.”

By the time Indiana reached double figures in scoring, Ohio State had built a comfortable 20-point lead. And playing in their first true road game of the season, the Hoosiers were unable to get closer than 17 the rest of the way.

Besides the efficient production from one of the primary contenders for Big Ten player of year in Turner, the Buckeyes got solid production from Jon Diebler (21 points) and William Buford (16 points). Diebler hit 5-of-8 3-point attempts and Buford pulled down six rebounds.

“It was definitely fun,” Turner said of his return. “I just had a lot of fun out there. I’m glad we won big. It was a great team win. I’m just real fortunate.”

For Indiana, Verdell Jones led the way offensively with 22 points. Christian Watford also scored in double figures with 11 points and Jeremiah Rivers added four points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Up next: Home vs Illinois on Saturday, January 9 at 8:00 ET on the Big Ten Network.

Crean’s postgame comments: Listen to the Indiana coach in the embedded media player below. Audio is courtesy of Dustin Dopirak of The Herald-Times.

The road back from a 24-point deficit is a long one.

But after a three-point play by Jeremiah Rivers with 3:48 remaining, the Indiana Hoosiers had their first lead, and for a few short moments, momentum, Tuesday night in Assembly Hall.

That lead, however, would be short lived.

The Hoosiers (5-6) missed four free throws and failed to score in the final 2:55 in a head scratching 72-67 loss to Loyola (MD).

The opening half of basketball was easily Indiana’s worst of the season. The Hoosiers failed to score in the first 6:17. They committed 14 turnovers, which lead to 20 Loyola points. And with 1:38 left, Indiana trailed at home by 24 to a program that had never beaten a Big Ten opponent.

“They were taking balls from us. We did not come out aggressive enough,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “They put us back on our heels in a big way.”

But for as poorly as Indiana played the first twenty minutes, Loyola matched their level of ineptitude in the second half.

The Greyhounds (6-5) committed 15 second half turnovers. They missed seven free throws. And after leading 58-38, they allowed Indiana to reel off a 27-4 run for a 65-62 IU lead.

Maurice Creek, who failed to score in the first half, scored all nine of his points during this stretch. And for a few moments, it looked as if the first half performance would be quickly forgotten.

“Especially 24 hours removed from the Sacramento Kings coming back from 35 against the Bulls, you’re not looking at it like, wow, we can’t come back,” Crean said. “Our halftime was all about how we were going to come back and win this game.”

But alas, it was not meant to be. At least not on this night.

After a layup by Verdell Jones that gave Indiana a 67-65 lead with 2:55 remaining, the Hoosiers were finished scoring for the night. Jeremiah Rivers missed four free throws. Rivers, Christian Watford and Jordan Hulls each committed a turnover. And for the second time in the game, Indiana surrendered a four-point play to Brett Harvey, who finished with a game-high 25 points.

The crowd of 11,321, which helped Indiana fight back from what seemed to be an insurmountable lead, headed for the exits.

Rivers finished with a season-high 15 points, but missed six of nine free throws. Despite his struggles from the foul line, Crean was still encouraged by the play of his junior point guard.

“We don’t make the comeback without him,” Crean said. “That kid’s attitude with the way he attacks, when he’s in a full mode attack, he’s pretty hard to stop.”

Verdell Jones (14) and Watford (10) were the only other Hoosiers in double figures.

• Box score
• Tom Crean postgame audio from The Hoosier Scoop
• Maurice Creek postgame audio from The Hoosier Scoop

Player postgame interviews, courtesy of the IU Athletics channel on YouTube:

(Photo credit: Chris Howell, The Herald-Times)

After one of its best halves of basketball last week against Kentucky and a week of final exams, it was tough to imagine Indiana would come out with the same type of intensity for North Carolina Central.

In front of a crowd of 11,010 at Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers (5-5) got 29 points from Maurice Creek and limited NC Central to 28 percent shooting in the second half for a comfortable 81-58 win.

“We realized that we weren’t back in world history class or calculus, ” Indiana coach Tom Crean said of his team’s effort in the second half. “In the first half, our heads were somewhere else. We did not have a defensive mindset. You’ve got to make defense your calling card and in the second half we did that.”

Creek continued to make the case that he’s the Big Ten’s best freshman – the Oxon Hill (MD) native hit 12 of 17 field goals, including 5 of 10 three’s and grabbed seven rebounds. And 20 of his points came in the second half.

Indiana led just 36-33 at halftime, but quickly took control after intermission with a 22-9 run to push its lead to 58-42 with 13:29 remaining. The Eagles (2-9) never got closer than 13 the rest of the way.

Christian Watford was the only other Hoosier to score in double figures with 11 points. Jordan Hulls had arguably his best all-around game to-date, totaling five points, seven rebounds, eight assists and just one turnover in 22 minutes. Jeremiah Rivers also had eight assists.

Indiana shot 51 percent and won the rebounding battle, 46-28, and points in the paint, 38-20.

C.J. Wilkerson had 22 points to lead North Carolina Central.

Pick to click: Creek

Creek just misses 30: The freshman guard nearly pulled off a second straight 30-point game and would have been the first Hoosier freshman since Eric Gordon to do so back in 2007. Gordon scored 30 points on November 20, 2007 against UNC Wilmington and 31 points on November 23, 2007 against Illinois State.

Elston replaces Pritchard in starting lineup: The 6-9 freshman got the first start of his career and scored seven points in 15 minutes. Pritchard had eight points and six rebounds in 21 minutes.

Postgame player interviews, courtesy of IU Athletics on YouTube:

BLOOMINGTON – For 20 minutes of basketball Saturday in Assembly Hall, Indiana stood toe-to-toe with one of the nation’s top teams.

Fueled by 63 percent shooting in the first half, the Hoosiers trailed No. 4 Kentucky just 42-41 at halftime.

But after a layup by Jeremiah Rivers put IU ahead 48-47 with 17:42 remaining, the Wildcats (10-0) went on an 18-0 run en route to a comfortable 90-73 win.

“I knew Tom Crean would have them ready to go,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “This game, for us to win in that fashion, we played well. That’s like a February effort.”

The scoreless stretch of nearly five minutes, capped by an Eric Bledsoe dunk at the 12:40 mark, was too much for the Hoosiers (4-5) to overcome.

“We were just not as aggressive defensively,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said of the run. “And then we settled for some shots. I think it was more the defense than anything else. We just were not where we needed to be. We’ve got to create points off of our defense. We’re not going to score well enough against size and length and athleticism enough if we’re not getting easy baskets.”

The Hoosiers (4-5) struggled to rebound against Kentucky’s front court tandem of Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins. The Wildcats out-rebounded IU 49-24, including 21-8 on the offensive glass.

“They were more focused on getting the rebound more,” Indiana guard Maurice Creek said. “That’s a time thing. We’ve got to work on it and get better at it.”

Eric Bledsoe scored a career-high 23 points on 8 of 10 shooting to lead UK. Patterson added 19 points, Cousins had 14 and freshman John Wall had 11.

“I’m just happy for him,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said of Bledsoe. “He hasn’t played with any kind of aggressiveness or assertiveness, almost a casual game at times in the last two weeks.”

For Indiana, Creek had the best game of his young career, totaling 31 points, including 5 of 8 three-pointers and 8 of 8 from the foul line.

“How about this Creek kid?” Calipari said. “We’ve played a lot of good teams, and he’s as good as any player we’ve played.”

Despite the lopsided loss, Crean remained optimistic that the program is moving in the right direction. In last year’s Kentucky game at Rupp Arena, the Hoosiers trailed 32-6 midway through the first half.

“A year ago we play at Kentucky, it was a stunned locker room,” Crean said. “This year we play Kentucky, it’s a hurt locker room. And that’s progress to me as well.”

The four factors: No question about it, rebounding, particularly the offensive variety, was the difference in this game. Kentucky is already ranked in the top 10 nationally in this category and today’s performance only solidifies that position.

IU’s effective field goal percentage was nearly eight percentage points above their season average at 54.8%. But Kentucky’s was even better at 58.3%, which is pretty remarkable.

Besides Creek, Indiana struggled to get to the line. 14 free throw attempts at home isn’t a high enough number. The Hoosiers continue to improve at taking care of the ball. A turnover percentage of 13.4%, especially against a team with the speed and athleticism of Kentucky, is an impressive performance. Jeremiah Rivers was a big part of that with eight assists and one turnover.

They left with a surprising and convincing 74-64 victory, the most impressive win to date of the Tom Crean era. It was the 200th career victory for the second year coach.

The Hoosiers (4-4) controlled the paint and the pace and led by as many as 18 before fighting off a late Pitt rally in the Jimmy V Classic.

“From the nine minute mark on, they never, ever wavered when it came to how they were talking to each other in the sense of finishing,” Crean said. “It was all about defense. I could have not talked offense those last nine minutes and I think they still would have been fine because they were so locked in to defending.”

Indiana held Pitt to just 31 percent shooting and outscored the Panthers 40-20 in the paint.

Verdell Jones scored 20 points to lead IU and Christian Watford added 18 points, including 10 of 13 from the foul line. Indiana hit 25 of 34 free throws.

The Hoosiers began to pull away near the midway point of the second half. After Pitt cut the lead to 41-37 on a Brad Wanamaker layup, Indiana answered with seven straight points over a four-minute stretch.

The run was capped by a Devan Dumes three-pointer, which gave IU its first double-digit lead with 11:06 remaining. It was Indiana’s only three-pointer in the game.

“We get some incredible teachable moments out of a win,” Crean said. “They needed something to go right, that they can hang their hat on. We needed this.”

Pittsburgh, which out-rebounded Indiana 45-39, was led by a career-high 25 points from Ashton Gibbs. Wanamaker added 18 points.

Pick to Click winner: Jones

Bob Knight in attendance: The Hall of Fame coach worked the pre-game and post-game for ESPN and watched the Hoosiers in-person for the first time since 2000.

Watford on the crowd in the Garden: “I didn’t see many Pitt fans. When I looked around, I saw our fans, Hoosier nation.”

Jones on holding onto the lead: “Leadership really came into it. Devan (Dumes) did a great job, behind the scenes, of calming us down. It was a big game, nationally televised game, we knew that and we really wanted to win. Our hunger really showed.”

Indiana at Madison Square Garden: Indiana moved to 12-8 all-time at MSG. It was IU’s first win in the venue since 1996, when the Hoosiers beat Duke 85-69 in the Preseason NIT.

Jamie Dixon on IU’s performance: “I think they did a good job of taking us off the dribble. They got some scores inside from the big guys. They got to the free-throw line. They get to the free-throw line a lot but they also foul a lot and put guys on the free-throw line. Our goal was to get to the free-throw line. They outscored us by 13 from the free-throw line and they outscored us by 10. When you look at the stats of their opponents, their opponents are out-shooting them at the free-throw line and we didn’t do that tonight. The zone and how they defended early put us in that situation.”

But after a Christian Watford free throw tied the game at 54 with 8:49 remaining, the more experienced Terrapins went on a 16-4 run on their way to a comfortable 80-68 win in the Big-Ten ACC Challenge.

The loss was the fourth in five games for Indiana.

Greivis Vasquez scored 23 points to lead Maryland (5-2), which shot 47 percent from the field. Vasquez hit 13 of 14 free throws. Three other Terrapins scored in double figures, led by 19 from Landon Millbourne.

“It was a winnable game and we did not pressure the ball well enough,” Indiana head coach Tom Crean said. “We did not play physical enough, we did not play tough enough on the defensive end.”

The Hoosiers, on the other hand, shot just 33 percent and despite pulling down 20 offensive rebounds, scored just 16 second chance points. Maurice Creek scored 19 points to lead IU and Christian Watford added 16.

Indiana led by seven with 5:29 remaining in the first half on a pair of free throws by Creek, but Maryland closed the half on a 14-5 run to grab a 35-33 halftime lead.

The Terps took the lead for good at the 8:36 mark on a free throw by Adrian Bowie and IU’s final lead was 53-52 with 9:44 on a jump shot by Verdell Jones.

Besides Creek and Watford, Indiana struggled to find offense. Jones shot just 3-of-15 and Derek Elston and Devan Dumes each shot 2-of-10 from the floor. The Hoosiers hit just 7-of-26 three-point attempts.

Crean unhappy with student chants towards Vasquez: “We can be obnoxious, we can be nasty, we can cheer against the other team, but we never use vulgarity. We never use vulgarities against an opponent. That’s not what happened at Indiana in the past and it’s certainly not going to happen under my watch. But I love our fans. I love the energy they brought us tonight. We did not match the energy of our fans. But at no point in time are vulgarities in that crowd going to be accepted. And that cannot happy at Indiana. We have too much pride. We have too many great students, great memories, too many tradition based things here for anything to ever turn it the other way. And nobody deserves that. We’ve got to find a way to be obnoxious without being vulgar because we’re too good for that.”

Maryland turns it over: The Terrapins committed a season-high 18 turnovers. They came into the game averaging just 10.7 per game.

Jeremiah Rivers injury: After a reverse layup with 18:56 remaining in the first half, Rivers left the game with back spasms. He returned later in the first half and finished with five points, six rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in 19 minutes.

Up next: Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at Madison Square Garden at 9:00 EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Crean discusses fan behavior, courtesy of Ronan O’Shea on YouTube:

Player postgame interviews, courtesy of IU Athletics on YouTube:

But after six days off and numerous practices that emphasized defense, Indiana returned to Assembly Hall with a convincing 90-72 win over Northwestern State on Saturday.

“We had a very good week of getting better,” Crean said following the win. “We’ve had a very good week of starting to learn our roles and what’s important.”

Maurice Creek and Christian Watford scored 17 points each for the Hoosiers (3-3).

Indiana shot 48 percent from the field, hit 34 of 44 free throws and had assists on 19 of its 25 field goals, led by 10 from Jeremiah Rivers.

“He took what the game gave him,” Crean said of Rivers. “I was very impressed with him. He really read the game well. I was very proud of the way he played.”

Northwestern State (2-2) cut the lead to nine at 59-50 with 10:37 remaining, but Indiana responded with a 8-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Verdell Jones, to put the game away.

“It just seemed like they were in their rhythm, and to me, they are rhythm players,” Northwestern State coach Mike McConathy said. “I thought they did a good job with that and looked improved from what I’ve seen.”

(The four factors are explained, here.)

Up next: Maryland on Tuesday at 7:30 PM for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on ESPN2.

Dumes gets back on track: The 6-2 senior scored 11 points off the bench in 22 minutes. “I felt it was a better effort today. I bring the effort every time. I just played a little better today,” Dumes said. He added that his knee is feeling about 80 to 85 percent healthy.

Elston brings energy off the bench: The 6-9 freshman had 12 points, six rebounds and four steals off the bench in 18 minutes. “I rebounded well today, something that coach has been harping on me about,” Elston said.

• Box score

Long hit the game-winner with the teams tied at 65 and the hand of Jordan Hulls in his face.

“That’s a tough shot,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “It’s the one when Jones gave up the three because he didn’t rotate out fast enough that killed us. It’s never the last play. It never is.”

After Long’s shot, George Mason (3-2) fouled the Hoosiers before they could get a shot off and Jeremiah Rivers made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second.

Rashad Whack secured the rebound for George Mason, was fouled, and hit the second of two free throws. A desperation half court heave by Maurice Creek didn’t draw iron as time expired.

The loss was the third in four days for Indiana (2-3), which was led by 15 points from Maurice Creek and 13 from Verdell Jones. Bobby Capobianco came off the bench, scored his first points in an IU uniform and finished with seven points and 10 rebounds, five offensive, in 17 minutes.

Despite the tough trip, Crean was pleased with his team’s effort.

“The second half we played much better and finally started to look like a team,” Crean said. “We played our best half of basketball and grew up. That doesn’t mean we didn’t make mistakes and we didn’t miss shots and didn’t have turnovers, but we started to grow up. And that’s exactly what has to happen as we move forward with this team and we are going to continue to build on that.”

Long scored 18 to lead George Mason and Mike Morrison added career highs of 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots, a tournament record. Luke Hancock, Creek’s teammate at Hargrave Military Academy chipped in nine points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

(The four factors are explained, here.)

Pick to Click: Creek

Crean on his rotation: “We’ve got a lot of determinations to make. How do we really want to play? I’m trying to play to many guys right now. But we want to run. Are we going to all out after it and press more? Are we going to shrink the bench? I don’t have a rotation.”

Crean pleased with Capobianco’s play: “We had a real heart-to-heart the other night about him taking the steps. And it was really at a crossroads. He’s got it in him. He’s been very, very serious since our first night. And he always practices hard, but he always doesn’t play with confidence. This is on the plus side, going home to have him step in and play like that. But at the same time, he’s gotta learn to play through the contact. He can’t throw the ball up.”

George Mason is young, but it’s different at Indiana: Crean: “Those guys, when they’re in there young, they’ve got people handing it down. They didn’t have to send off everybody because of drugs and because of academics. All of these programs have had people hand it down. It may not have been great players handing it down, but we don’t have that.”

Improved free throw shooting: Indiana hit 21 of 28 free throws, including 10 of 10 in the first half.

No production from Pritchard or Dumes: Pritchard went scoreless and grabbed just one rebound in 14 minutes and Dumes, Indiana’s leading scorer last season, also went scoreless and committed two turnovers in seven minutes.

Hoosiers win rebounding battle: Indiana out-rebounded George Mason 43-38, but were outscored 42-20 in the paint.

Watford struggles from the field: Christian Watford finished with 10 points, but shot just 3 of 13.

Up next: Northwestern State at 3:30 ET on Saturday at Assembly Hall. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

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And for most of consolation bracket contest in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Tip-Off Classic, it appeared Boston and first-year coach Patrick Chambers would drop their fourth straight.

But after trailing the entire second half, a pair of free throws from Jake O’Brien gave Boston a 67-65 lead with 2:19 remaining and the Terriers (1-3) held on to beat Indiana, 71-67.

John Holland scored 21 points off the bench to lead Boston and O’Brien added 14 points and 13 rebounds.

The Terriers out-rebounded IU 52-32, had 19 second chance points and scored 15 more points from the foul line.

The Hoosiers (2-2) had a chance to tie the game in the final thirty seconds, but Maurice Creek and Verdell Jones both missed three-point attempts in the final 21 seconds and Corey Lowe hit a free throw to ice it for Boston.

“We tried to go to the best play possible,” Creek said. “Coach brought it up and it just didn’t work out.”

Creek paced the Hoosiers with 17 points, all in the first half. Jones added 14 points and six assists and Jeremiah Rivers chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.

“I thought we played a very aggressive 35 minutes,” Jones said. “But once again we didn’t play a full 40 minutes like we needed to and the result is a loss.”

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And just like that, the Rebels reeled off a 28-5 run en route to a comfortable 89-71 win in the opening round of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Tip-Off Classic.

“I thought our guys responded to Indiana coming out and being aggressive, which you would hope an experienced team would do,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “We have some experienced guards and made some adjustments.”

Indiana had no answer on the inside for Ole Miss (3-0), which blocked 12 shots, out-rebounded IU 46-43 and shot 51.5 percent from the field.

Murphy Holloway scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Rebels and Chris Warren had 16.

“We tried to get Murph behind the zone, because they got so extended on the perimeter,” Kennedy said of Holloway. “It opened up some opportunities behind the zone.”

The Hoosiers (2-1) committed 21 turnovers, 14 in the first half, and shot just 12 of 27 from the foul line.

“We made too many mistakes to win the game,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “They were more physical and we didn’t do a great job of playing through that.”

After trailing by as many as 15 in the second half, Indiana had a chance to cut the lead to six with 5:40 remaining. But an errant pass from Devan Dumes to Jeremiah Rivers on a 3-on-1 fast break ended IU’s 9-2 run.

Maurice Creek led three Indiana players in double figures with 18 points. Verdell Jones added 17 and Rivers had 14. The bench, however, contributed just nine points.

“A loss is a loss,” Jones said. “We just have to come back and improve and get tougher.”

Pick to Click: Jeremiah Rivers

Up next: Boston University at 6:00 ET on Friday.

Tough game for Watford: The freshman from Birmingham (AL) hit just 2 of 10 shots and scored five points. Watford was averaging a double-double in his first two games.

Off the mark from outside: The Hoosiers shot just 3 of 15 from behind the three-point line.

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IU committed 18 turnovers and hit just 16 of 30 free throws, but Christian Watford’s 17 points and 10 rebounds pushed the Hoosiers (2-0) past the Spartans. It was the second straight double-double for the freshman from Birmingham, Alabama.

“The first thing I would say is welcome to the wacky world of freshmen and sophomore predominant basketball,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “That’s where we are at and we have a lot of learning to do.”

Three Hoosiers — Maurice Creek (14), Verdell Jones (13) and Derek Elston (10) — joined Watford in double figures. Jeremiah Rivers added two points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Indiana led 60-40 with 7:57 remaining, but USC Upstate (0-2) closed the game with a 21-9 run.

The Spartans, playing just their third season in Division I, were led by Mezie Uzochukwu’s 14 points.

Pick to click: Watford

Crean on Puerto Rico: “We are getting ready to play some high level guys when we get to Puerto Rico. It’s going to be a really good test for us to see where we stand. If we don’t match-up and play with that will and that fire and we are not as physical as them, we will get embarrassed.”

Pritchard struggles: Plagued by foul trouble, the 6-9 sophomore scored four points and didn’t record a rebound in just 10 minutes.

Dumes struggles, too: Indiana’s leading scorer last season logged 20 minutes, but hit just 1 of 6 shots and committed four turnovers. Dumes finished with two points and five rebounds.

Up next: Ole Miss in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off at 5 p.m. ET on Thursday.

• Box score

Leading just 20-18 with 7:03 remaining in the first half, Maurice Creek and Derek Elston sparked a 9-0 run that put Indiana in the drivers seat on their way to a 83-60 win over Howard.

Creek led all scorers with 17 points and Elston and Christian Watford added 14 each for the Hoosiers, who shot nearly 56 percent from the field and had 20 assists.

“We really, really shared the basketball,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “Anytime you have 20 assists, that’s a real benchmark that your offense is really moving and it’s crisp.”

Sixteen different players saw the floor for Indiana and no one amassed more than 26 minutes. With a brand of basketball that is expected to be far more up-tempo than a season ago, Crean is focusing on getting maximum effort from each Hoosier at all times.

“I want them to understand it’s the quality of the minutes, not the quantity,” Crean said.

Creek’s 17 came on 7 of 11 shooting from the field. Watford (4 of 6) and Elston (6 of 7) were equally efficient.

“I just thought they played together,” Howard coach Gil Jackson said. “They looked to get easy shots. You didn’t see anybody playing selfishly.”

Free throw differential: Indiana shot just 13 free throws in the game and Howard shot 18 of 30.

Double-double: Watford had 11 rebounds to go along with his 14 points.

Rivers debut: Jeremiah Rivers finished with six points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal in 26 minutes. “I think what’s going on right now is that it’s extremely hard for our team to keep up with him. I’d rather have them try to speed up than to slow him down,” Crean said of Rivers.

Bison struggle from outside: Howard connected on just four of 22 three-point attempts.

Pick to Click: Watford.

Up next: USC-Upstate, November 16, 8:30 ET, Assembly Hall

• Box score
• Quotes
• IU wins regular season opener 83-60 – Indiana Daily Student
• Freshmen pace IU rot in opener – Associated Press