Notes from the much anticipated debut of Trey Lyles

Joe Eberhardt is a high school sports blogger and regular contributor to Inside the Hall. You can follow him on twitter at @IndyHSHoops and read his blog, IndyHSHoops.com.

In one of the more anticipated Indiana high school basketball debuts in recent memory, Trey Lyles took the floor for Arsenal Technical High School on Wednesday, Nov. 23.

The 6-9 freshman forward, who committed to Indiana in September, scored 12 points and pulled down 19 rebounds, helping lead Tech to a 53-45 victory over Manual.

Lyles scored six of his team-high 12 points at the foul line, using his size and ball-handling to create mismatches and draw fouls. He looked extremely comfortable handling the ball, often running the point and setting up the offense for Tech. He was able to beat opponents off the dribble and did a stellar job of getting to the line. Lyles finished 6 of 10 from the charity stripe, 3 of 10 from the field and missed his only 3-point attempt.

For a freshman with the national spotlight on him, Lyles played with poise and didn’t look rattled on the road. He certainly has the shooting touch to be a threat from the perimeter, but forced the jumper at times rather than establishing himself in the post. His footwork in the post is tremendous and his array of post moves allows him easy scoring opportunities in the paint. Lyles has a great spin move that creates separation from the defender and he used it twice to get a great look at the turnaround jumper, but missed both looks. During the third quarter he used that same spin move on the left block and laid in an easy basket off the glass with two hands.

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Zeller opens season with 30-point, 13-rebound effort

Throughout the season, Inside the Hall will keep you posted on how 2011 signees Austin Etherington and Cody Zeller, IU’s seven verbal commitments and other notable prospects being recruited by the Hoosiers, are performing at their respective schools.

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

2011 SIGNEES

+ Austin Etherington (Hamilton Heights): Six points in 62-54 overtime loss at Lebanon on November 24. 16 points (three 3-pointers) in 58-54 win at Mt. Vernon on November 27.

+ Cody Zeller (Washington): 30 points and 13 rebounds in a 70-42 rout of Barr-Reeve on November 24.

2012 COMMITMENTS

+ Hanner Perea (La Porte La Lumiere): Nine points and 10 rebounds against Rakeem Christmas and Academy of the New Church (PA) on November 25. 15 points and 17 rebounds against the nation’s No. 1 prep school, Findlay, on November 26. La Lumiere also played Brehm Prep (IL) on November 27, but no stats were available as of early Sunday morning.

+ Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell (Park Tudor): Following his commitment to IU, Ferrell scored 13 points as Park Tudor crushed University, 78-29, on November 24. Park Tudor moved to 2-0 with a 53-36 win at Indianapolis Washington on November 27. Ferrell had 17 points, four steals, four assists, six turnovers and one rebound. (Thanks to Chris Engel for the stats.)

+ Peter Jurkin (United Faith Christian Academy, NC): No information available.

+ Ron Patterson (Broad Ripple): Will open season on December 3 at Guerin Catholic.

2012 CLASS

+ Gary Harris (Hamilton Southeastern): 32 points in 84-78 win over Indianapolis Northwest on November 27.

+ Jeremy Hollowell (Lawrence Central): 22 points, including four 3-pointers, in 61-55 loss to Lawrence North at Hinkle Fieldhouse on November 24.

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Northwestern State postgame: Crean, players react

Listen to the comments of Indiana head coach Tom Crean following Indiana’s 100-66 win over Northwestern State in the embedded media player below:

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And watch what Verdell Jones (24 points), Victor Oladipo (12 points) and Maurice Creek (14 points) had to say after the Hoosiers broke the 100-point mark for the first time since December 15, 2007:

The Minute After: Northwestern State

Notes on a 100-66 win over Northwestern State:

At first, Northwestern State’s pressure defense, strong rebounding and ability to match IU’s energy brought some worry.

Would this be the the team’s first loss of 2010-11?

But as we’ve seen a few times so far this season, the Hoosiers weathered the first-half storm and put it well out of reach in the second half on the backs of their defense — one that led to a dominating transition offense.

For as much talk as there was about how many points the Demons were scoring this season before tonight (86 a contest), they were getting them more on the strength of their pace (75.4 possessions a game, good for third in the nation) than on their offensive efficiency (99.3, adjusted, only 180th in the nation) or effective field-goal percentage (51.2 percent, 102nd in the nation).

And the Demons are an even poorer defensive unit. Entering tonight, they were letting opponents score 106.6 points per 100 possessions (adjusted, 290th in the country) and giving up an effective field-goal percentage of 55.5 percent, which ranks near the bottom of all Division I at 313th in the nation.

If you want to know how IU got to the century mark for the first time in the Tom Crean era, start there.

This isn’t to say the Hoosiers’ effort should be discounted. It was a strong, balanced performance on both sides of the ball. They got it done tonight. No doubt. They’ve been getting it done all season, and should take much confidence and pride in their performance thus far for a squad that hasn’t tasted a lot of success the last two seasons. 6-0 is a great start for the  program and for a fanbase starving for success.

But it’s time for a test.

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Live Blog: Northwestern State at Indiana

Scouting Report: 2013 commit Collin Hartman

Joe Eberhardt is a high school sports blogger and regular contributor to Inside the Hall. You can follow him on twitter at @IndyHSHoops and read his blog, IndyHSHoops.com.

Indianapolis Cathedral forward Collin Hartman joined classmate Devin Davis Jr. of Warren Central as the first two members of IU’s 2013 recruiting class when he made an oral commitment on November 21. Here’s an in-depth look at the rising sophomore:

Most Impressive: The first two things that jump out about Hartman are his skill level and versatility. Hartman has great ball handling and shooting for a player his size. At 6’7, he poses a matchup problem for most defenders. He’ll blow by slower players off the bounce or bring smaller defenders into the paint and finish down low. He does a great job of drawing fouls near the basket and is a great shooter from the charity stripe. He has good length (6’11 wingspan) which helps him both as a rebounder and a defender. He’s also a gifted passer that possesses the ability to find teammates on the fly and take advantage of opponents trying to double team him. Hartman plays with poise and confidence every time he steps on the court and you probably won’t believe he’s just a sophomore after watching him play.

Needs Improvement: Hartman isn’t the strongest or most explosive player on the court, but he’s also only 16 years old. As he continues to mature physically and grow, adding strength will help him on the defensive end and on the glass. Offensively, there’s not really a glaring hole in his game, but he could work on improving his shooting consistency. He’s got great form on his jump shot, but can be streaky at times. Again, he’s just beginning his sophomore season and most players his age have room to improve.

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Inside the Hall Podcast: November 25

Straight from the athletics office at Park Tudor, Zach Osterman hosts a special Yogi Ferrell edition of the Inside the Hall podcast.

Joining him: Alex Bozich, The Herald-Times duo of Dustin Dopirak and Hugh Kellenberger and Nathan Hart of The Indiana Daily Student.

Here’s a direct link to listen or you can use the embedded media player below:

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(Note: We’re planning to add future editions of the podcast to iTunes once we receive approval from the iTunes staff.)