HD Video: Jordan Hulls, Cody Zeller on loss at Michigan
Jordan Hulls (18 points, five assists) and Cody Zeller (11 points, 12 rebounds) met with the media following Indiana’s 68-56 loss at Michigan on Wednesday night. Watch and listen to the comments from both players in high-definition quality video in the embedded media players below:
HD Video: Elston, Pritchard and Zeller on Iowa win
by Alex Bozich in Video | January 29th, 2012
Cody Zeller (26 points, four rebounds), Derek Elston (11 points) and Tom Pritchard (seven points, four rebounds) met with the media following Indiana’s 103-89 win over Iowa on Sunday evening at Assembly Hall. Watch the press conference in high-definition quality video in the embedded media player below:
Crean’s message to Zeller: Just keep getting better
by Justin Albers in Media | January 28th, 2012
Cody Zeller was never able to get into a rhythm in Indiana’s 57-50 loss at Wisconsin on Thursday night because of foul trouble.
IU’s freshman center was scoreless in the first half and finished the game with only seven points and three rebounds in 19 minutes.
He was the subject of some borderline foul calls that changed the game for the Hoosiers. Zeller picked up his second foul on what appeared to be a charge after a long defensive possession for Indiana.
Instead, Zeller was called for a blocking foul and was forced to go to the bench for the remainder of the half.
“We spend a lot of time making sure we understand that block-charge line,” said Indiana coach Tom Crean. “We’re rarely gonna try to draw a charge where we’re anywhere near the lane, and we’re gonna be set. So the other day when Cody gets called for a blocking foul, and you can show him, ‘that’s not what happened. You took a charge. Let’s keep doing it.’”
Late in the second half, Wisconsin’s Mike Brusewitz appeared to shove Zeller to the ground to get an offensive rebound, but no foul was called.
“There’s nothing you can tell a guy when he get thrown to the ground on how to block out better,” Crean said. “You’re not going to do that.
“When you teach the right things, you expect to be rewarded for it in a game. You expect the game to be called in the last two minutes the same way it is in the first two minutes. Those are the expectations you have as a coach and a program going into a game. It doesn’t always turn out that way.”
Notebook: Foul trouble limits Zeller’s minutes
MADISON, Wis. — One glance at the Wisconsin roster showed few options tall or athletic enough to stop Cody Zeller.
But Zeller, who entered Thursday night’s game averaging 15.1 points per game, went scoreless in the first half and finished with just seven points in 19 minutes.
The 6-foot-11 freshman picked up his second foul that forced him to the bench for the final 4:30 of the first half and as a result, he never established much of a rhythm.
“There were a couple times we tried to feed him the ball, they three-quartered, and we didn’t give him a chance to set up and post up the way that he needed to,” coach Tom Crean said. “We tried to force the ball in rather than allow him to get set.”
Christian Watford — who helped compensate for Zeller’s absence with 12 points — admitted that Zeller’s time on the bench made things difficult for the Hoosiers.
“It hurt us a lot, having an inside presence like Cody, he’s been there for us all year,” Watford said. “He was in foul trouble, but there’s still no excuse. Other guys got to step up.”
HOOSIERS SHOOT WELL ENOUGH TO WIN
Indiana had no trouble finding the bottom of the net Thursday night, but posted a season-low 50 points in large part because of Wisconsin’s deliberate pace.
The Hoosiers hit 50 percent of their first half shots, finished at 45.7 percent for the game and put together an 11-0 scoring run midway through the first half.
Though Crean felt his team adjusted nicely to Bo Ryan’s pass-heavy swing offense, he noted that key rebounds down the stretch may have been the difference.
“We answered the bell on the pace of play,” Crean said. “They’re going to play at a snail’s pace, it’s what they do, and you’ve got to steal possessions. We rebounded the ball very well for most of the game. They got a couple of big rebounds at the end. We struggled getting those balls.”
Second-half surge helps Hoosiers stop losing streak
by Alex Bozich in Media | January 22nd, 2012
For 20 minutes on Sunday afternoon, Penn State played like a gritty team hungry for its first Big Ten road win.
The Nittany Lions went to the locker room leading 29-27 after limiting Indiana to just 9-of-22 from the field. Besides Cody Zeller, no other Hoosier scored more than one field goal before halftime.
But it didn’t take Indiana long to capture the momentum and control in the second half.
After Zeller tipped in a Verdell Jones miss to tie the game with 19:51 remaining, Jordan Hulls stole the ball from Jon Graham and found Jones for a layup to give the Hoosiers a 31-29 lead.
Penn State coach Pat Chambers quickly called for a timeout.
“I think the first two possessions kind of set the pace for us,” Zeller said. “We’re at our best when we’re out and running. I thought we had to match their intensity, they make a lot of hustle plays. I think in the second half we just turned it up defensively and it kind of led into our offense.”
Hulls, who finished with 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and no turnovers, said defense keyed Indiana’s success in the second half.
“It just starts with our defense,” he said. “When our offense isn’t going as good, we just have to rely on our defense to create offense off the bat. It definitely helped being at home was really good for us as well. The fans were great. But we’ve just got to have that mentality the whole game.”
