IU beat a defending conference champion who was favored to win by two. (Even if it’s an Ivy League champ, one that’s about as athletic as your local high school team.) Tom Pritchard continued to be on beast mode, posting a career high in points (23) and snatching seven boards.

Nick Williams showed us why he was named Alabama Player of the Year, as he scored a career-high 18 points. As a few people pointed out in the live blog, Williams plays with great confidence. And when it’s all said and done, he might be the brightest star on the team this season.

Most importantly, the Hoosiers didn’t let Cornell hang around. Unlike the IUPUI game,  IU was able to put some breathing room between them and the inferior team, and breeze to a double-digit win.

And hey: they even hit 15-of-19 from the line. Not too shabby.

THE BAD AND UGLY:

That Verdell Jones incident in the first half was scary. It’s not often you see a stretcher out on a basketball court. I don’t think we got an official diagnosis yet, but here’s to hoping Verdell is doing OK and will have a speedy recovery. (UPDATE: Looks like he’s doing well.)

As has been the case this season, IU fell into defensive lapses where open shots — and I mean wide open shots — ran rampant. Twenty turnovers is never a good thing, either.

But yeah: this was certainly IU’s best win of the season. On a night like tonight, not a lot of bad or ugly.

The win was the second straight for the Hoosiers (4-2) and improved their home record to 3-0.

Indiana shot 55 percent from the field, 79 percent from the foul line and limited Cornell to 32 percent shooting.

After Cornell closed the IU lead to four at 49-45 on a layup by Jeff Foote, Indiana reeled off a 13-3 run to put the Big Red (3-3) away.

Ryan Wittman, the son of former IU standout and Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Randy Wittman, led Cornell with 28 points.

Scary moment: Indiana freshman guard Verdell Jones III left the game on a stretcher in the first half after running blindly into a screen set by Foote. According to a report by the Big Ten Network, Jones III’s injury is not believed to be serious.

Up next: Indiana will return to action Wednesday at Wake Forest in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. The game will be televised on ESPN at 7:15 EST.

• Box score

After capturing their first league title in 20 years a season ago, Cornell was the unanimous pick to win the league again by Ivy League coaches.

It’s the first meeting between the two schools, but three Cornell players have Indiana ties.

The Big Red’s leading scorer is junior Ryan Wittman, the son of IU Hall of Famer and Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Randy Wittman. Ryan was a first team All-Ivy League selection last season and is averaging 19.8 ppg this season.

Senior Adam Gore, who will miss the entire pre-conference season with a knee injury, is from Monrovia and has a famous IU coach for a great-uncle: Branch McCracken. Sophomore Adam Wire’s great-grandfather played for McCracken.

Besides containing Wittman, the Hoosiers will have their hands full with 7-footer Jeff Foote (14.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg) and Geoff Reeves (15.8 ppg).

After a 74-56 loss to Siena in the preseason NIT, the Big Red bounced back in the consolation round of the NIT with a 78-53 win over Loyola-Chicago and a 67-54 win over Eastern Michigan.

An NCAA Tournament team a season ago, Cornell has the experience to cause plenty of problems for IU and they’re looking to become the first Ivy League school ever to win in Assembly Hall.