In front of a near capacity crowd Friday night at Assembly Hall, a trio of Indiana freshmen each turned in a debut to remember.

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

Opponent: Howard Bison (8-23, 2008-2009)

Date: Friday, November 13 | 8:00 EST

Arena: Assembly Hall (17,357) – Bloomington, Indiana

Line: Indiana by 19.5

All-time series: First meeting

TV: Big Ten Network (Mark Neely and John Laskowski)

Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Todd Leary and Joe Smith)

Probable Starters:

• Howard: Kyle Riley, Calvin Thompson, Anton Dickerson, Paul Kirkpatrick, Kandi Mukole
• Indiana: Jeremiah Rivers, Verdell Jones, Maurice Creek, Christian Watford, Tom Pritchard

Game Notes:

• Indiana

Game Day Reading:

• More certain IU opens season against Howard (Indiana Daily Student)
• Season finally here for Capobianco, Elston (Indiana Daily Student)
• IU counting on freshmen to spark turnaround (Indianapolis Star)
• Homegrown Hulls here to help (Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette)
• Creek deepens Indiana attack (Evansville Courier & Press)
• IU keeps an eye on big picture (Fort Wayne News-Sentinel)

As always, game predictions and your thoughts are welcome in the comments leading up to tip-off and during the game. Or if you prefer to follow the live blog, you can do below:

Courtesy of the IU Athletics channel on YouTube:

You can begin posting your Picks to Click for Howard in the comments until 7:45 ET on Friday. Good luck.

For those unfamiliar with the Pick to Click, please click here for details.

A couple of other notes:

• Please make sure you are using a valid e-mail address if you are not registered.
• Please make sure you are using the same name each time to pick if you are not registered. Once the season begins, we’ll be tracking wins by the name you use to submit your pick. If your name changes on a game-to-game basis, credit for your pick will be given to the name used to submit the pick.
• Please state who you are picking as the first thing in your comment. It’s more difficult to keep track of everyone’s pick if it’s not the first thing in your comment.

Pick to Click Winners:

• Grace College (not counted in standings): Christian Watford
• St. Joseh’s (not counted in standings): Maurice Creek