Coach Tom Crean and junior guard Jordan Hulls met with the media on Wednesday afternoon to preview Thursday’s game at Assembly Hall with Illinois. Watch both press conferences in high-definition quality video in the embedded media players below:
Quotes are available after the jump.
This is what Indiana-Purdue is supposed to be: Two teams right in the thick of the Big Ten race, both desperately needing a win to put themselves in the best position for the postseason.
It’s been awhile since we’ve had this. Sure, there have been competitive games in football and basketball over the last few years, but Indiana has rarely had more than pride on the line. The Hoosiers competed, stayed in the game, and then lost.
It was hardly even still a rivalry.
But the Hoosiers are back, and Purdue still has plenty left to play for. The Boilermakers are the only Big Ten team without a win over a ranked opponent.
For Indiana, Saturday night’s game at Mackey Arena could be viewed as a “must-win.” With the Hoosiers’ struggles on the road in the Big Ten, a fifth consecutive loss away from Assembly Hall would all but kill this team’s confidence the rest of the way. They’ve still got winnable road games against Iowa and Minnesota left, but lose this one, and those two look a whole lot tougher.
Indiana’s incredibly slow start at Michigan on Wednesday gave it little chance to come back. The Hoosiers had a similarly slow start at Ohio State before playing a better second half.
If they want to beat Purdue and alter their recent fortunes away from Assembly Hall, they can’t afford to fall behind by double-digits before they find their rhythm.
“I feel like we just got rushed in the beginning,” junior Derek Elston said Friday. “A lot of the guys weren’t playing their game. We let the defense kind of dictate what was going on. After a TV timeout, coach just kept harping that we have to keep playing our game no matter what, don’t let them speed us up, keep playing IU basketball.
“I think in the beginning we were trying to make that home run play when we just needed to make the single.”
So what’s the key to starting faster?
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:
Coach Tom Crean and juniors Derek Elston and Jordan Hulls met with the media late Saturday afternoon to preview Sunday night’s game at Assembly Hall with Iowa. Watch both press conferences in high-definition quality video in the embedded media players below:
Quotes after the jump.
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.”
