But instead of a jump ball, the preseason tournament’s tip-off was more of the inside information variety.

The message was clear, whether you watched the games or the live blog. Despite the influx of talent, IU Basketball might not live up to the hopes some optimists placed on them before the season.

A double-digit win season now seems lofty. A .500 record would likely include a pair of glass slippers and a horse-drawn carriage made out of pumpkin.

Most Hoosier fans are currently mourning this weekend’s activities – and/or coming off a binge necessitated by the Old Oaken Bucket game – but I’m here to tell you that not all was lost in the gyms of San Juan.

My glass usually sits half-empty, but I can say without hesitation that the Hoosiers are a better team right now than they were at this point last season. As someone who had a courtside seat to Tom Crean and the greenest team in Cream and Crimson history all of last year, I can tell the Hoosiers have taken a step in the right direction.

Last season’s December losses to Northeastern and Lipscomb were gut wrenching; this year’s November defeats to Boston and George Mason are closer to stomach-able.

Although, certainly not enjoyable. After handing it to Howard and edging out USC Upstate to open the season, three consecutive losses reminds us just how far the men’s basketball program still has to go on its path to reclamation.

Around this time last year, I was in Hawaii covering the Hoosiers in the Maui Invitational (read: golfing). Before the tournament, IU registered wins over Northwestern State and IUPUI to open the season. No one was calling them world-beaters, but no one was quite anticipating the 38-point shellacking Notre Dame handed them to open the tournament either.

Expectations adjusted and reality hit harder than a Tijan Jobe screen. IU followed the loss with a 26-point defeat to Saint Josephs the next day before outlasting the Chaminade Silverswords in the seventh-place game.

This year, a tropical tournament seems to have weathered IU fans’ hopes once again. A banked 3-pointer and three straight losses will do that to you.

The difference this year is the Hoosiers have showed flashes of promise and talent that just weren’t there last season. Despite their struggles, IU has been competitive in every game this season. Even better, the IU men’s basketball team lost games it should have won this past weekend – when was the last time you could say that?

Crean might not be playing walk-ons and outfielders anymore, but he is still reliant on true freshmen adapting to the college level. In spurts, this year’s team has already displayed the type of offensive ability and defensive prowess that was missing from last year’s 6-25 team.

A difficult upcoming schedule could leave their record indicating otherwise, but the Hoosiers are getting better. They might not pull off the number of upsets some were hoping, but this year’s team will have its moments.

Hoosier fans should settle in for the long haul and be patient with this year’s bunch. There is a reason IU signed Crean to a 10-year contract. This year’s team would handily beat last year’s – it’s just hard to tell quite yet whom else they could beat.

What are your feelings post-Puerto Rico? Did you foresee these early struggles or were you caught off guard?

More to come next week.

After IU got within one at 34-33 with 18:05 remaining on a Tom Pritchard dunk, the Hawks (2-2) reeled off 19 straight points fueled by seven Hoosier turnovers. In all, IU committed 23 turnovers.

Darrin Govins scored 23 points to lead St. Joseph’s. Govins hit his first six 3-point attempts and finished 7 of 9 from behind the arc.

Three other Hawks scored in double figures: Ahmad Nivins (18), Garrett Williamson (11) and Tasheed Carr (10).

The Hoosiers (2-2) shot just 37 percent from the field, 65 percent from the foul line and failed to have a scorer reach double figures for the first time this season.

• Box score

The Fighting Irish (3-0) shot 51 percent, hit ten 3-pointers, out-rebounded IU 40-23 and forced 20 turnovers.

Tory Jackson paced the winners with 21 points and Kyle McAlarney scored 18. Reigning Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody added 14.

Mike Brey’s club opened a 13-point lead on a 3-pointer by McAlarney with 6:02 remaining in the first half and the Hoosiers (2-1) could not recover after that point.

Tom Pritchard continued his stellar early season play with 14 points and six rebounds. Two other Hoosiers — Devan Dumes and Nick Williams — hit double figures with 10 points each.

Indiana will continue play in the Maui Invitational Tuesday afternoon against St. Joseph’s. That game will be televised at 1:30 EST on ESPNU.

• Box score

Thanks to ITH reader Colin for the tip on this one.

– Our old friend Robert Vaden came to his senses and pulled his name out of the NBA Draft on Monday. Vaden was projected as a second round pick at best by a majority of the mock drafts. {Indiana Daily Student}

– The thought of IU matching up with North Carolina in Maui just got a lot scarier. Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson and Danny Green all pulled their names out of the NBA Draft, making UNC the overwhelming choice for preseason No. 1. {AOL FanHouse}

– 2009 commitment Bobby Capobianco was invited to the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Charlottesville, Virginia and will team up with Stephan Van Treese and Roger Franklin. Van Treese visited Bloomington on Monday and met with Indiana coach Tom Crean. {ESPN.com}