Our friend Chris Korman of The Herald-Times/Hoosier Scoop was first to report the transfer:

“After the season, Nick expressed displeasure with his role this year and also shared concern with members of our coaching staff about his future role in the program, ” said Crean.  “He is a fine young man and we have enjoyed our relationship with him over time.  He played hard and did some very good things for us and we wish him the best.”

The decision by Williams is a curious one considering he originally signed with Marquette and then followed Crean to Bloomington last spring. But when you consider that Maurice Creek is coming into the program, Devan Dumes commands his share of looks and Verdell Jones came into his own down the stretch, Williams, like Story, would likely have taken a tumble down the depth chart. As of right now, IU will enter next season with 12 scholarship players. There is, however, a possibility that another player could be added to the 2009 class as the staff continues to evaluate talent this spring.

Korman’s story also reported that walk-on Broderick Lewis has left the team. The complete release from IU, with more comments from Crean and a quote from Williams, after the jump.

(Photo credit: Indianapolis Star)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana University men’s basketball coach Tom Crean has announced that freshman forward Nick Williams, a native of Mobile, Alabama will not return to the program.

“After the season, Nick expressed displeasure with his role this year and also shared concern with members of our coaching staff about his future role in the program, ” said Crean. “He is a fine young man and we have enjoyed our relationship with him over time. He played hard and did some very good things for us and we wish him the best.”

Williams started 29 games and averaged 8.9 points and 4.5 rebounds. He was fourth on the team averaging 26.5 minutes per game.

“It was a difficult decision, but one I felt I needed to make as I looked at the future,” said Williams. “I want to thank everyone at IU for their support this season. I’m going to finish up the semester and then begin the process of finding a program where I can come in and have an impact for them.”

The Hoosiers will have one open scholarship for next season should they choose to use it.

“We will continue to recruit and work with the young men who have embraced the challenge of
competition that is in front of them as we rebuild this great program,” Crean added.

In a game that looked eerily similar to earlier contests the Hoosiers haven’t been able to close out down the stretch, Tom Crean’s club reversed the trend and fended off Iowa 68-60 in front of 14,247 fans in Assembly Hall. The win was the first since December 10 for the Hoosiers.

“It was a great win for us,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “As I said to the players late in the game and I said in the locker room, this will be the toughest win that they ever get. And it wasn’t just because it was game night, it was because we haven’t won in a while and I’m really proud of them.”

Indiana (6-15, 1-8 Big Ten) led by 13 at halftime and enjoyed a 20-point lead with 11:58 remaining. The Hoosiers, however, saw the gap close to 63-60 with 44 seconds remaining on a Jeff Peterson layup.

Crean then called for a timeout and Iowa fouled Verdell Jones, who hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it 64-60. IU forced turnovers on Iowa’s final two possessions on steals by Devan Dumes and Nick Williams. A layup by Malik Story and a pair of free throws by Dumes sealed the victory.

Dumes matched with a career-high with 27 points on 8 of 9 shooting from the field and 6 of 8 from the foul line. The junior guard added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“Devan Dumes was phenomenal,” Crean said. “He did excellent things for us.”

Williams was the only other Hoosier in double figures with 14 points. Tom Pritchard scored only two points and fouled out in just 14 minutes.

Iowa, which played without leading rebounder Cyrus Tate, was paced by Matt Gatens’ 22 points. The Hawkeyes (12-11, 2-8) shot just 30 percent from 3-point range (6 of 20) and 14 of 21 from the foul line.

Up next: Indiana travels to the Breslin Center in East Lansing on Saturday for a 4PM ET tilt with Michigan State. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Leaving points at the line: Indiana shot just 15 of 25 from the foul line.

Roth cools off: After a 29-point performance against Ohio State on Saturday, Matt Roth hit just 1 of 6 three-point attempts and finished with five points. “Matt Roth got a new feel of what it’s like to be a marked man,” Crean said. “They did an excellent job and at the same time, he still moved pretty well without the basketball.”

• Box score

(Photo credit: Associated Press)

The Hoosiers (5-15, 0-8 Big Ten) haven’t won since December 10 against TCU and Saturday’s 11th straight loss tied a record set by the 1943-1944 team.

“We knew it was a matter of time with him,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said of Roth. “He has been spending so much more time in the gym on his own. He is an excellent shooter and sometimes when you’re really good at something you can take it for granted once in awhile. He hasn’t done that.”

Roth finished with 29 points on 9 of 11 shooting from behind the arc and two free throws, but his remarkable display was overshadowed by Indiana’s inability to contain Evan Turner, William Buford and Jon Diebler.

“It’s really a hard situation there because they have so many guys that can score,” Crean said. “Like I said, they have four perimeter (players). I think you can make a case for this throughout the country but Turner is hard a matchup as there is.”

Turner scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Buford added 24 and Diebler 21. The Buckeyes (15-5, 5-4) shot 63 percent, including 10 of 17 3-pointers, and hit 25 of 30 free throws.

Besides Roth, two other Hoosiers reached double figures: Devan Dumes (13) and Nick Williams (11). Indiana shot 47 percent and hit 12 of 18 free throws.

Up next: The Hoosiers host Iowa on Wednesday night at 6:30 PM ET on the Big Ten Network.

Record tying performance: Roth’s nine 3-pointers made tied the mark set by Roderick Wilmont on February 28, 2007 at Northwestern.

• Box score
• Quotes
• Crean audio
• Roth audio
• Williams audio

Nick Williams. That pretty much sums it up. On a day when the Hoosiers came out with far less fight than needed to win in a hostile environment, Williams was the guy who tried to keep it respectable early. He scored 10 points in the first 13 minutes before disappearing until the 7:00 mark in the second half.

IU won the rebounding battle 35-23, but Illinois hardly missed so there weren’t many boards to corral.

THE BAD AND UGLY:

The injury to Devan Dumes. The one player Indiana can ill-afford to lose didn’t start the game (reportedly after he missed the team bus to Assembly Hall) and played just two minutes before injuring his right ankle. Dumes had to be carried off the floor by Tijan Jobe and Steven Gambles and returned to the bench during the second half on crutches. For all of his faults, Dumes is the one Indiana player that can create his shot consistently, even if he is streaky. Not. Good.

The lack of intensity. In a start that looked eerily similar to the Kentucky game last month, Indiana fell behind 21-2 and never matched the energy of Illinois. Perhaps it was a hangover from the Michigan debacle or maybe Illinois is just that much better than the Hoosiers, but it was discouraging nonetheless.

The turnovers are back. After cutting down on the turnovers the previous three games against Lipscomb (13), Iowa (11) and Michigan (16), Indiana was once again sloppy with the ball, coughing it up 18 times.

Defending the 3-pointer. Illinois hit 13 from behind the arc including seven from Trent Meacham and three by Dominique Keller, who had only hit four all season going into the game. Most of the looks were of the “nobody within four feet of the shooter” variety.

After a head scratching home loss to Lipscomb to close out 2008 and a road loss to Iowa in the Big Ten opener, the Hoosiers returned to Assembly Hall for a meeting with Michigan, who hadn’t won in Bloomington since 1995.

And with a 44-24 lead with 18:26 remaining, it appeared Indiana was on its way to a win over a team that was ranked in the top 25 as recently as last week with wins over UCLA and Duke.

But in this season of rebuilding, the upset wasn’t in the cards. Michigan closed the second half by outscoring the Hoosiers 35-15 to send the game into overtime and won 72-66 in front of 11,044 fans.

“There are no moral victories,” Indiana freshman guard Verdell Jones said. “We are all competitors and a loss is a loss whether you lose by 30 or you lose by one. We don’t want to feel like this again.”

Even after losing all of their momentum by squandering a 20-point cushion, Indiana had their chances to win in overtime.

But the Hoosiers (5-9, 0-2 Big Ten) hit only 3-of-9 free throws and 2-of-8 from the field in OT for their third straight home loss.

“It’s a unbelievably tough pill to swallow right now,” Crean said. “But they’ve gotta learn real quick that you just gotta turn right back around. Get right back at it and learn from the film.”

Laval Lucas-Perry paced the Wolverines (12-3, 2-1) with 18 points and Manny Harris added 17 points and 11 rebounds. Michigan shot just 39 percent, including 12 of 40 from behind the three-point arc.

Devan Dumes led Indiana with 17 points, Nick Williams scored 14 and Jones scored 13. Tom Pritchard just missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

• Box score

Up next: Indiana travels to Champaign Saturday afternoon for a 3:00 meeting with Illinois. That game will be televised by the Big Ten Network.

Even a 20-point lead isn’t safe: For the second straight home game, Indiana squandered a 20-point lead.

Indiana natives struggle: Freshman Zack Novak, from Chesteron, scored just six points in 42 minutes and Carmel’s Stu Douglass managed just two points in 18 minutes.

• Coach Crean audio
• Devan Dumes audio
• Nick Williams audio

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

Now, onto the action. Our Hoosiers passed their final test before Saturday’s opener with a 72-54 win over DII Bemidji State. It wasn’t a pretty effort on offense as neither team shot particularly well: IU shot 43 percent and the Beavers just 33 percent. IU also left 12 points at the foul line as they hit only 17 of 29 attempts.

Malik Story came off the bench and led the way with 15 points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes. Nick Williams and Tom Pritchard joined Story in double figures with 12 points each. Kyle Taber made his triumphant return with four points and nine rebounds. Verdell Jones (3-11 FG, four turnovers) and Devan Dumes (2-10 FG) both struggled.

Tom Crean was still in “let’s see what we have” mode (perhaps this will be an ongoing theme) as 14 different players saw time, including walk-ons Brett Finkelmeier, Evan White, Kipp Schutz, Kory Barnett, Broderick Lewis and Daniel Moore.

Even after two exhibition games, it’s really hard to get an idea of what to expect on Saturday when IU opens the season. The entire team is learning a new system and learning to play with each other. The hustle has been encouraging, but talent ultimately plays a big part in winning and the talent level on this club isn’t that of a typical Indiana team.

So, what say you, ITH’ers? Two exhibition games down and the opener Saturday, what are your observations about this team? Encouraged? Discouraged? Any keys to success that you’ve already identified? Let’s hear it in the comments.

Crean’s team did what it was supposed to do: The Hoosiers started with a nice run (21-2 to start the game) and kept applying pressure to a team that was clearly overmatched.

The starting lineup featured four freshmen (Verdell Jones, Tom Pritchard, Nick Williams and Matt Roth) and Vincennes JC transfer Devan Dumes.

Pritchard (20 points and 10 rebounds), Dumes (22 points) and Jones (18 points) each turned in solid offensive performances and Williams showed a nice touch from the free throw line, going 6 of 7. Roth never got into the flow and totaled just five points in 22 minutes.

IU shot 83 percent from the foul line and 56 percent from the field, which could very well be a season-high when it’s all said and done. Overall, it was a solid performance for a team that will struggle to find consistency due to its inexperience, but should pull out a decent amount of wins on account of grit and hustle.

Your thoughts on the game and complaints about the BTN’s botched streaming experiment are welcome in the comments.

Note: IU is considering adding another walk-on, Kipp Schutz, who plays baseball for the Hoosiers and was all-conference in high school at Evansville Harrison. (Thanks to ITH reader Corey for the tip.)

• Box score
• Coach Crean postgame audio
• Dumes, Pritchard and Jones postgame audio

(Photo credit: Associated Press)