Around the Hall is recommended reading from the Inside the Hall crew. Send us your links to tips@insidethehall.com.

+ Game notes for Indiana’s exhibition opener against Grace, a NAIA opponent. {IUHoosiers.com}

+ One of Indiana’s top recruiting targets in 2012, North Central’s D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera, recently underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus and will be out several weeks. {Indianapolis Star}

+ Mike Hutton writes that Indiana is on the fast track with Tom Crean at the helm. {Gary Post-Tribune}

+ Kyle Neddenriep looks at five players from around the state who are under the recruiting radar, but ready to soar. Indiana is mentioned with several including Kellen Dunham, Jared Drew and Collin Hartman. {Indianapolis Star}

+ John M. over at the Indiana SBNation site previews the returning players in Indiana’s backcourt. {Crimson Quarry}

+ Andy Katz ponders the question: Could this finally be the year at Northwestern? {ESPN.com}

+ Katz writes that Wisconsin doesn’t mind being picked low in the Big Ten. The Badgers are looking for their 12th straight NCAA berth this season. {ESPN.com}

FINAL SCORE: Northwestern 75, Indiana 53

THE GOOD:

A hot start. IU rushed out to a 15-7 lead in the first five minutes, but once Northwestern switched to a 1-3-1 zone, they only mustered 38 points the last 35 minutes of the game.

Stopping Kevin Coble … for a half. I’m not sure if it had more to do with IU really D’ing up on Coble or the Wildcats just not finding him on the offensive end, but holding a guy averaging 15.5 points a game to only two points in the first half ain’t too shabby. Coble showed more signs of life in the second half, as he had some easy scores on Northwestern’s patented back-door cuts. He finished with 10 for the game. But where Coble faltered, Craig Moore and Michael Thompson shined.

IU outrebounded Northwestern 31-25 for the game and on the offensive end, buried them 15-5. (Though, we know why that is.)

The Hoosiers also tallied 16 assists on the night, which was their most since Jan. 31 against Ohio State.

THE BAD:

Turnovers. 17 of them. Long scoreless stretches. Holes in the defense. You know, same as it ever was this season.

THE UGLY:

From left to right: Tijan Jobe, Steven Gambles, Michael Santa. (Kory Barnett and Broderick Lewis were also on the floor at the end of the game.)

Who is Michael Santa, you ask? Well, he’s a manager Tom Crean thought deserved a jersey. And, he’s wearing Armon Bassett’s number! Apparently, Crean isn’t stopping there. He wants to suit up another manager, Brandon Profitt. But Proffitt is injured at the moment. Perhaps he pulled a finger reaching into a vending machine to grab a Diet Coke for Crean. (I kid; I’m sure these are both nice, hard-working guys that are giving their all in practice just like the rest of the team.)

But yeah, I’m not sure if it gets any lower than this: IU losing to Northwestern for the first time in 41 years at home and the first time ever in Assembly Hall, as a tiny crowd watches Santa and company in the final minute. Yeesh.

FINAL SCORE:

Northwestern: 77 Indiana: 75

THE GOOD:

For the first time in a long time — maybe all season? — the Hoosiers looked like they belonged. Despite the high number of turnovers, IU played so crisp and smooth at points, I had to stop and soak it in. Hey, these guys actually look pretty darn good. In the second half as the intensity crept up and Kevin Coble started dropping in ridiculous shots, IU responded time and time again. Unlike so many other games when I just knew no matter how close it was in the end IU was destined to lose, I genuinely thought they had this game. I was screaming as Matt Roth’s three hit the bottom of the net to tie the game with around 30 seconds or so to go. It’s been a while since I’ve been that emotional about this team.

As the announcers said all second half, this was just a flat-out enjoyable college basketball game to watch. It was extremely physical (who knew?), it was intense, it was two basketball teams that were hell-bent on winning.

Devan Dumes had one of his on nights. Try five 3-pointers in the first half and a career high 26 points on 9-of-16 from the field. IU out-rebounded the crap out of Northwestern, 30-19. And perhaps the best stat of the night: IU hit all 11 free throws it took in the second half, including six from Malik Story. For the game, they made 17-of-19. This is good to see.

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Should IU ever be happy about squeaking things out against Northwestern? Probably not. Given that the Hoosiers are 12-2 in the conference and the Wildcats are 0-14 (!), a sloppy, grind-it-out win in Evanston is probably not something anyone at IU should be too happy about under normal circumstances.

But these are not normal circumstances. The past two weeks have been strange, ridiculous, odd, crazy, emotional — they’ve veered into apathy, to anger, to resignation. A group of young men lost their father figure. Their father blew his shot at one of the best jobs in college basketball. And an assistant coach that looks a lot like a high school gym teacher — in a good way! — took over despite the threat of a boycott by his All-American center. These are not normal circumstances.

Those circumstances will linger for a while. They’ll give things meaning that might not normally have them, like D.J.’s hug for Dan Dakich last night. Any other time, that’s a hug merely of exhaustion. Last night, it was the ultimate sign of solidarity, acceptance, and a willingness to soldier on. That undercurrent will be there for a while, but if last night proved anything, it’s that there’s life after Kelvin Sampson. Basketball players play; coaches coach. That’s all it is, really.

So last night’s win was a relief. It was pure: basketball as it should be. Ball on court. Defense on offense. It was a shoddy defensive effort, a sloppy offensive one, and an all-around ugly game portending defensive weaknesses for IU. And I’m not even mad at all, because basketball is back.

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Here are video highlights of IU’s 85-82 win over Northwestern, courtesy of the Big Ten Network:

After an emotional week that ended with the resignation of Kelvin Sampson, Indiana pulled it together under interim coach Dan Dakich Saturday night in Evanston and beat Northwestern, 85-82.

Four Hoosiers (23-4, 12-2 Big Ten) were in double figures, led by Armon Bassett with 24 points.

Jordan Crawford scored 21 points, Eric Gordon had 18 and D.J. White chipped in 16 points and 11 rebounds.

“We said it was us against the world and that’s how we went out here and approached it,” White said. “Some of the guys were still down and I felt it was my duty to pick them up. I had to be that leader.”

Indiana out-rebounded Northwestern 35-18 and hit 30 of 37 free throws.

“It was a tough week, I’m glad we got the win and we’ll go from here,”Dakich said.

In a tribute to Sampson, Indiana players wrote the initials K.S. on their red Adidas shoes. Sampson’s son Kellen, remained with the team in his role as a graduate manager.

The Wildcats (7-18, 0-14) had a chance to win, but Michael Thompson missed a layup with five seconds remaining and White grabbed the rebound and was fouled. White then stepped to the line to give Indiana a three-point lead with two free throws.

Kevin Coble scored a career-high 37 points for Northwestern on 12 of 16 shooting in 39 minutes.

Related:

• Box score