ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Tom Crean met with the media following Indiana’s 72-71 over Michigan on Sunday at the Crisler Center to clinch the outright Big Ten regular season championship.
Watch and listen to his postgame reaction in the embedded media player below:
Tom Crean, Cody Zeller, Jordan Hulls and Victor Oladipo met with the media Saturday afternoon to preview Indiana’s game on Sunday with Michigan at the Crisler Center.
Watch and listen to their comments in the embedded media players below, via IUAthletics on YouTube:
Tom Crean met with the media following Indiana’s 67-58 loss to Ohio State on Tuesday night at Assembly Hall.
Watch and listen to his postgame comments in the embedded media player below:
Everything was assembled for Indiana to have the party of the year on Tuesday night. The Hoosiers were playing for sole possession of a Big Ten title — one they hadn’t won since 1993 — and against the very team they manhandled just weeks ago at Ohio State. Plus, they were prepared to honor their three seniors, a class of guys responsible for bringing the Indiana program back.
Indiana still honored those seniors after Tuesday night’s game, and the Hoosiers can still win a conference title outright by beating Michigan on Sunday. But the celebration was mostly ruined by Aaron Craft and the Buckeyes on Tuesday night.
Ohio State 67, Indiana 58. And suddenly, the Hoosiers aren’t a lock for a No. 1 seed any longer.
“This is the epitome of bittersweet tonight,” said Indiana coach Tom Crean. “We’re trying to celebrate what these guys have earned, and at the same time, we didn’t earn it tonight.”
Added senior forward Derek Elston: “It felt like too many mental errors were stacking on top of each other. When you dwell on one of those, you’re just not playing your game anymore. I think that’s what happened tonight.”
The Buckeyes are a very good defensive team, but they sometimes struggle because their lack of consistent scorers behind Fort Wayne native Deshaun Thomas. When they get other guys to score, though, they are capable of being one of the nation’s top 10 teams.
On Tuesday night, it wasn’t just Thomas (who finished with 18 points on 17 shots). Craft, Ohio State’s pesky point guard, played well offensively and very much dominated whoever was matched up against him. Craft had 16 points on an efficient 7-of-10 shooting, four rebounds, four assists and four steals.
“We wanted to keep the lane covered on Craft, and he made some tough shots,” Crean said. “Those are the same shots he didn’t make against us [before]. He’s so good because he’s really looking for two things. He’s looking for an open lane, and then if you converge, he’s looking to hit somebody.”
Shannon Scott and Sam Thompson also made solid offensive contributions, combining for 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
“There were some stretches there where we would play really good ‘D’ for the whole shot clock, and they’d get a bucket right at the end,” said senior guard Jordan Hulls. “Whether Craft hit one off the backboard or a pull-up jumper or whatever the case was, offensive rebound, we just didn’t play with that edge that we need to have.”
Tom Crean, Yogi Ferrell and Cody Zeller met with the media Monday afternoon to preview Indiana’s game on Tuesday with Ohio State at Assembly Hall.
Watch and listen to their comments in the embedded media players below:
Tom Crean met with the media following Indiana’s 73-60 win over Iowa on Saturday night at Assembly Hall.
Watch and listen to his postgame comments in the embedded media player below:
Quotes after the jump.
Powered by WordPress. Designed by RYC Endeavors. Read our Privacy Policy.
Hoosiers take the hard road for Big Ten title
Think about it. This Indiana team, at least the seniors and the juniors on it, started from the bottom with nothing ever handed to them. They grew into the nation’s No. 1 team, became everyone’s pick to win the national title after a road win at Michigan State, and then fell off again.
A loss at Minnesota had some questioning the Hoosiers’ toughness. A home defeat against Ohio State on Tuesday night brought even more questions.
Maybe clinching a conference crown at home on Senior Night would have been top idealistic. Would have seemed too perfect, too easy. Nothing for these seniors has ever come that way.
Instead, the Hoosiers went on the road to Michigan, where no team had won this season and only one had won in the last two years, and pulled out a fairly miraculous win.
They looked disorganized and sloppy in the first half, and trailed by five points with only 52 seconds left. The Big Ten title was bound to be split between four teams.
But the Hoosiers, much like they did in East Lansing last month, found a way to win with big plays at the end.
Indiana 72, Michigan 71. The Hoosiers have their first championship of the season.
“It just gives us momentum,” said Indiana forward Will Sheehey. “We needed to win the Big Ten title outright. We stumbled our last couple weeks, but we just stuck with it together.”
If it was just a share?
“It definitely wouldn’t feel this sweet,” guard Remy Abell said.
Other than when they jumped out to a 10-3 lead, the Hoosiers looked unlike themselves in the first half. Shots didn’t go, lineups didn’t make sense and the edge didn’t seem to be there.
Despite playing much better in the second stanza, Indiana still trailed by five with 52 seconds left. Michigan makes free throws and protects the ball, the game is over.
But Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke each missed the front end of one and ones, and Cody Zeller scored six straight points to put the Hoosiers back on top.
Continue reading this post »