BLOOMINGTON – Meyers Leonard stood near Indiana's basket, dazed.Jordan Hulls got hot from the outside. Christian Watford provided help on the inside. And Derek Elston continued to show signs of the growth he has exhibited in the past couple of weeks.
Indiana snapped its school-record-tying 11-game losing steak Saturday with an 88-80 overtime win against Northwestern. The victory sets up a rematch between the teams in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament. The 10th-seeded Hoosiers (10-20) and seventh-seeded Wildcats (19-12) meet about 5 p.m. today at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The winner plays second-seeded Purdue at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
“What people saw was the confidence of the young guys throughout the game,” IU coach Tom Crean said Monday. “Some players who came in contributed. We got solid minutes from everybody who was in the game. When you get that, you are probably going to win.
“… We made adjustments inside of the game offensively and defensively – that hasn’t always been easy for us and our youth – and we really did a lot of that that game.”
Hulls went 8 for 12 from three-point territory on the way to a career-high 24 points. Elston also reached a career-high with 17 points. Watford had 14 points and 11 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the year. The result was a much different outcome than Northwestern’s 78-61 win Feb. 7 over the Hoosiers in Evanston, Ill.
“I don’t know if they’ve done that much (different),” Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. “They had a few different sets. They played us zone the whole game on Saturday. They played some zone the first time. I think it’s personnel.
“You are not going to see too many surprises. It comes down to how you are playing. If you have a guy like Hulls, and that’s what he does, he shoot, you can’t let him shoot. If you have another guy that kills the offensive boards, you have to make sure to box him out. It’s a team that’s evolving. You’re seeing them get better.”
Two of IU’s four league wins came in overtime.
“We feel re-energized here with the win,” Crean said. “I’m proud of the way our players played. For a young team that we have, to have two overtime wins this season in the Big Ten is a great experience builder for them. It was an excellent win for us against a very good basketball team. One that we’ll see again (today).”
