Published: November 16, 2009 11:59 pm         

Sloppiness reigns as young Hoosiers hang for second win

Bloomington, Ind. — Indiana had to face an intriguing combination in college basketball Monday night: a speedy team who wanted to run with the Hoosiers and who had an athletic 7-foot-3 center patrolling the lane.

It took a half for the Hoosiers to overcome that combination and their own lackluster play, but Indiana pulled away for 69-61 victory over South Carolina-Upstate at Assembly Hall.

The first half showed the downside of having a young squad as sloppiness reigned supreme. Outside of back-to-back 3-pointers by Jordan Hulls and Derek Elston midway through, the Hoosiers struggled to find rhythm on offense. Indiana shot 5 for 14 from the field and had five turnovers in the game’s first 11 minutes.

Nick Schneiders gave the Hoosiers fits. The 7-foot-3 senior center made his presence known immediately when he blocked Verdell Jones’ shot on the game’s opening possession.

Tom Pritchard picked up three fouls in the first half tussling with Schneiders. The tall righty proved himself to be a deft passer, hitting De’Marion Gordon with a perfectly executed bounce pass on a backdoor cut to pull the Spartans to within 20-18.

Matt Roth did an invaluable service by dribbling through Schneiders, earning the center his third foul with 4:22 remaining in the first half.

Indiana’s saving grace in the first half came in the form of free throws. The Hoosiers were in the bonus with nine minutes remaining and in the double bonus with five minutes remaining. Indiana was 10 for 16 from the line in the first half. USC-Upstate (0-2) had 15 first-half turnovers and Indiana (2-0) was able to turn them into 13 points and led 32-25 at halftime.

Schneiders picked up his fourth foul at the 17:20 mark of the second half, going up to deny Christian Watford. The difference was immediate as Watford and Pritchard were able to go inside for easy baskets on consecutive possessions with Schneiders sitting on the bench. Jones found his way inside to give the Hoosiers a 47-33 lead. The sophomore from Champaign, Ill. had six points in the first five minutes of the second half.

Pritchard, who finished with four fouls, and Tijan Jobe were sent out to battle Schneiders. Crean did not play 6-foot-9 freshman Bobby Copabianco or 6-foot-11 Bawa Muniru against the Spartans’ post player until Muniru guarded him at about the nine-minute mark of the second half.,

There was never a run that established Indiana was in control of the game, but the lead steadily grew as the Hoosiers put the game out of reach. Schneiders returned for roughly five minutes in the second half before fouling out at the 5:03 mark.

The Spartans pulled to within 65-57 with two minutes to go. As time was expiring on the shot clock, Jeremiah Rivers found a wide-open Watford just off the top of the key. Watford drained the three and fell to the floor as the shot clock expired.

Watford led all scorers with 17 points, while Creek chipped in 14.

• Notes: Rivers was playing in front of his father, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers … This was USC-Upstate’s first game against a Big Ten team … IU will spend Tuesday traveling to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Tipoff in Puerto Rico. IU will play Mississippi on Wednesday, with games on Thursday and Sunday.



S.C.-UPSTATE (61) — Uzochukwu 4-7 6-8 14, Posey 3-4 2-2 8, Schneiders 2-4 2-3 6, Minus 1-5 0-0 3, Chavis 2-4 2-2 8, Gordon 3-7 2-4 8, LeGates 3-8 2-2 9, Cook 1-3 1-2 3, Rogers 1-4 0-0 2, Palkert 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-47 17-23 61.

INDIANA (69) — Watford 6-10 4-6 17, Pritchard 1-1 2-2 4, Creek 5-7 2-5 14, Rivers 0-4 2-4 2, Jones III 6-14 1-4 13, Hulls 1-2 1-2 4, Moore 0-0 1-2 1, Muniru 0-2 0-0 0, Capobianco 0-1 0-0 0, Roth 0-1 2-2 2, Elston 4-6 1-2 10, Dumes 1-6 0-1 2, Jobe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-54 16-30 69.

Halftime—Indiana 32-25. 3-Point Goals—S.C.-Upstate 4-15 (Chavis 2-3, LeGates 1-3, Minus 1-4, Rogers 0-1, Cook 0-2, Gordon 0-2), Indiana 5-11 (Creek 2-2, Hulls 1-1, Watford 1-2, Elston 1-2, Roth 0-1, Dumes 0-3). Fouled Out—Schneiders. Rebounds—S.C.-Upstate 30 (Posey, Rogers, Schneiders, Uzochukwu 5), Indiana 39 (Watford 10). Assists—S.C.-Upstate 10 (Chavis 3), Indiana 11 (Rivers 5). Total Fouls—S.C.-Upstate 24, Indiana 19. Technical—Gordon. A—15,228.