Indiana began the season with 12 consecutive victories.But coach Tom Crean said IU is a better team now than they were after capturing that 12th straight victory Dec. 22 against Maryland-Baltimore County.The No.BLOOMINGTON – Kentucky coach John Calipari stopped Maurice Creek as he made his way through the postgame handshake line Saturday and began a brief conversation.
It was one of the rare times a Wildcat slowed down the IU freshman, who scored 31 points. But Creek’s career-high performance wasn’t enough.
Some fresh faces pumped new blood in a longtime rivalry, but for the 15th time in the last 19 meetings, the result was the same: A Kentucky win. Freshman Eric Bledsoe scored 23 points as the Wildcats pulled away for a 90-73 victory.
IU trailed the No. 4 team in the nation by one at halftime. The Hoosiers took a 48-47 lead on a layup by Jeremiah Rivers with 17:42 to go. The Wildcats (10-0) then went on an 18-0 run to silence the 17,316 fans at Assembly Hall.
“A year ago, we play at Kentucky (a 72-54 loss), it was a stunned locker room,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “This year, we play Kentucky, it’s a hurt locker room. That’s progress to me.
“We just were not as aggressive defensively (during Kentucky’s run). And we settled for some shots. It was more the defense than anything else. We were not where we needed to be.”
Kentucky also hurt the Hoosiers on the boards. The Wildcats outrebounded IU 49-24. Patrick Patterson had 11 rebounds to go along with 19 points for the Wildcats.
“We weren’t nearly good enough with our guard rebounds, and when you’re playing against a team with the size and strength of Kentucky, you’ve got to do a better job of keeping them off the glass, and your guards have got to come in and get the rebounds,” Crean said.
Kentucky freshman John Wall came in with all the hype, and the guard did fill the stat sheet with 11 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
But IU (4-5) has a pretty good freshman of its own in Creek. His 31 was the most points for a Hoosier since Eric Gordon scored 31 against Illinois State on Nov. 23, 2007.
“We’ve played a lot of good teams; (Creek’s) as good as any player we’ve played,” Calipari said. “That’s how you start to build a program, you get guys like him.”
Creek was the only Hoosier to score in double figures.
“I just did what I’m supposed to do. I do whatever the team needs,” Creek said.
Creek’s three-pointer to open the game helped IU race to a 17-9 lead. Slowly the Wildcats chipped away. The game remained tight until Kentucky’s run. Bledsoe had two threes and a dunk in the spurt. IU went nearly 5 1/2 minutes between baskets.
“When we come out and we’re aggressive and we’re confident and we move the basketball, we can make plays,” Crean said.
“There’s no question that our improvement continues to show up with us, but at the same time, there’s no question that we have a long, long way to go to be as competitive on a nightly basis as we need to be.”
