Indiana signed on for two more years of the Crossroads Classic this week. It’s a move, coach Tom Crean said, that changes some non-conference scheduling.“We’re going to play a neutral game in Indianapolis.FORT WAYNE – 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. 18 Hoosiers vie for their 20th victory this season tonight against Northwestern.
“I think there’s a lot of individual improvement that’s going on with this team,” Crean said after Thursday’s win against Illinois. “I think you can look at different players and you can find certain aspects of it.
“I think the improvement is they’re getting mentally tougher. We went through a little drought where we didn’t, we kind of forgot maybe that edge that you got to have, especially after we beat Ohio State. I think anytime you have success like that, and you haven’t had as much as a group, it’s real easy to fall off a little bit. I think we did, but I think we got that back.”
Indiana (19-6, 7-6 Big Ten) last won at least 20 games in 2007-08, which was also the last time the Hoosiers made the NCAA tournament.
“The ceiling is limitless for this team,” Indiana guard Jordan Hulls said.
“We’re constantly getting better every day. We lost a couple of games, but in that process we were still getting better.”
Indiana’s consecutive wins against Purdue and the Illini gives the team its first winning streak since beating Ohio State (Dec. 31), Michigan (Jan. 5) and Penn State (Jan. 8).
“I think these guys, their work ethics are fantastic. I think guys are adding things to their game,” Crean said. “I think we’re getting better in the post, especially with post defense. There’s no question that our awareness is improving, and I think that’s a huge part of defense. We may give up some baskets, but it’s not from being out of position, it’s not from not being aware of what’s going on around us. I think our rebounding is much better, and I think our ball movement is much better.
“I go back to the Kentucky game. We’re up 10 with 7 1/2 minutes to go and could have easily lost the game because we didn’t make sure we were taking what the defense was giving us. Our team is not doing that right now, and even when we’ve lost some games in this league we haven’t done that. I think how tough this league is really shows up every night, and how good you have to be each and every day to be successful in it. I think that’s where our guys are a little bit more hardened, and I think that’s a big part of the improvement process too.”
The Wildcats (15-9, 5-7) desperately need a win as it tries to build a résumé to make the NCAA tournament for the first time.
Reggie Hearn, a Snider graduate, had 16 points for Northwestern against Purdue on Sunday. Hearn is averaging 7.5 points and 3.5 rebounds.
“Reggie’s been scoring a little bit more lately,” Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said during the Big Ten teleconference Monday. “He’s been a good all-around player for us this year.”
