BLOOMINGTON – Verdell Jones III has been through the ups and downs at Indiana. He was part of a team that won six games during Tom Crean’s first season in 2008-09.

The senior guard returned from a shoulder injury Wednesday to help this year’s team to win No. 20.

Jones made three big baskets late as the No. 18 Hoosiers defeated Northwestern 71-66 in front of 17,246 fans at Assembly Hall. IU went from 20 losses last season to 20 wins – and counting – this year.

“We wanted to be able to do that at home,” Indiana coach Tom Crean said of the milestone win. “We wanted to be able to do that the next time out because we had been through so much with the losses and the record losses in the past couple of years. We wanted to get that 20th win.”

Jones missed the previous two games with a bruised right shoulder. Wearing a black protective sleeve, Jones scored six points.

“At first I was a little fatigued,” Jones said. “To get in a little groove at the end of the game really gave me some confidence.

“The first half, I was a little passive. A little nervous. The second half, I wanted to be more assertive.”

Freshman Cody Zeller led IU (20-6, 8-6 Big Ten) with 23 points.

“I knew when I committed that coach Crean had the program moving in the right direction,” Zeller said. “The guys that they already had here were always improving and working hard.”

Christian Watford and Victor Oladipo scored 12 apiece.

The eight conference wins match the total the Hoosiers had during Crean’s first three seasons in Bloomington.

John Shurna scored 29 points to lead Northwestern. Drew Crawford scored 18 points. Snider graduate Reggie Hearn had eight points in 23 minutes.

The Wildcats (15-10, 5-8) dropped their second consecutive game, failing to pick up a signature win for their résumé as they try to make the NCAA tournament for the first time.

“(IU) made the big plays when they had to make big plays,” Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said.

IU won its third in a row.

Jones did not start, but he was an effective closer.

“He’s probably the one person who’s been through the most,” said Oladipo. “… It’s sad when he gets hurt. He’s down, he wants to play. To see him come in and blossom like he did is a blessing.”

Jones hit a jumper to give the Hoosiers a 65-63 lead with 4:04 remaining. His layup with 2:53 to go stretched Indiana’s lead to four.

The lead stood at four in the final minute. Matt Roth made a nice pass to an open Jones in the left corner. He nailed the jumper with 31 seconds left to clinch the victory.

“There are a lot of teams that are going to get 20 wins and it doesn’t guarantee you anything, but the fact that we had to live through the 20-plus losses the last couple of years,” Crean said. “… We read about it, we heard about it. We heard about it from recruits. To get that 20th win, for this team, for this group of seniors, for everybody, is a good benchmark for us. It’s not an exclamation point, but it is a benchmark.

“We’re proud of it, now we keep moving forward to the next one.”

lpope@jg.net