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For the first ten minutes, the Indiana Hoosiers looked vulnerable to Bryant, and the Bulldogs even took the lead roughly midway through the first half (unfortunately, IU's official box score doesn't include the usual play by play, which I hope isn't a trend--so I can't pinpoint when). Regardless, the Hoosiers talent advantage eventually took over at both ends of the floor, and the final 30 minutes looked much like we expected.
A few notes from the Pomeroy profile:
- This was a fast paced game (76 possessions).
- IU's 1.28 points per possession would have been the fifth-highest output of the season last year. It is enough to put IU at the top of Pomeroy's adjusted offensive efficiency ranking and to move IU into #1 in the overall Pomeroy ratings after just one game.
- The 22.5 turnover percentage is disappointing, but I think we can simply accept that our quick tempo is going to lead to more turnovers than those of us who are traditionalists might like to see.
- I know we won''t be so lucky to see this continue against more evenly match opposition, but it's nice that IU was able to dominated the defensive boards, holding Bryant to 27 percent offensive rebounds,
- IU was 29-34 from the line.
Individual performances:
- Yogi Ferrell looked very impressive, and the stat line bore that out. Ferrell scored 10 point on 3-7 from the field, was 4-4 from the line, and had 7 assists to two turnovers. One of his turnovers was on the first or second possession of the game, and then he didn't have another until well into the second half.
- Good Watford was in evidence. He scored 15 points on only 3-9 shooting thanks to 8-9 from the line, and he had 15 boards, 14 on the defensive end. He did lead the team with 4 turnovers, but it's a good sign for how IU will play in the absence of Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin.
- Cody Zeller was, as would be expected, a man among boys. He led IU with 18 points on 8-10 shooting, although he was only 2-6 from the line He had 10 boards as well.
- Jeremy Hollowell looked very comfortable in his debut. He scored 12 points in 17 minutes, although he was 0-3 from three point range.
Well, it was a start. Things were a little dicey early, but the Hoosiers pulled away, and, well...one down. The Hoosiers have a fairly quick turnaround. They host North Dakota State on Monday in a game that technically is part of the Legends Classic.