Photo courtesy of IU Athletics

or an Indiana team off to its best start since 1975-76 and now with as many wins as any of head basketball coach Tom Crean’s first three teams, Thursday’s win against an uninspiring UMBC team may not look like something to get excited about.

According to kenpom.com – a web site that uses advanced metrics to give in-depth evaluations of college basketball teams – UMBC entered the game ranked 330^th out of 342 teams in Division I, with an offense and defense ranked worse than 300^th. Las Vegas didn’t offer a line and Pomeroy’s site predicted that Indiana had a 99% chance at victory with a 38 point win being the most likely outcome.

That prediction wasn’t far off.

With the Hoosiers’ 89-47 win over the Retrievers, the team closed the book on a perfect pre-conference run and gave itself plenty of momentum for the B1G season opener on December 28^th at Michigan State. Despite early struggles from the floor – Indiana shot less than 35% in the first half – the Hoosiers compensated with stellar defense and aggressive offensive play.

Indiana attacked the basket aggressively, managing 23 free throws in the half, making 17 (Jordan Hulls, in a temporary break of character, had one of the misses). Defensive intensity was also present, as evidenced by UMBC’s sub-40% shooting and a 4 to 14 first half assist-to-turnover ratio.

The Hoosiers entered the half with a comfortable 14-point lead, but observers in attendance couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed. Indiana shot only 2-14 from beyond the arc in the first half – many of the misses coming on open shots – and had 10 first half turnovers of their own. IU wasn’t playing pretty basketball and no one in attendance would have been surprised if Indiana had played as ugly of a second half as their first and won solely on the strength of their talent.

After all, the Hoosiers – in order – are coming off one of the biggest road wins of the Crean era, one of the most dramatic wins in program history, a neutral site win against a Big East team and a 57-point drubbing of a MEAC cupcake. Take into consideration that Derek Elston and Will Sheehey missed the game with injury and that Verdell Jones III joined them before the end of the first half, and a letdown didn’t only seem plausible, it was almost expected. But even though the first half had all the hallmarks of a letdown game, IU shook off the cobwebs and played the same breathtaking basketball they’ve played throughout the magical beginning to this season.

After a dismal first half shooting performance, the Hoosiers continued to be patient with their ball movement and eventually began to see results. They connected on nine three-pointers in 13 attempts, shot nearly 60% from the floor in the second half as they continued to expand their lead and won the game going away.

Christian Watford’s play spoke the loudest. After a first half that had many questioning where the star of the Kentucky game had gone, Watford responded with 18 points in the second half on blistering 7-8 shooting (including 4-4 from beyond the arc). When the dust had cleared, Watford had recorded his first double-double of the season and only the second for an Indiana player this year.

Watford’s play – and the team’s play in general – gives reason for optimism in that it reached its peak in the second half of a game that meant very little. Instead of putting forth a token effort for the rest of the game, IU stepped its game up and took it to an inferior opponent. As Ken Bikoff of Inside Indiana said during the game, it looks like the days of the Hoosiers blowing 20-point leads to the likes of Lipscomb have passed.

There’s a long road ahead for this team and obstacles will be plentiful. Will Sheehey and Verdell Jones’ statuses are up in the air and it’s unclear whether or not they’ll be back in time to open the conference season in the Breslin Center. Additionally, Derek Elston will need to adjust to playing with a mask (a mask that, at the behest of Tom Crean, will not feature any creative paint schemes).

For a team that has struggled in the past to play up to its ability, such an impressive performance shouldn’t be taken for granted. Indiana has proven about as much as it can over the past two games, winning by a combined 99 points. As Crean said after the game, his team now has a chance to catch its breath, but he’s hopeful that his players won’t take a breath.

“I told them to enjoy Christmas and do what they need to take care of at home,” he said. “But when they come back on the 26^th, they need to be ready to roll at a high level.”

If their play early in the season is any indication, the Hoosiers should be ready to do just that.