Hoosiers Get Marquee Win They've Waited For

There will be bigger wins during Tom Crean’s Indiana coaching tenure, but Tuesday night’s 74-64 victory over Pitt won’t soon be forgotten by the second-year Hoosier coach.

Indiana (4-4) out-scrapped, out-fought, out-worked, and out-played Pitt (7-2) to emerge with a convincing 10-point victory over the traditional Big East power in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.

The win was not only important in providing some evidence that the Hoosier program is taking some big steps in its journey out of the Kelvin Sampson abyss, but it was also the 200th career head coaching victory for Crean.

But that 200th victory took a backseat for Crean to what it means for the IU program as it moves forward.

“We have so far to go, but we needed something to hang our hat on, and Pitt is the real deal,” Crean said. “We needed this. This was our road, neutral type of game. Coming into Madison Square Garden and getting a win here, it’s something they’ll never forget.”

The Hoosiers did it with a gameplan that called for guards Jeremiah Rivers, Verdell Jones and Maurice Creek to attack off the dribble and get to the rim or the free-throw line as opposed to shooting 3-pointers. They did that, with Jones leading the way with a team-high 22 points to help IU to a dominating 40-20 edge in points in the paint and a 34-17 advantage in free throw attempts.

Creek added eight points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Rivers chipped in two points and three assists while obviously nursing an injured back.

“Jeremiah had a gutsy game for us,” Crean said. “To be in this environment where he dad played, having his former (Georgetown) teammates in the building, it was a great deal for him.”

While the guards attacked with abandon, Indiana’s young frontcourt held its own against a physical Pitt team that Crean labeled as the most physical his team will face all season. Pitt did own a 36-32 edge on the glass, but there was no back down from Christian Watford (16 points, 10-13 on free-throws, 3 blocks), Derek Elston (9 points) and Bobby Capobianco (seven points, four rebounds).

Defensively, Indiana made things difficult on just about everyone other than Ashton Gibbs, who scored a game-high 25 points including five 3pointers. Pitt was just 22-of-69 from the field (31.9 percent) and 8-of-23 from behind the 3-point arc (34.8 percent). Crean’s team also forced Pitt into 15 turnovers and largely kept them off the free-throw line.

“It was all about defense,” Crean said. “They were so locked in to defending.”

It all added up to an approach that enabled Indiana open a four-point halftime lead and then extend to 18 with 2:58 remaining before Pitt responded with one final flurry. A trio of Pitt 3-pointers in a 10-second span – including two by Ashton Gibbs, who finished with a game-high 25 points – cut the lead to 68-60 with 1:45 remaining. That margin was then cut to six, 70-64, when Dwight Miller put back a miss with just under a minute remaining.

But after a couple of ill-advised passes produced some late-game turnovers, Indiana regained its composure and held Pitt off. Jones and Capobianco each made one of two free throws in the game’s final minute, and Jones added a layup in the closing seconds as IU posted its most impressive win during the Crean era.

“It was great – a lot of hugging in that locker room,” Crean said. “They really earned it. It gnaws at you as a coach when guys are working so hard and you want them to have success.”