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Thursday, November 29, 2012

IU basketball


Written by
Bob Kravitz
Indianapolis Star



BLOOMINGTON – There were questions: Were they that good? Were the Indiana Hoosiers an unquestioned No. 1 team after scuffling against Georgia and going to overtime against Georgetown?
Asked and answered.
Emphatically, yes.
They’re that good, and have a chance to be great.

If there were any questions about IU’s worthiness as the nation’s top-ranked team – Duke is making a lot of noise lately – those questions were loudly silenced Tuesday night at a manic Assembly Hall.
IU 83, North Carolina 59.
It began with four minutes left in the first half and, for all intents and purposes, it ended in the first four minutes of the second half. In that stretch,

IU outscored the young Tar Heels 32-8 and ran them off the Assembly Hall floor.
And it was the way they did it, playing beautiful, unselfish basketball, making the extra pass time and again. In the first half, they assisted on 12 of 19 field goals, and finished with 21 assists on 33 baskets. It was Bob Knight-style basketball from the glory years, the best IU basketball has looked this year, the best its looked in many years.

Questions?

No questions.

This was reaffirmation, a signal to the rest of the college basketball universe that IU basketball is not going to be happy with being No. 1 until the season is done. That was March performance in November, an absolute clinic in team basketball.
“They are No. 1,’’ North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said. “The thing I like is, they really are a team. They don’t have just one guys who beats you up. They beat you in so many different ways. Just look at Yogi (Ferrell). He was 0-for-6 from the floor, but he had things under control and made so many good passes.

“If you’ve got two really good post players, that might bother them, but they’re a legitimate No. 1. I don’t think they’ve got a selfish bone in those kids’ bodies. That’s the thing I admire most.’’
The victory over Kentucky said, “We’re back.’’
This victory over North Carolina said, “We’re not going anywhere.”
“We haven’t even scratched the surface,’’ said IU’s Victor Oladipo. “We feel like we can do so much more.’’

Except for Christian Watford, who didn’t seem to get an invitation to the party, the Hoosiers got contributions from everywhere.
From Jordan Hulls, who just keeps growing and growing as a player. Some of us thought there was a ceiling to his game, but he’s busted through it.
From Oladipo, who’s probably made more strides offensively than any player in IU’s recent history. He’s not just a defender and a dunker anymore.

“They’ve got two guys I didn’t even hear of in high school (Hulls and Oladipo) absolutely kick our butt,’’ Williams said. “Hulls is really something. Oladipo, I’m looking at the box score, it says he had one block and zero steals, and it felt like he stole the ball from us 10 times. Just his energy offensively and defensively was something.’’
From Ferrell, who give the Hoosiers a pass-first element they haven’t had in years. He may turn out to be the best point guard this program has seen since Isiah Thomas. He didn’t just pass the ball beautifully, but he defended extraordinarily well.

From Will Sheehey, who had 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and five rebounds.
From Cody Zeller, who showed his NBA chops by out-running North Carolina’s big men every time down the floor, finishing with a series of dunks. Through the first six games of the season, he didn’t necessarily look like the top player in the college game. Tuesday night, he did. Enjoy him while you’ve got him, people, because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see him passing up another chance to be a high first-round pick.
Mind you, this is not your father’s North Carolina team.

This past offseason, they lost Harrison Barnes, John Henson, Kendall Marshall and Tyler Zeller. The Heels have just one senior to go with eight freshmen and sophomore. It’s a young team that doesn’t have Carolina’s usual stash of one-and-done quality talent.
Ordinarily, Williams rolls teams out there who can compete with the best from the opening tap of the season. This team, though, is going to be a work in progress.

Here’s when you knew North Carolina was in trouble: Late in the first half, they were shooting 54 percent from the field.
And trailing 35-31.
Which set the table for an IU tsunami of points, mostly off of dunks, possibly the best four minutes of basketball we’ll see from anybody this college basketball season.

IU beat Carolina at its own game, running and running some more.
There was a Zeller run-out and a dunk.
There was a Oladipo basket at the hoop.
Another Zeller dunk.
A Sheehey dunk off a sweet pass from Ferrell.
All of it topped off by Zeller’s follow at the buzzer, giving IU a 46-37 halftime lead.
Textbook basketball.
“I love Indiana basketball,’’ Williams said. “Except when it’s against my team.’’
No. 1.
With a bullet.