IU With Work To Do Heading Into Season-Opener

By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Yogi Ferrell still has found memories of his first real game at Assembly Hall. He says it's hard to forget.

This was back in November 2012. Ferrell's Hoosiers were No. 1 in the country and opened the regular season with a 97-54 win over Bryant University. Ferrell finished with 10 points, seven assists, five rebounds, one block and one steal in his college debut.

But that's not what the now-senior guard remembers about it.

"It was just so loud," Ferrell said. "Assembly Hall, there's nothing like it when you're out there for the first time in front of this crowd."

That feeling will return Friday night as Indiana officially opens its 2015-16 season against Eastern Illinois at Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers begin a new season with exhibition wins against Ottawa and Bellarmine already under their belts and eyes set on competing for both a Big Ten and National Championship.

Indiana by no means played its best basketball during its short preseason. November isn't the time for that. Even December is still mostly developmental. That's what the non-conference is for.

Indiana head coach Tom Crean will want his players sharp for the heart of the Big Ten season at the beginning of the new calendar year. In a perfect world, the Hoosiers would be peaking around the same time the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments begin in March.

For now, he'll focus on improvement.

"We learned a lot of things," Crean said recapping the exhibition season. "If we had a bigger list of positives than we have concerns, then we'd be lying to ourselves."

The Hoosiers experienced both good and bad in the preseason.

Certainly a stretch of 11 consecutive stops against Bellarmine on Monday is something to build on. Nearly the same thing happened in IU's first win against Ottawa when the Hoosiers held the Gee-Gee's to just three points over the game's final 9:13.

For a team that struggled defensively last season, the dominant streaks are optimistic signs of Indiana's potential.

"When we have that mindset that we need to get a stop, I feel like we can get it," Ferrell said. "But we don't keep that mindset the entire game."

Ferrell was more pleased with Indiana's work offensively. Ranked No. 2 in KenPom's offensive efficiency ratings to begin the season, the Hoosiers shot 46.5 percent from the floor and averaged 77.5 points per game between their two exhibition contests.

Part of Indiana's offensive efficiency was a result of its control of the glass. The Hoosiers outrebounded their two opponents by a combined 27 rebounds, leading to 29-second chance points.

Perhaps the most rewarding sign was Indiana's offensive rebounding. On their own misses, the Hoosiers grabbed 34-of-70 available rebounds, a sign of a team willing to follow their own shots and scrap for those second-chance opportunities.

While creating those extra possessions is important, valuing them is just as important. Indiana averaged 16 turnovers per game in the exhibition season, something Williams said must get cut down.

"I'm always worried about turnovers. It's turnovers," Williams said. "That's fast break points for the other team. It's just mostly cherishing the ball the more."

Crean spoke highly of Ottawa and Bellarmine the last two weeks, saying Monday night that he "couldn't have asked for more" from either team.

Each team pushed IU in one way or another. Just 80 preseason minutes into a new season, Indiana is nowhere near a finished product quite yet. Crean is still doing teaching on the floor as teams throw new looks at IU and the Hoosiers experiment with new rotations and combinations.

But that's what the preseason was for—learning.

The first test comes Friday.

"We had a couple great runs in both games," Crean said, "and we've got to learn from both games."

Indiana University Athletics

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