IU Bounces Back To Defeat St. John’s In Maui

Tuesday, November 24

Maui, HI

2:00 PM

Indiana University

4-1

St. John's

3-2

ST JOHNS

Indiana

11/24/2015 4:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com

LAHAINA, Hawaii - Tom Crean didn't think his team played particularly great or pretty basketball Tuesday.

But they did enough.

Indiana bounced back after losing in the opening round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational with an 83-73 win against St. John's in the consolation bracket. The Hoosiers will play the winner of the UNLV-Chaminade game at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the fifth-place game.

"I thought for the fact that we played less than 24 hours completely differently today was a great sign of the aptitude of our team, the attitude of our team and the desire of our team," Crean said. "We played with great purpose."

The Hoosiers were quick out of the gate, leading by as many as 17 minutes with just under four minutes left in the first half. St. John's, who never led, didn't have anyone big enough or strong enough to slow freshman center Thomas Bryant down early on. He shot 7-of-8 in the first half, racking up 15 of his 19 points.

The Red Storm began the second half on a 14-3 run to climb within four points, 45-41, with 16:05 remaining in the game before the Hoosiers pushed their lead back out to double digits again. Seemingly every time the Red Storm made a run, senior guard Yogi Ferrell was there to answer it.

Ferrell, who scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half, responded with a score three of the four times St. John's got within seven points of Indiana in the second half. Whether it was a mid-range jumper, a pair of free throws or a step-back, Ferrell was able to find ways to keep Indiana out in front.

"Teams can make runs," Ferrell said, "and when they make runs, you've got to find a way to stop the bleeding."

Inconsistent defense and turnovers remained a point of concern for a second consecutive game in Maui.

The Hoosiers turned the ball over 16 times, leading St. John's to 25 points off turnovers, compared to just nine for Indiana. Federico Mussini and Ron Mvouika each had 17 points for St. John's, who lost 92-55 to No. 19 Vanderbilt in the first round of the tournament.

"We were a little ruffled today. There is no question about that," Crean said. "We'll get a lot better, especially on the front line, as we get a better understanding of how to guard isolations."

Indiana's bounce-back win Tuesday came hours after the Hoosiers spent extra time practicing following Monday's loss to Wake Forest.

The team tried to flush out its bad habits from the opening-round loss with a team walkthrough and workout in the grand ballroom of the team's hotel and an extra-long film session.

Crean still insists there's work left to be done, but the additional work was enough to help Indiana hold off St. John's in the second round Tuesday.

"Bottom line, it was about coming out with an edge," Crean said. "I thought we played very hard and competitive, and we had a different level of urgency today than we did yesterday."