Ferrell, Williams Lead IU Past IPFW

Wednesday, December 9

Bloomington, IN

7:00 PM

Indiana University

7-3

IPFW

7-4

IPFW

Indiana

12/9/2015 8:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Career days from senior guard Yogi Ferrell and junior forward Troy Williams paced Indiana to a 90-65 win against IPFW Wednesday night at Assembly Hall.

Ferrell scored a career high 38 points on 12-of-18 shooting, giving him the most points by a Hoosier during the Tom Crean-era at Indiana. He shot 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.

Williams, meanwhile, set his own career-best mark on the glass, grabbing 19 rebounds to complement 15 points of his own. He added blocked five shots, also a career best, including four in the second half.

"I was surprised myself that some shots went in," Ferrell said. "Some of the time, I couldn't even see because they had a hand in my face. My mindset was to go out there and basically attack the rim if they scored or if they missed a shot, we'd get a rebound. Basically, my mindset was just to attack."

Ferrell and Williams' nights gave Crean enough to be happy about.

Their play reflected an aggressiveness he and assistant coach Tim Buckley both said was going to be critical for Indiana to have down the final stretch of the non-conference season and into Big Ten play at the end of the month.

"The way Troy played, that's the Swiss Army knife," Crean said. "The guy that can do all those different things and do it at a pretty high level. I thought Yogi controlled the pace of the game, times two. He played at a very fast pace and at the same time, put a lot of pressure on the ball."

Before Ferrell and Williams filled the stat sheets, the Hoosiers began the night slow to find momentum. The Mastodons (7-4) led by one point just less than eight minutes into the game before Indiana (7-3) closed the half outscoring IPFW by 15.

IPFW's ability to hang around, combined with 46 total foul calls, forced Indiana to make adjustments throughout the game.

Crean was happy with the way his players responded to the Mastodons' strong play early and quick whistles throughout, saying it would go a long way toward helping IU's players mature.

"You have to learn to play inside of the way the game is being called," Crean said. "It's crucial, absolutely crucial that you figure it out. You have to make your adjustments. I thought our guys did."

Though Williams and Ferrell garnered the majority of the attention on the scoresheet, it was actually freshman walk-on Harrison Niego who shouldered a good portion of the credit for keeping Indiana afloat in the first half when IPFW made its charge.

Niego was called on for a career-high 12 minutes after IU's guards got into early foul trouble. He didn't attempt a shot but grabbed four rebounds and had a plus/minus of +9.
"When you have foul trouble, you have to jump in," Niego said. "That's kind of the mindset I came in with today."

Indiana's win was the Hoosiers' 100^th since the start of the 2011-12 season, marking the first time IU has notched 100 wins in a similar span since 1999-2004. It also improved Indiana's home record to 6-0 to start the season.

But above all else, the game was another sign of progress, Crean said. It was the type of win he hopes the Hoosiers learn from and continue to build on as they close out the remainder of the non-conference schedule.

"I thought we played a pretty intelligent game," Crean said. "Certainly there's room for improvement in every area. But I think our team's going to get a lot better."