Indiana University Athletics
IU Focused on Short-Term, Illinois
1/19/2016 9:58:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana's 10-game winning streak hasn't been perfect, but it's been enough.
And enough is okay.
The No. 23 Hoosiers have admittedly weathered a few storms while remaining undefeated dating back to a December 5 win against Morehead State that includes five consecutive Big Ten victories.
A second-half rally against Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic, a one-point victory over Wisconsin at Assembly Hall and even last Sunday's road win against Minnesota have all featured examples of IU trudging through lulls of less-than-perfect basketball and coming out win a win.
They are the types of wins Indiana wasn't always able to manage in the recent past. Now, it's a formula the Hoosiers (15-3, 5-0) wouldn't mind using again in Tuesday night's 7 p.m. matchup against Illinois (9-9, 1-5) at Assembly Hall.
"Being able to get guys through the adversity, and if things don't go right, keeping our heads up, getting guys through mistakes, through learning curves and things like that (is important)," junior guard Collin Hartman said. "It's just staying positive, knowing that those things happen throughout the game. It's inevitable throughout the game. It's a matter of how fast you can rebound and get through those mistakes."
Hartman and his teammates have been forced to find different ways to win games, especially while remaining undefeated in the Big Ten, whether it be in a defensive slugfest against Wisconsin or riding senior guards Nick Zeisloft and Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell in crunch time during last weekend's win against the Golden Gophers.
There have been times where the Hoosiers could have—and if it were last year, maybe would have—fallen in the face of adversity. Hartman said the difference between this year's team and the teams in his first two seasons has been the bond between the players that allows them to stay together and mount a response in difficult situations.
Part of that may be credited to the three scholarship seniors on the team and an inflow of veteran leadership.
Part of it came from learning sometimes there's no other option.
"One of the things that we preach to our guys is 'day-by-day,'" Hartman said. "Take it a day at a time, focus on certain things, focus on the process and live in the moment. You can't get too high, you can't get too low. You can't put too much in the past, you can't put too much into the future."
It's cliché, but the ensuing results have included a return trip to the AP Top 25 since returning from the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in November and a share of the Big Ten lead with Iowa.
To stay there, head coach Tom Crean once again said the Hoosiers can't afford to discount the Illini and their 1-4 conference record. Indiana got knocked down early by a Minnesota team that remains winless in conference and doesn't want the same thing to happen again against Illinois, a team coming off an 11-point home loss to Nebraska.
"We have a lot of respect for how Illinois plays," Crean said. "I think they're going to come in here, much like we anticipated Minnesota the other day, in a very desperate, hungry, aggressive way, especially coming off of a tough game."
Crean spoke highly of the way Illinois spaces the floor and gets the ball into the hands of leading scorers Kendrick Nunn (18.5 points per game) and Malcolm Hill (18.1 points per game). The two guards have become one of the more dynamic duos in the Big Ten, coupling with a veteran frontcourt that includes graduate transfer Mike Thorne and junior center Maverick Morgan playing with freshman Michael Finke.
Riding the longest winning streak in the Big Ten, and the third-longest active winning streak in the country, Crean continued to preach continuous improvement heading into another conference matchup. Despite the Hoosiers leading the conference, Crean continues to contend the best may be yet to come.
"We've had a couple of good days coming back from Minnesota. Our preparation has been very solid," Crean said. "Most importantly, we are just continuing to try to improve and build on some things that we can get better at, add things that are going to make us better, and at the same time, continue to grow our team on a daily basis, which they're very committed to."
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana's 10-game winning streak hasn't been perfect, but it's been enough.
And enough is okay.
The No. 23 Hoosiers have admittedly weathered a few storms while remaining undefeated dating back to a December 5 win against Morehead State that includes five consecutive Big Ten victories.
A second-half rally against Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic, a one-point victory over Wisconsin at Assembly Hall and even last Sunday's road win against Minnesota have all featured examples of IU trudging through lulls of less-than-perfect basketball and coming out win a win.
They are the types of wins Indiana wasn't always able to manage in the recent past. Now, it's a formula the Hoosiers (15-3, 5-0) wouldn't mind using again in Tuesday night's 7 p.m. matchup against Illinois (9-9, 1-5) at Assembly Hall.
"Being able to get guys through the adversity, and if things don't go right, keeping our heads up, getting guys through mistakes, through learning curves and things like that (is important)," junior guard Collin Hartman said. "It's just staying positive, knowing that those things happen throughout the game. It's inevitable throughout the game. It's a matter of how fast you can rebound and get through those mistakes."
Hartman and his teammates have been forced to find different ways to win games, especially while remaining undefeated in the Big Ten, whether it be in a defensive slugfest against Wisconsin or riding senior guards Nick Zeisloft and Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell in crunch time during last weekend's win against the Golden Gophers.
There have been times where the Hoosiers could have—and if it were last year, maybe would have—fallen in the face of adversity. Hartman said the difference between this year's team and the teams in his first two seasons has been the bond between the players that allows them to stay together and mount a response in difficult situations.
Part of that may be credited to the three scholarship seniors on the team and an inflow of veteran leadership.
Part of it came from learning sometimes there's no other option.
"One of the things that we preach to our guys is 'day-by-day,'" Hartman said. "Take it a day at a time, focus on certain things, focus on the process and live in the moment. You can't get too high, you can't get too low. You can't put too much in the past, you can't put too much into the future."
It's cliché, but the ensuing results have included a return trip to the AP Top 25 since returning from the Maui Jim Maui Invitational in November and a share of the Big Ten lead with Iowa.
To stay there, head coach Tom Crean once again said the Hoosiers can't afford to discount the Illini and their 1-4 conference record. Indiana got knocked down early by a Minnesota team that remains winless in conference and doesn't want the same thing to happen again against Illinois, a team coming off an 11-point home loss to Nebraska.
"We have a lot of respect for how Illinois plays," Crean said. "I think they're going to come in here, much like we anticipated Minnesota the other day, in a very desperate, hungry, aggressive way, especially coming off of a tough game."
Crean spoke highly of the way Illinois spaces the floor and gets the ball into the hands of leading scorers Kendrick Nunn (18.5 points per game) and Malcolm Hill (18.1 points per game). The two guards have become one of the more dynamic duos in the Big Ten, coupling with a veteran frontcourt that includes graduate transfer Mike Thorne and junior center Maverick Morgan playing with freshman Michael Finke.
Riding the longest winning streak in the Big Ten, and the third-longest active winning streak in the country, Crean continued to preach continuous improvement heading into another conference matchup. Despite the Hoosiers leading the conference, Crean continues to contend the best may be yet to come.
"We've had a couple of good days coming back from Minnesota. Our preparation has been very solid," Crean said. "Most importantly, we are just continuing to try to improve and build on some things that we can get better at, add things that are going to make us better, and at the same time, continue to grow our team on a daily basis, which they're very committed to."
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