Indiana University Athletics
Focus Leads To Big Ten Outright Title
3/2/2016 1:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By: Tori Ziege, IUHoosiers.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Nothing could stop Indiana from winning a Big Ten Championship outright.
Until something almost did.
In the final minutes of Tuesday night's game, Indiana saw its lead reversed from up 14 to down 2 with 4:14 remaining. Led by four senior starters, the Hawkeyes were doing everything they could to keep their share of the title alive on Senior Night.
But it was Indiana's senior Kevin Yogi Ferrell who stole the night away, hitting the game-clinching three with 38 seconds left to secure his second unshared conference title.
"That was big," head coach Tom Crean said. "I think he shot it perfectly. The feet. His hands."
Indiana's championship coup is the second under Crean in a four-year span. Since he took the head coaching job in Bloomington in 2008, no other Big Ten coach has accomplished this feat.
After the final buzzer sounded in the Hoosiers' 81-78 win in Iowa City, Ferrell and Crean shared a long embrace as the only remaining members of the 2013 championship team.
Crean said he can remember all the way back to driving Ferrell around Indiana in a golf cart as a freshman in high school.
"Here's how I'd some up Yogi, he came in a champion, he helped us win a championship the first year and so far right now he's got one as a senior," Crean said. "I'd say that's pretty remarkable."
At every major turn in the season, the Hoosiers have answered the bell. At the lowest point in the season at 5-3 coming off a nationally televised 20-point loss to Duke followed by the loss of leading scorer James Blackmon Jr., senior and coach took on a new life in Ferrell and Crean.
Under their command, the Hoosiers volleyed off 12 straight wins. They then entered the gauntlet of their schedule, beating No. 4 Iowa and No. 17 Purdue at home.
Their confidence was spurred by Ferrell on the court, and by Crean in the huddle.
"He never gave up on us, he kept believing in us," Ferrell said. "What he wanted to do was especially prove the doubters wrong. We basically were following his lead. The way he goes out there, his calmness out there in those huddles, he never got worried and I felt like when we look back at him, in his eyes, we see that we can win."
This time around at No. 16 Iowa, No. 12 Indiana again responded to the test of playing on the road without sophomore starter Robert Johnson with several key players in foul trouble.
Before the half, the Hoosiers played and extended their halftime lead to six with senior Nick Zeisloft and Indiana's four freshmen, Thomas Bryant, OG Anunoby, Juwan Morgan and Harrison Niego on the floor.
Overall, IU was lifted by 19 points from its bench, in addition to 11 points from Zeisloft, who subbed in for Johnson in the starting lineup. In the closing series of possessions, Morgan hit two clutch free throws on which Indiana would take the lead for good and came up with a key defensive rebound to help sustain it.
"OG and Juwan played like monsters tonight," Ferrell said. "For them to be freshman, for them to play the way that they played, I'd say they're definitely the MVPs of this game."
But it was Ferrell who starred with the game-winning play and a game-high 20 points with three rebounds and five assists, making him just the second player in Big Ten history with 1,800 points, 400 rebounds and 600 assists. He is also the first Indiana player to win two or more Big Ten championships since Matt Nover in 1989, 1991 and 1993.
Indiana's resilient win in a resilient season earned the Hoosiers an unequivocal 22nd Big Ten championship. The performance has positioned Ferrell and Crean in the conversation for more conference accolades in Big Ten Player and Coach of The Year.
But first, there is a Senior Day to be played in Bloomington.
"We have one more regular season game," Crean told his players postgame with a tremor in his voice.
"There is no way that we're not walking out of that place Sunday with a win and our seniors' heads held extremely high."
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Nothing could stop Indiana from winning a Big Ten Championship outright.
Until something almost did.
In the final minutes of Tuesday night's game, Indiana saw its lead reversed from up 14 to down 2 with 4:14 remaining. Led by four senior starters, the Hawkeyes were doing everything they could to keep their share of the title alive on Senior Night.
But it was Indiana's senior Kevin Yogi Ferrell who stole the night away, hitting the game-clinching three with 38 seconds left to secure his second unshared conference title.
"That was big," head coach Tom Crean said. "I think he shot it perfectly. The feet. His hands."
Indiana's championship coup is the second under Crean in a four-year span. Since he took the head coaching job in Bloomington in 2008, no other Big Ten coach has accomplished this feat.
After the final buzzer sounded in the Hoosiers' 81-78 win in Iowa City, Ferrell and Crean shared a long embrace as the only remaining members of the 2013 championship team.
Crean said he can remember all the way back to driving Ferrell around Indiana in a golf cart as a freshman in high school.
"Here's how I'd some up Yogi, he came in a champion, he helped us win a championship the first year and so far right now he's got one as a senior," Crean said. "I'd say that's pretty remarkable."
At every major turn in the season, the Hoosiers have answered the bell. At the lowest point in the season at 5-3 coming off a nationally televised 20-point loss to Duke followed by the loss of leading scorer James Blackmon Jr., senior and coach took on a new life in Ferrell and Crean.
Under their command, the Hoosiers volleyed off 12 straight wins. They then entered the gauntlet of their schedule, beating No. 4 Iowa and No. 17 Purdue at home.
Their confidence was spurred by Ferrell on the court, and by Crean in the huddle.
"He never gave up on us, he kept believing in us," Ferrell said. "What he wanted to do was especially prove the doubters wrong. We basically were following his lead. The way he goes out there, his calmness out there in those huddles, he never got worried and I felt like when we look back at him, in his eyes, we see that we can win."
This time around at No. 16 Iowa, No. 12 Indiana again responded to the test of playing on the road without sophomore starter Robert Johnson with several key players in foul trouble.
Before the half, the Hoosiers played and extended their halftime lead to six with senior Nick Zeisloft and Indiana's four freshmen, Thomas Bryant, OG Anunoby, Juwan Morgan and Harrison Niego on the floor.
Overall, IU was lifted by 19 points from its bench, in addition to 11 points from Zeisloft, who subbed in for Johnson in the starting lineup. In the closing series of possessions, Morgan hit two clutch free throws on which Indiana would take the lead for good and came up with a key defensive rebound to help sustain it.
"OG and Juwan played like monsters tonight," Ferrell said. "For them to be freshman, for them to play the way that they played, I'd say they're definitely the MVPs of this game."
But it was Ferrell who starred with the game-winning play and a game-high 20 points with three rebounds and five assists, making him just the second player in Big Ten history with 1,800 points, 400 rebounds and 600 assists. He is also the first Indiana player to win two or more Big Ten championships since Matt Nover in 1989, 1991 and 1993.
Indiana's resilient win in a resilient season earned the Hoosiers an unequivocal 22nd Big Ten championship. The performance has positioned Ferrell and Crean in the conversation for more conference accolades in Big Ten Player and Coach of The Year.
But first, there is a Senior Day to be played in Bloomington.
"We have one more regular season game," Crean told his players postgame with a tremor in his voice.
"There is no way that we're not walking out of that place Sunday with a win and our seniors' heads held extremely high."
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