The season remains in nascent stages, but Indiana's 96-73 romp Wednesday night over No. 24-ranked Marquette was a statement game.
"I think, in a way, it kind of puts us on the map a little bit," IU graduate-transfer Evan Fitzner said of the unranked but 3-0 Hoosiers. "We all, as a group, have a lot of confidence in what we can do.
"But I think we kind of showed everybody what we're capable of tonight."
Fitzner hastened to add that it offers no guarantees going forward – with another real challenge awaiting Sunday in IU's first road test, at Arkansas.
Still, however many questions had percolated around this youngish Hoosier team, there are fewer now.
Can Indiana defend an elite offensive team?
Affirmative.
Is Romeo Langford ready to score 20-plus points in a big-time, major-college game?
Oh, yeah.
Romeo Langford led all scorers with 22 points
Can the young Hoosier backcourt both value the ball and distribute it?
Well, the three starting guards Wednesday night – freshman Langford, sophomore Al Durham and freshman Rob Phinisee – combined for 15 assists against just three turnovers. They also combined for 47 points.
And they can guard. They helped make Marquette All-American candidate Markus Howard's life mostly miserable much of the way.
"You're starting two freshmen and a sophomore, and you're bringing a fourth player in who is a freshman (Damezi Anderson) and, to say the least, I couldn't be prouder of them," IU coach Archie Miller said. "Not that they're perfect, but guys are ready to go, and that's an encouraging sign."
Phinisee plays with absolutely no fear at either end as a freshman and, despite his relative inexperience at this level, seemed to relish the initial defensive assignment on Howard – who entered averaging 26 points (including 37 in his previous outing.)
But Phinisee and friends set the tone right away, jumping a ball-screen for Howard to create a steal on the game's opening possession. It was one of three Hoosier thefts in the first three minutes, helping fuel an 8-2 start for the home team.
Rob Phinisee tallied 12 points and 8 assists against Marquette
"For a freshman to do something like that, draw one of the better players in the country and, for the most part, do a really good job on him, was pretty impressive," Fitzner, who saw high-profile games with Gonzaga and others during his time at St. Mary's, said of Phinisee. "I haven't really seen a freshman do something like that."
As the IU defense clamped down and the Hoosiers started – and stayed – hot with their shooting, the Golden Eagles looked rattled and never quite fully recovered.
By the time Fitzner fired in a 3 from the left wing at the 14:56 mark, it was 19-4, and Assembly Hall was indeed rockin' with vintage volume.
"I thought the atmosphere was crazy, especially for my first experience (against) a ranked opponent in Assembly Hall," said Langford, who led all scorers with 22 points. "That helped us a lot during our runs and, at the beginning of the game, to make a big run on Marquette."
The closest Marquette got after IU's torrid start was 29-22 with 9:00 left in the half. But senior stalwart Juwan Morgan scored inside and Fitzner hit a nice lefty shot and on a lane drive.
Then Fitzner pulled a Larry Birdesque pump-fake to free himself for a 3 to make it 36-22.
The Californian said he was just riding the crowd's waves of good vibes.
"It feels good when you've got the crowd behind you, so credit them," Fitzner said. "…Guys were finding me, too. It was really just my teammates finding me and then knocking down the open shot."
The Golden Eagles (2-1) have a deserved reputation as a fine transition team, but it was the Hoosiers who shined in that regard. By halftime, Indiana had a 15-2 advantage in fast-break points and a 47-34 lead.
Howard had just seven points, on 3 of 9 shooting, at that juncture.
Phinisee then helped ensure his side maintained the momentum after intermission.
A deft Phinisee dish in the lane led to the Justin Smith tomahawk slam that opened the second-half scoring. Phinisee then added a 3 off a fine Morgan cross-court pass.
And then Langford showed his special ability to make himself skinny on the baseline – reminiscent of all-time IU great Mike Woodson – on a drive to the rim that made it 54-34.
Ballgame.
That's what really good teams do. They come out after a good first half, against a good opponent, and just put the hammer down. They don't even give the opposition a sniff of a comeback.
It bespoke a maturity, in terms of IU's younger players, beyond their years.
"Really proud of our team -- stepped up in a big-time game on a great stage with an unbelievable crowd, and guys stepped up when their number was called," Miller said to open his post-game remarks. "And we had a lot of different guys do great things.
Evan Fitzner scored 16 points off the bench
"But I was just really proud of the approach, the intensity level to start the game. Then moving through the game, continuing to play through different lineups with foul trouble. Just in general, it was a tough-minded, it was a confident team tonight. It has a lot to do with our leadership, and it also has a lot to do with the maturity of our young guys being physically sort of ready to play in college."
IU veteran frontliners Morgan and Smith each picked up their fourth fouls just 12 seconds apart with still almost nine minutes to play.
McRoberts is generally acknowledged as the Hoosiers' top defender, so his absence seemed particularly problematic heading into a matchup against a Marquette team that returned four starters from what was already a standout offensive team last season.
Didn't matter.
Howard did eventually manage to post a co-team-high 18 points, matched by forward Sam Hauser, but most came in garbage time.
"Going in, we knew how good Markus Howard was, and we knew how adept he was at scoring," Durham said. "We practiced all week just to get our (assignments) right, to make sure we got up and guarded him … I think our coaches really set us up to execute the game plan."
The execution of the offensive game plan was pretty snazzy, too.
Miller's post-game press conference was on-going when media relations director J.D. Campbell announced this about IU's shooting from the field:
"The 63.6 percent is the highest is the highest in the first two years of coach Miller's tenure."
Miller digested that, then exclaimed: "Wow!"
That seemed a summary statement for this game.
And there really were no further questions this night.
