Hoosiers win big, face Notre Dame next

By ANDY PROFFET
ISL Correspondent 

BLOOMINGTON—For the first eight minutes or so, McNeese State was testing Indiana.

Tom Crean. (Courtesy of IU Athletics/Mike Dickbernd)
Tom Crean.
(Courtesy of IU Athletics/Mike Dickbernd)

Like Cowboys coach Dave Simmons pointed out, you’ve got to play 40 minutes.

The Hoosiers’ 105-60 victory Saturday night didn’t provide a great tuneup for next Saturday’s Crossroads Classic matchup with Notre Dame. Chances are the Irish will be able to hit a basket over the final 9:38 of game play, and score at some point in the final 4:38.

The Cowboys (1-7) couldn’t. Of course, by the time Craig McFerrin hit a jumper for the 20th and final field goal of the night for McNeese State, the Hoosiers were well within control, up 83-51.

Indiana coach Tom Crean said there’s a lot to work on this week.

“We’ve got to get better at everything. There’s not really any one thing I say we hang our hat on. You want to work at everything: offense, defense, rebounding, special situations, individual improvements, team breakdowns, all those types of things,” he said.

James Blackmon Jr. said the IU coaches talked to the team about how this was practice for the Irish.

“So we wanted to come out and make a statement,” said Blackmon, who made a statement with his game-high 24 points.

“I just think we ran into a very tough basketball team, they’re well-coached,” Simmons said.

Time will tell how a week of practice will prepare the Hoosiers for Notre Dame next Saturday.

Here are the highlights of the win, courtesy of Big Ten Network:

Follow Andy Proffet on Twitter @AndyProffet.

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