Jays Fall in Assembly Hall 86-65

Thomas Bryant #31 of the Indiana Hoosiers shoots the ball against the Creighton Bluejays at Assembly Hall on November 19, 2015 in Bloomington, Indiana.

Creighton coach Greg McDermott said Bryant adds another dimension to the Hoosiers.

Bryant had 17 points, seven rebounds and four blocks for the Hoosiers (3-0) as the expected test from the Bluejays never materialized. Overall CU made 8-of-16 foul shots and hit 27-of-60 field goal attempts. As the Hoosiers’ season continues, the offense will become more polished and Blackmon will have more opportunities to make open three pointers or a pass to a rolling Bryant or another Hoosier big man.

“The lion came out in me”.

“What he did was he played with great emotion but he didn’t play emotional”, Crean said of his 6’10” freshman center.

IN created separation with a strong start and hardly looked back against the Blue Jays, a team picked to finish ninth in the 10-team Big East. IU begins the long trip to Hawaii today and plays its first game in the Maui Invitational on Monday at 5 p.m. Eastern against Wake Forest.

Guard James Blackmon Jr. led five IN scorers IN double figures with 19 points and tied Bryant with seven rebounds. IN has outscored the first two opponents by a combined score of 190-126, whereas Creighton has outscored their first two opponents 196-148.

· Efficiency at the rim, but IU still needs to get fouled: As pointed out in “At the buzzer”, in only got to the line nine times in the win, but the Hoosiers still turned in an efficient 1.12 points per possession performance. The Hoosiers are 10-4 ATS in their last 14 games following a ATS loss and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a S.U. win. Guys like (Bryant) on our team make it so much better for the fans and also us. “And the passion, the drive, the will to play is just the difference”.

Creighton has shot the ball very well and have lit up scoreboards so far this season, but Thursday, they could not get it going from beyond the arc shooting just 17 percent and that right there might have ultimately did them in. 85 points per possession. IN held just three teams to.

Like the Hoosiers, Creighton dominated their opening matchups against weaker opposition, including a sneaky tough meeting with the Texas Southern Tigers, who won the SWAC conference last season. This season, they’ve already done it twice.

However, as the competition level picks up in Maui, unnecessary mistakes could be costly in a game that comes down to one or two possessions.