BLOOMINGTON — It’s time for Indiana to ratchet up the competition level.
Will a trip to Fort Wayne deliver that?
Hold that thought.
The No. 6 Hoosiers (3-0) were way too much for outgunned Liberty on Saturday night, just as they were against UMass Lowell. The average margin of victory in those two games: 30.5 points.
IU won 87-48 Saturday night as part of the Indiana Classic via throttling defense. Liberty (1-2) opened cold and stayed that way as the Hoosiers were everywhere the Flames didn’t want them. They disrupted, harassed, intimidated and, in short, did anything they wanted.
“That is as good a team as I’ve seen in years,” Liberty coach Richie McKay said. “They’ve got everything — size, depth, athleticism, strength, skill and unselfishness. That’s a team that will have a chance to compete for it all.”
Liberty shot just 29.7 percent for the game, and was just 5-for-27 from 3-point range.
“We try to be disruptive in the passing lanes, box out and just pressure the ball, pick up fullcourt because we knew if they didn’t get to (run their offense), they wouldn’t get the shots they wanted,” forward OG Anunoby said.
What pre-game buzz existed Saturday night centered on how Liberty’s pack-it-in defense — it held its first two opponents to a 58.5-point average — would fare against IU’s ultra-potent offense.
The answer, not well.
In the first half IU shot 64.0 percent and was 6-for-11 from 3-point range. It finished at 60.9 percent and was 9-for-21 beyond the arc. And that was with coach Tom Crean again going heavy on player rotation. Fourteen Hoosiers played, and 12 scored.
That included freshman guard Grant Gelon from Crown Point scoring five points, his first as a collegian.
“It was incredible,” Gelon said. “It was awesome. I’m just thankful to Coach for the opportunity. I try to do my best every time I get out there.”
The Hoosiers did miss out on scoring at least 100 points for the third straight game.
What else did we learn from Saturday’s victory?
Let’s take a look:
1. Spinning with OG
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Anunoby had a spectacular spin move in the first half to beat two Liberty defenders. That was part of a dominating first half in which he did everything but rescue a puppy, which might have happened at halftime, but the media wasn’t allowed to attend.
Anunoby finished with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. That was as many rebounds as he had in the first two games combined.
It was the first career double-double for a player who, when talking about himself, prefers two words when 20 would suffice.
“It feels good,” he said when asked about it.
2. Ball security
IU’s only noticeable flaw was with turnovers. It had 15 in the first half and finished with 26. The Hoosiers average 20 for the season.
If not corrected, that will be a problem against the better teams the Hoosiers will face.
You’d better believe Crean is on that.
“I’ll focus on that,” he said. “My oldest daughter — she makes all of you (in the media) mild with her critiques. She already sent me a message (about the turnovers) and she’s not even here. She was at the Michigan-Indiana (football) game. So I get it from all levels.
“We’ve got to work on our footwork. We’re hopping a little bit. And I think we’re just in a rush. We’re playing a little too fast.
“Everything is correctable. Their attitudes are great. We’ll get those things fixed.”
3. Heading north
IU will next face IPFW on Tuesday night at Fort Wayne’s Memorial Coliseum. That will be the third game in the Indiana Classic.
The Mastodons (2-2) are coming off a decisive 94-81 win over UMass Lowell Saturday night. Their losses were on the road to Arkansas and Illinois State.
“It will be a tremendous atmosphere,” Crean said. “It’s another team we have a lot of respect for. They’re coming off a big win. We have a lot of respect for how they coach, how they play, how fast they are. And we’re going on the road.”