BLOOMINGTON, Indiana – Indiana used two first half runs that combined for a 20-0 spurt, held McNeese without a field goal in the final 9:38, and hit 13 three-point goals to cruise to a 105-60 win over the Cowboys in front of a sellout paid crowd of 17,472 here at Assembly Hall on Saturday night.
It's the most points allowed by the Cowboys (1-7) since giving up 122 to Northwestern State in 1992 while Indiana improved to 8-3 with the win.
McNeese tied the game at 11-11 after a
Lance Potier three-pointer with 12:59 to play in the first half. Indiana followed with an 11-0 to build a 22-11 lead with 10:54 to play. Then leading 39-22 with 4:44 to go, the Hoosiers strung together nine straight points for a 48-22 lead with 2:26 to play, leading to a 53-31 halftime advantage.
"They wore us down physically," said head coach
Dave Simmons. "Their transition game was unbelievable. It's what we're striving to do to get our team to play like that."
Indiana hit 13 three-point field goals in the game and scored over 100 points for the third time this season.
The Hoosiers hit 40 of 78 for the game (51.3 percent) and was 13 of 28 from long range for 46 percent. The Cowboys made just 20 of 63 from the floor for 31.7 percent and was 4 of 22 for 18 percent from long range.
McNeese scored just nine points from the 9:38 mark of the second half, all of those at the free throw line. And up until that point, the Cowboys were shooting decent from the field at 40 percent. But after
Craig McFerrin hit a jumper at the 9:38 mark to make it 83-51, the Cowboys missed their next 13 shots to end the game.
McFerrin was one of three Cowboy players to score in double-figures as he finished with 12 points along with seven rebounds.
Tevin Jackson led the team with a career-high 13 points with seven boards, also a career-best, and
Jamaya Burr added 12 points.
IU was led in scoring by James Blackmon Jr.'s 24 points on 9 of 17 shooting, including 5 of 10 from three-point range. Thomas Bryant added 18 points who had 14 of those in the paint and eight coming on putbacks after getting offensive rebounds. Troy Williams scored 13 for the Hoosiers, Yogi Ferrell 12 and Max Bielfeldt 11.
McNeese competed on the glass with 40 rebounds and 15 second chance points, but turned the ball over 19 times as IU scored 30 points off those miscues. However, after turning the ball over 10 times in the first half, the Cowboys took care of the ball much better in the second half and only turned it over five times in the half until the final minute.
"We did a pretty good job on the boards," said Simmons. "We had 17 offensive rebounds but the biggest thing is that when you get that offensive rebound, you've got to finish it."
That played a big factor in the first 10 minutes of the game. During that span, the Cowboys pulled down four offensive rebounds but the result was three turnovers and a missed shot.
The three-pointer kept the Cowboys from striking as well.
Several times in the first half McNeese appeared to be ripe for a run, but the quick transition game by the Hoosiers led to three-point baskets three different times to squash any momentum shift to the Cowboys' side.
"Everybody can shoot on Indiana's team," said Simmons. "There's not a weak in their armor as far as shooting is concerned. Their bigs shot well from the perimeter so they spaced us out."
McNeese has just two games remaining until beginning Southland Conference play on Jan. 2 at Stephen F. Austin. The Cowboys will be back home on Wednesday when they host LSU-Alexandria at 7:30 in Burton Coliseum.
