C.L. Brown, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Hoosiers riding offense to the top

It has taken half the season to figure out the best Big Ten team outside of Wisconsin, one who could potentially challenge the Badgers for the league crown.

Indiana could be that team.

The No. 23 Hoosiers destroyed No. 13 Maryland and its supposedly tough defense 89-71 to pull into a first-place tie with the Badgers at 5-1.

The Hoosiers proved that in yet another season in which scoring is down across the board in college basketball, all these defensive stats might be a tad overrated. The teams that can score or, more specifically, can shoot, are the exceptional ones.

That’s why the Hoosiers stick out from other would-be contenders. They do what no other Big Ten team outside of Wisconsin can do. They get buckets.

Guard Yogi Ferrell won’t always shoot 7-for-8 from the 3-point line, and we can all agree the Hoosiers were hot Thursday night. They shot 68 percent from the field against a team ranked ninth in adjusted defense, according stat tracking by Kenpom.com.

But there’s a reason why Ferrell had the open looks that got him in rhythm. The Hoosiers have multiple shooters that defenses have to respect.

Freshman guard James Blackmon Jr., the team’s leading scorer at 16.6 points per game, shoots 41 percent from 3-point range. Robert Johnson doesn’t take too many 3s, but when he does he's making them at a 40 percent clip.

Indiana coach Tom Crean can even pull sharpshooters from off the bench. Reserve sophomore forward Collin Hartman, who returned from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, made his first career start in place of the injured Hanner Mosquera-Perea on Thursday. He scored a career-high 15 points on 4-for-4 shooting, including all three of his attempts from behind the arc.

The Hoosiers rank 14th in adjusted offense nationally, according to data on Kenpom.com. The Badgers, who are second, and Ohio State (23rd) are the only other Big Ten schools in the top 30.

IU also leads the league in scoring offense, averaging 81.6 points per game. It has already taken down the schools that rank 2-4 (Nebraska, Ohio State, Maryland) in the league in scoring defense.

So little was thought of the Hoosiers that in the preseason media poll they were ranked ninth, one spot ahead of Maryland. Let’s review all those who are supposed to be between Wisconsin and the Hoosiers when the season began:

Michigan State -- The Spartans pummeled the Hoosiers 70-50 in East Lansing and could still have a say in challenging the Badgers. But they also have to make a return visit to Bloomington, where the Hoosiers are 11-1.

Ohio State -- The Buckeyes already lost at IU but face them again on Saturday. Their offense might rely too much on whether or not freshman D'Angelo Russell is having a big game.

Michigan -- The Wolverines might already be looking to next year after losing Caris LeVert to a season-ending foot injury.

Nebraska -- The Cornhuskers are rated last in adjusted offense in the league. They lost to IU in their lone regular-season meeting.

Iowa -- The Hawkeyes are searching for some consistency on offense. Their lone meeting with IU will be in Bloomington next month.

Minnesota -- The Golden Gophers' rough start in league play has them struggling just to avoid the cellar.

Illinois -- The Fighting Illini also lost their best scorer, Rayvonte Rice, for the season. IU beat Illinois in Champaign this past weekend.

IU appears to be better than all of those teams offensively.

Just consider that Maryland was 4-0 when shooting 50 percent or better this season and shot 50.9 percent against the Hoosiers. Normally an outing like that on the road would signal victory. But the Hoosiers hung 89 on the Terrapins, the most they’ve allowed all season, and shot 68 percent from 3-point range.

If the offense can keep going, the Hoosiers just might prove to the league that they don't need to specialize in defensive stops to be successful.

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