Indiana Makes A Statement On The Road

Indiana improves to 7-0 with a road win over NC State

This is not a game last year’s Indiana Hoosiers would have won. On the road. Athletic team. A late-game deficit.

These are not your 2010-11 Indiana Hoosiers.

Indiana (7-0) trailed North Carolina State 63-56 with just under eight minutes to play before closing on an astounding 30-12 run, started by Cody Zeller getting the ball in the flow of the offense – a couple of free throws, a dunk, a layup. That works out to 86-75 Indiana, by the way.

Jordan Hulls led Indiana with 20 points. Zeller added 19 points and nine rebounds, and Christian Watford added 16 and nine of his own.

Lorenzo Brown led the Wolfpack with 19. North Carolina State players named Lorenzo are usually pretty good.

Some game notes:

Tale of two teams: The 2011-12 Hoosiers played the first five minutes of the first half (as Indiana led 12-3), before they brought the 2010-11 Hoosiers out for the last 15 minutes (good for a 42-41 halftime deficit). Not coincidentally, the regression started when Cody Zeller went to the bench.

Lesson: Never send Cody Zeller to the bench.

Dual loyalties: Zeller’s parents wore half red, half Carolina blue shirts. They left the game early to get to Chapel Hill to watch Tyler and the Tar Heels play Wisconsin. Guess we know who the favorite is, huh?

Click here to see how they got there.

Karma: I was worried early in the game that the Hoosiers would struggle, as ESPN’s pregame was the Jimmy Valvano “Don’t ever give up speech.” You can watch it here:

Full Challenge recap coming tonight.