Bryant, Bielfeldt come up big in IU's 88-49 victory

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A lot of players had strong games for Indiana in the season opening 88-49 victory over Eastern Illinois Friday night. But there was something special about the way that IU was able to dominate inside, even if the Panthers were undersized in the post.

It was only the first game of the season. A game against an undersized and overmatched opponent in Eastern Illinois.

 

But no matter the opponent, the play of Thomas Bryant and Max Bielfeldt stood out following Indiana’s 88-49 victory over Eastern Illinois.

 

Both players scored 11 points. Bryant had nine rebounds and Bielfeldt had eight. They combined to make all seven of the shots they attempted from the field.

 

But most of all, they clearly gave Indiana an inside presence. Perhaps the inside presence the Hoosiers haven’t had in two players at the same time in a long, long while.

 

Tom Crean said in the postgame press conference Friday at Assembly Hall that 72 percent of IU’s possessions went through the post. That’s a great statistic. And one that obviously needs to continue.

 

What I liked was how both players not only got big and wanted the ball in the post but both had some very athletic moves after the ball got there in going to the basket.

 

Now again, you can point to the fact that Eastern Illinois did not have much size. With maybe one exception the Panthers didn’t really have a post player.

 

But Thomas and Bielfeldt did what you would expect big players to do in that situation. They took the ball to the basket. They hit the glass hard on both ends of the court and they dominated inside.

 

At the very least, it was really encouraging to see.

 

Indiana had dominating numbers on the glass. The Hoosiers held a 51-17 rebounding edge. On offensive rebounds, it was 21-6. IU had a 26-1 edge in second chance points. The Hoosiers outscored Eastern Illinois 42-20 in points in the paint.

 

Good, good numbers for the opener.

 

Eastern Illinois coach Jay Spoonhour said with IU doing such a good job inside it was deflating for his young team.

 

“It's very disheartening for your team when you have guys trying to block out and get guys off the boards and you don't get it done,’’ Spoonhour said. “It seemed like they scored on every second-chance opportunity. Over the entire game they got two-thirds of the rebounds. You do not have to look very far to figure this one out. It does not change the outcome of the game, but it does change the deficit. If you're getting stops and you have a chance to run in transition, you have a better chance to score. But when you bust you're tail and do not complete the stop and then they score, it's a killer.’’

 

Spoonhour specifically singled out Bryant.

 

“They have so many skilled guys and are such an unselfish team,’’ Spoonhour said. “The kid inside (Thomas Bryant), is going to be great. He is already great, but he is really going to be a good player. I'm just really impressed with how good they are as a team. They were very good and they played the game the right way.’’

 

Crean said it takes time to learn how to play together but he feels as if the Hoosiers are making good progress in that area. He thought it showed Friday night.

 

“Well, we are all learning, especially with the forwards to play together,’’ Crean said. “And I think we have got a group of guys that, again, you want this. You want a group of guys that you feel very comfortable starting in the game; that you feel very comfortable finishing with in the game; and that impact the game throughout it. And to see what could happen more and more this year, like tonight: Tonight became a match-up situation for us because of the matchups that we wanted when we changed the lineup. We didn't decide to change the lineup until they put their lineup in, and that's maybe what's going to happen throughout the year.’’

 

Crean said the fact that Indiana is more multi-dimensional this season is huge.

 

“Because when you have numerous guys that are multi-dimensional that can play together, you're going to be better, and Max and Thomas together or Max and Thomas separate, are key, key parts of our team.’’ Crean said. “So we've got to be able to do both.’’

 

Crean said he sees a great deal of upside with his frontcourt players in particular.

 

“All our forwards are going to get a lot better because they are young and Max is young to us,’’ Crean said. “We certainly want and expect a huge role out of him this year and I think he's going to be capable of it, but he's got to learn and grow into it but this is a good start for both of them and for Juwan and OG.’’

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