Not that there’s any other kind, but this looks to be an especially cold winter in Bloomington, Ind.
But then, you knew that.
They live for Indiana basketball in Bloomington and anywhere else a Hoosier calls home, and they know how coach Tom Crean had to destroy the storied IU program in order to save it from its descent into scandal — the best-forgotten 2007-08 season takes up all of two pages in this year’s 208-page media guide.
The makeshift team that will represent Indiana in Big Ten play this season staged a dress rehearsal of sorts Monday against Notre Dame in the first round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational, and the results were … well, a good recruiting class is said to be on the way.
Eighth-ranked Notre Dame is good, no question — four starters and five of the top six players are back from a 25-8 team that made a third straight NCAA tournament appearance, and one of those five is Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody.
Indiana is not good, and Monday’s 88-50 result is indicative of where the two teams stand. Notre Dame was bigger, stronger, quicker, deeper and, most notably, older: The three seniors and two juniors who started for the Irish brought 372 college games and 205 starts to the Lahaina Civic Center.
Indiana started four freshmen and a junior-college transfer who combined for 42 college games.
“We’re a brand-new program,” Crean said. “We have an excellent strength coach, but we can’t put 25-30 pounds on these guys right away. We have an excellent coaching staff, but we can’t teach them all they need to know right away.
“It’s a learning process, and we learned a lot today.”
Indiana’s Tom Pritchard, a 6-foot-9-inch freshman, held his own with Harangody, matching his 14 points and collecting a team-high six rebounds in 33 minutes. Harangody had a monster dunk from the baseline and two athletic conversions of alley-oop passes, but he was otherwise quiet, content to move the ball rather than force matters against a constant double-team.
Irish guards Tory Jackson and Kyle McAlarney were the beneficiaries, combining for 39 points (on 16-for-29 shooting) and nine assists. Jackson was a little sheepish about his team-high 17 shots, explaining they came within the flow of the offense.
“When they doubled Luke, I just went to the open spots,” he said.
And as Irish coach Mike Brey noted, Jackson’s quickness and strength enabled him to shoot over or blow past any overmatched Hoosier who challenged him.
“Tory can get to the basket on just about anybody, and finish,” he said.
Indiana’s tenacity made an impression on Brey — players were diving for loose balls as the spread passed 30 — if the results did not.
“Tom’s got them competing and playing hard already,” he said, “and if you can do that every night, you can build your system and you’ll come together.”
Senior Luke Zeller (11 points, 10 rebounds) had his first career double-double for the Irish, perhaps in anticipation of a meeting with injured younger brother Tyler’s team, North Carolina, in the title game.
But first things first. Notre Dame’s second-round opponent Tuesday is a Texas team that looked worthy of its No. 6 ranking in manhandling St. Joe’s 68-50, even as coach Rick Barnes bemoaned turnovers (16) and uninspired offensive play.
The Irish, Brey said, got ready for their Maui run with a three-games-in-three-days August trip to Ireland.
“The second game over there was Poland,” Brey said. “This ain’t Poland. These guys (Texas) are really good.”
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dmcgrath@tribune.com
