Everybody knew top-ranked Indiana could score, but when the Hoosiers had to find a way Tuesday night to get stops against a Georgetown team in an intense overtime game more befitting March than November, it was their defense that saved the day.
The Hoosiers (5-0) scored the first six points of overtime and held the unranked Hoyas (3-1) without a single basket to gut out an 82-72 win in the championship game of the Progressive Legends Classic at Barclays Center.
“I said at halftime this was going to be an epic battle,’’ Indiana coach Tom Crean said. “We haven’t been in many of those in November, but we were ready for one, and so was Georgetown. I think everybody that played absolutely left it out there.
“We learned a lot on this trip. … Our guys went out and played a high-level team in a high-level way.’’
All-American forward Cody Zeller bounced back from Monday night’s poor game against Georgia with 17 points and eight rebounds. Tournament MVP Jordan Hulls had 17 points, including a huge runner a minute-and-a-half into overtime that put the Hoosiers up 69-64 and let them keep the Hoyas at arm’s length.
“We had to hold them, not let them get easy shots,’’ Hulls said. “We were able to do that.’’
Zeller, who said he was sick for about two weeks, rebounded against Georgetown. The Hoosiers ran the attack both for him and through him, and their superior inside play gave them a 36-10 edge at the free-throw line.
Indiana came in averaging an eye-popping 87.3 points, but there were questions about how its defense would hold up against NCAA tourney-caliber competition. When the Hoosiers blew a 63-56 lead with just over a minute to play, those questions got louder.
The Hoosiers forced Georgetown, which beat No. 11 UCLA Monday, into missing all seven of its shots in overtime. After having to twice claw back, the Hoyas ran out of gas and were outscored 18-8 in overtime.
“We’re extremely disappointed with the way things turned out,’’ Hoyas coach John Thompson III said. “They’re a very good team, the best team in the country. … We’re still growing up. You hope to grow up without losses, but hopefully this will help.’’