The Indiana Hoosiers came into this game vs. the Northwestern Wildcats needing a win to keep their NCAA tournament hopes alive. They were squarely on the buzzer and ESPN bracketologist, Joe Lunardi, had them as the last team into the tournament going in to the game. The Hoosiers must have known that because they came out from the get go ready to go to battle on the hardwood.

Indiana came out and went back and forth with the WIldcats for a while to start the game but then ripped off a 16-0 run in the middle of the first half that took over five minutes and held a 24-6 lead midway through the first. The Wildcats tried to get back into the ball game at that point but struggled to do so. Indiana extended their lead to 17 before taking a 36-22 lead into the halftime.

From there, Indiana kept doing what they did in the first half. The Hoosiers kept the foot on the accelerator and never let the Wildcats get closer than 11 in the second half.

The Hoosiers were led by their First Team All Big Ten point guard Yogi Ferrell, who ended with 17 points. Ferrell did a great job getting the ball to freshman James Blackmon, Jr., who led the Hoosiers on offense and finshed the game with 25 points. Troy Williams was the energy for this Hoosiers team on both sides of the floor. His athletic plays do not show up in the stat sheet, but his presence on the floor makes a huge difference for this team.

One other note for Indiana was that Hoosiers big man Hanner Mosquera-Perea went down with a right knee injury in the second half that could keep him out in the next round. The depth of this team took an especially big hit, which means that players such as Emmitt Holt, Collin Hartman, Stanford Robinson, and Nick Zeisloft will have to play a bigger role off of the bench if Mosquera-Perea cannot play. 

ESPN analyst Dan Dakich made a very good point on air. Indiana switched up its defense from a zone look to man-to-man, and that really helped the Hoosiers crank up the intensity on both sides of the floor. Northwestern had no one that was quick enough off the dribble to break down the defense and make a difference.

Northwestern was led by Bryant McIntosh with 13 points and Alex Olah with 12. 

Indiana advances to take on a Maryland Terrapins team that they have beaten once in Bloomington and lost to by two when they traveled to College Park. This should be a good game that could decide Indiana's tournament fate. The Hoosiers and the Terps face off at 6:30 EST in Chicago on 3/13.