Things may be changing in the Big Ten. At least, for one day, the style was unrecognizable in Indiana.Usually the conference known for rugged defense and scores in the 50s, when the Hoosiers put up 54 points in the first half against Iowa, en route to a 103-89 home win, the usual grind turned into a sprint and freshman center Cody Zeller put on a dunking exhibition, scoring a career high 26 points on 11-for-12 shooting, with four free throws in six attempts, four rebounds, four assists, three steals and a blocked shot.
The Hoosiers led 54-37 at the break, but Iowa shot 79% in the second half to no avail to make the game at least look close. It wasn't. Even though the Hawkeyes shot 63% for the game, Indiana hoisted 13 more shots, many of them off offensive rebounds, of which they had 20. Overall, Indiana dominated the boards, out-rebounding Iowa, 37-22.
Indiana shot 55% for the game, the first conference contest in which they scored more than 100 points since 1995.
The 103 points were the second-most the Hoosiers scored this season. Back in December, they pasted Howard University, 107-50, but it was easily the highest score in a Big Ten game for them this season; their previous high was 88 in a win at Penn State.
The 16th-ranked Hoosiers still have plenty of work to do. The win got their overall record to 17-5, but they are just 5-5 in the Big Ten, good for sixth place in the conference led by Ohio State, at 7-2, with their more Big Ten-like, 64-49, win over Michigan.
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