Hoosiers stake claim to No. 1

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 1 chants rained down from the student section even before Saturday's game ended.

By Monday, it should be official.

Cody Zeller compiled 19 points and nine rebounds, and Victor Oladipo added 15 points, leading the third-ranked Hoosiers to an 81-73 victory over No. 1 Michigan on a day that the nation's top two teams lost.

The results probably will send Indiana back to the top spot, which it held for the first seven weeks this season.

"It's a huge accomplishment," Oladipo said. "You know we started there, we had a hard road to get back here. We're just going to continue to keep working."

If the Hoosiers (20-2, 8-1 Big Ten) keep playing like this, they might even change the trend and hang around for a while.

Since Indiana's loss to Butler on Dec. 15, the No. 1 spot has been held and surrendered by Duke, Louisville and Michigan. No. 2 Kansas would have been poised to move up, but lost 85-80 to Oklahoma State on Saturday.

That puts Indiana, on top of its game and the Big Ten standings, in position to rule the college basketball rankings, too.

The Hoosiers have won five straight since losing to Wisconsin last month, broke a logjam atop the Big Ten standings halfway through the conference season and became the first team in school history to beat No. 1-ranked teams at home in back-to-back seasons.

Players kept their celebration in check, though Oladipo did apologize for trying a tomahawk dunk that was ruled to be after the buzzer.

Instead, everyone acted as if they expected it.

"That's not what they play for," Indiana coach Tom Crean said of the No. 1 ranking. "I think they truly are learning that those things are nice, but playing to improve, to win games like this, to face some adversity and fight through it, that's what matters."

The Hoosiers' entire starting five scored in double figures. Christian Watford posted 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Indiana limited Michigan (20-2, 7-2) to 42.9 percent shooting.

"Indiana's a heck of a team, and I'm glad we got to play them tonight," Trey Burke said after leading the Wolverines with 25 points and eight assists. "We'll get better from it, move on to the next game."

Despite getting 18 points from Tim Hardaway Jr., nobody else scored more than 10.