No. 6 Hoosiers efficient in blowout

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana already was the nation's highest-scoring team.

With a short break and some extra practice, the Hoosiers are getting even better.

Cody Zeller finished with 24 points and six rebounds, Christian Watford added 17 points, and No. 6 Indiana continued its dominant offense in Friday's 88-52 rout over Florida Atlantic.

"I think we're playing better defense, we're playing better in transition, I think our defense is the reason we do so well on offense," Victor Oladipo said. "We have a lot of weapons, we have the big fellow inside and different players scoring. But when we play defense and we score off turnovers, we play at a high level, we score easy baskets."

Whatever the explanation, the Hoosiers (11-1) have been efficient since Saturday's loss to Butler.

They are a combined 64-for-106 from the field (60.4 percent) in the past two games, have limited those overmatched opponents to 32.8 percent shooting and won the games by a combined total of 75 points. On Friday, Indiana shot 50.9 percent from the field and made 26 of 27 free throws.

Those numbers would be even more lopsided if coach Tom Crean hadn't pulled his primary players late in the game - or if Indiana hadn't gone through a cold spell in the closing minutes.

Zeller controlled the inside all night as Indiana held a 41-28 rebounding edge, and he had plenty of help.

Oladipo had 16 points and eight rebounds, and Jordan Hulls had 10 points.

Freshman Hanner Mosquera-Perea, who was suspended by the NCAA for Indiana's first nine games for accepting improper benefits from a school booster, delivered his best game, too, scoring four points and grabbing 10 rebounds in 14 minutes.

Indiana came into the game leading the nation in scoring (89.2 points) and No. 3 in field-goal shooting (52.1 percent).

It was a rough night for the Owls
(5-7), who went seven minutes without a basket in the first half and couldn't get closer than 28 points in the second half. Greg Gantt scored 25 points to lead Florida Atlantic.

"I knew it was going to be almost impossible," Florida Atlantic coach Mike Jarvis said. "Even if we have all of our players, we don't Indiana beat right now. But I want to get a team good enough where we can come back here and beat their butts and that's going to be one of my goals for myself before I die."