Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Indiana 83, SIU - Edwardsville 60
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, December 2, 2016
Where: Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana
Officials: # Steve McJunkins, # Scott Siville, # Ted Valentine
Attendance: 17222

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- No. 13 Indiana took a little time to wake up, but not forwards Juwan Morgan and De'Ron Davis.

The injury absence of sophomore forward OG Anunoby provided an opportunity for two young Hoosiers to enjoy career games in an 83-60 rout of visiting Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Friday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Morgan, a sophomore starting in place of Anunoby, made all eight of his shots to finish with a career-high 18 points and also tied his previous best with 10 rebounds. The freshman Davis scored a personal-best 14 points off the bench.

"I don't think that will be the last time that it will happen for either of us," Morgan said. "On any given night, it can be anybody's time."

Two nights after the Hoosiers (6-1) stunned No. 3 North Carolina 76-67, they started slow with misses on the first eight shots. A drop-off in energy was to be expected after such an emotional home win. But even without Anunoby, sidelined by a sprained left ankle after scoring 37 points in the past two wins, Indiana's youthful squad showed its depth.

Morgan had averaged 6 points and 6.2 rebounds in six games this season.

"With losing OG for this game, Juwan rebounded for two," said Indiana head coach Tom Crean. "That was a tremendous hustle performance, because everybody left it out there on Wednesday night (against North Carolina), and he was as spent as any of them. We've got numerous guys who are banged up after a game like that. But he came out and brought it."

The Cougars (4-4) crumbled with cold shooting -- five missed foul shots as well as seven of eight 3-point misses in the first half -- and committed nine of their 11 turnovers before the break. The Hoosiers went on an 11-0 run to build a 43-21 halftime lead.

"We had a slow start with our movement," Crean said. "We were getting good shots other than maybe one, then we picked it up."

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville trailed by as many as 33 in the second half.

"We turned the ball over seven times real early in the first half and that was the difference in the game," said Cougars head coach Jon Harris. "They got out in transition, then they got their head up and started moving the ball."

Harris called Indiana "great" and admitted Morgan and Davis delivered "unexpected" efforts.

"Obviously those guys are talented ballplayers," he said. "I watched them a lot in high school growing up and I follow Indiana. They had OG go down and those guys raised their level."

Burak Eslik, a senior guard from Turkey, led the visitors with 18.

Crean expressed uncertainty about Anunoby being able to return for Sunday's home game against Southeast Missouri State, so Morgan and Davis won't mind if they're asked to play more in two days.

"When somebody goes down, we all have to be ready to step up," Morgan said. "I don't think it takes just one person to do everything that OG does for us. Collectively, we all have to do that for him."

NOTES: Harris played three seasons for Crean at Marquette and was an assistant on the Golden Eagles' Final Four qualifier in 2003. ... Indiana won the only previous meeting 88-54 at home in 2010. The Hoosiers are 21-0 all-time against the Ohio Valley Conference. ... Indiana entered with an average rebounding advantage of 15.7, second in the country. ... The Cougars have four Division I non-conference wins, most ever in a season for a program elevated to Division I in 2008. They're 0-6 against Top 25 teams since joining Division I.
Top Game Performances
 
SIU - Edwardsville   Indiana
Burak Eslik 18 Scoring Juwan Morgan 18
Carlos Anderson 3 Assists De'Ron Davis 3
Christian Ellis 7 Rebounds Juwan Morgan 10
Burak Eslik 4 Free Throws Made De'Ron Davis 6
Christian Ellis 1 Steals James Blackmon Jr 2
Keenan Simmons 4 Blocks Thomas Bryant 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
SIU - Edwardsville 60 38.1 4-14 8-16 7 30 6 4 11
Indiana 83 46.7 7-22 20-23 15 41 8 7 13