MADISON, Wis. — The sentiment reverberating around Big Ten country when this season began was that Indiana's basketball team couldn't possibly fare any worse. After all, the past three seasons had played out in front of a national audience with mostly calamitous results.
When head coach Tom Crean left Marquette in 2008, he took over a storied Hoosiers program decimated by injuries and defections. Essentially, the only items remaining in the cupboard were canned beets and an expired cup of flour. Maybe it wasn't bare, but it left plenty to be desired.
In Crean's first three seasons, Indiana finished a combined 28-66, including a 6-25 campaign — the worst single season in program history.
So really, anything resembling respectability would have been considered an upgrade this season.
Little did anyone know just how remarkable of a turnaround was in store in Bloomington.
After winning just 12 games all of last season, the Hoosiers opened this season with 12 straight wins, knocking off then-No. 1 Kentucky and vaulting into the national Top 25. The Hoosiers have floated back to earth during a recent three-game losing streak, but they remain in the thick of the Big Ten race.
When No. 16 Indiana (16-4, 4-4 Big Ten) takes on No. 25 Wisconsin (16-5, 5-3) at 8 p.m. CT Thursday at the Kohl Center, a national television audience will have the opportunity to see the Hoosiers' return to relevance for itself.
Crean said he never wasted time worrying about expectations, but that he knew the parts were in place for a special season before the year began.
"We spend so much time on the day-to-day things that if you feel like you're getting better day-to-day, then the process is going to work itself out," Crean said. "I like our chemistry, I like our team unity, I like our willingness to improve. The work ethic is tremendous."
What, specifically, can account for Indiana's complete 180 this season? A few factors, really.
For starters, the Hoosiers were burned last season by injuries. Guard Verdell Jones III missed time with a knee injury, guard Maurice Creek fractured his right knee during the season and forward Christian Watford broke his left hand.
While Creek is out of action again this season because of a torn Achilles tendon, Jones and Watford — the team's top two returning scorers — have helped infuse Indiana's resurgence. In total, five players are scoring in double figures this season, and that excludes Jones, who is sixth at 7.7 points.
"It seems like there's a lot of the same players," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "They've had the experience. They've been to every Big Ten arena. Everybody expected them to be better."
But perhaps no greater reason exists for the Hoosiers' improvement than the arrival of 6-foot-11, 230-pound freshman center Cody Zeller.
Zeller, named Mr. Basketball in the state of Indiana last year, marked Crean's biggest recruit to date, and he has lived up to expectations. Five times already this season, he has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
"Zeller is a guy that came in and really boosted them and got them over the top of where they were," Badgers guard Josh Gasser said. "He's kind of pushed them over the edge right now. They're a well-coached team. They play hard. When you add that with talent and experience, it's going to make for a pretty good team."
Zeller's presence in the post forces opponents to double-team him and often creates open positions for shooters on the floor. And the results have been spectacular. Indiana ranks second in the country in 3-point shooting percentage, at 44.9 percent.
Guard Matt Roth has come off the bench to make 61.4 percent of his long-range tries (27 of 44), and Jordan Hulls shoots 49.5 percent (45 for 91). Watford, whose biggest 3 knocked off previously undefeated Kentucky at the buzzer, is shooting 47.8 percent on 3s.
Perhaps it's no coincidence that these numbers come at a time when Zeller is leading Indiana in points (15.1) and rebounds (6.4) per game. A year ago, before Zeller arrived, Indiana shot just 34.6 percent from 3-point range.
"Certainly, Cody has brought a ton to the program, and we anticipated that," Crean said. "But there's no way to quantify or to predict what a freshman is going to do in a program. You can be hopeful. Cody has done a lot of things with a lot of room to get better and a lot of room to help make this team even better."
Indiana began the season 15-1 and climbed to as high as seventh in the national polls before losing three straight, against Minnesota, Ohio State and Nebraska. The Hoosiers responded with a 73-54 victory against Penn State on Sunday — a win Crean said was critical for his upperclassmen, who had grown accustomed to losing streaks in previous seasons.
"We don't spend a lot of time on the past, but we also know that it's in the back of their minds," Crean said. "We certainly didn't want that to happen.
"It was very good for them mentally."
The same could be said for them about Indiana's delightful turnaround all season long.
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