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Top-ranked Indiana blasts Sam Houston State

Nov 16, 2012 - 4:07 AM Bloomington, IN (Sports Network) - Christian Watford led five players in double digits with 23 points, as the top-ranked Indiana Hoosiers steamrolled Sam Houston State, 99-45, at Assembly Hall.

Will Sheehey tallied 18 points for the Hoosiers (3-0), who next face Georgia on Monday. Victor Oladipo added 14 points, seven rebounds and four steals in the rout.

"We played with a lot of passion," said Indiana coach Tom Crean. "We always play hard, we always work extremely hard; I have no complaints with that whatsoever."

Paul Baxter scored nine for the Bearkats (1-2), who host Southern Miss four days from now. Marquel McKinney had eight points and Nathaniel Mason posted seven points in defeat.

"I apologize for our performance tonight," said Sam Houston State coach Jason Hooten. "We are better than that. We were not very good tonight and I am embarrassed by it. Not taking anything away from Indiana, they have a great team and they had a lot to do with our performance, but we didn't do a lot of the things that we've been taught and that's disappointing as a coach."

The Hoosiers were in control from the outset, scoring 16 of the game's first 18 points through the first six-plus minutes thanks to a pair of triples from Jordan Hulls and one from Oladipo. Watford later drained a trey and it was 23-6.

A Cody Zeller lay-in pushed the edge to 20 with 7:53 left in the first half, and the lead ballooned to as much as 31, 50-19, after Zeller finished off a three-point play inside of a minute left.

Indiana went to the break up 52-25 thanks to 60 percent shooting from the floor.

The Hoosiers eclipsed the 40-point margin with 7:44 remaining on two free throws from Sheehey which made it 79-38. It was a 52-point advantage for the hosts on a three-pointer by Austin Etherington with 2:37 left that made it 96-44.

Game Notes

Indiana connected on 56.6 percent from the field ... Zeller finished with 13 points and seven rebounds in 22 minutes ... Hulls added 10 points, five boards and five assists ... The Hoosiers swiped the ball 11 times, helping SHS commit 19 turnovers altogether ... Indiana also won the battle of the boards by a 45-23 margin.