Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS -- Senior Nate Blank led five players in double figures with a career-high 27 points as the University of Indianapolis defeated IU Northwest, 102-89, in the season opener in front of 1,022 at Nicoson Hall on Saturday night.

Blank added a team-high seven rebounds for the Greyhounds (1-0), while senior Darius Adams added 24 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Freshman Cody Vest, junior Adrian Moss and senior DeWann Squires all scored 12 points against the NAIA Division II independent RedHawks (0-5).

The Greyhounds won the battle on the glass, 41-23, to hold a 22-3 advantage in second-chance points and scored 54 points in the paint. The Hounds forced 18 turnovers to score 22 points off turnovers and they had 22 points on the fast break.

The Hounds shot 56.5 percent (35-62), including 25-of-34 (.735) in the second half. The RedHawks also shot over 50 percent (.536, 30-56) in the contest.

The Greyhounds broke open a close game at halftime, 33-30, by starting with the first three baskets on a fadeaway by Vest and fast break lay-ups by Adams and Blank, 39-30. The RedHawks stayed within eight, 46-38, when the Greyhounds went on a 13-2 run to break the game open, 59-40, with 13:54 to play after freshman Jarrett Hamilton fed freshman Leland Brown on the fast break and then Hamilton stole the inbounds pass and scored.

The Hounds built the lead to a high of 27 points, 82-55, after Vest blocked a shot to freshman teammate Brennan McElroy who whipped the ball behind his back to Vest for an emphatic slam dunk with 7:38 to play.

The Greyhounds are back at Nicoson Hall next Saturday, Nov. 20, at 3 p.m. for an NCAA Division regional game against Urbana.

Q&A with Head Coach Stan Gouard

How do you think your team played tonight?

"I was very disappointed, especially in the first half. I thought the first seven to eight minutes of the second half we did play well. Once we got the lead we resorted back to bad habits."

What do you need to work on going forward?

"Defense. We gave up 89 points, 59 in the second half, and that's not going to win you a GLVC championship. We have to pride ourselves on the defensive end of the court."

What did you think of Nate Blank's performance?

"I thought Nate was the one guy who was under control. When I took those five guys out of the game in the first half, Nate was guilty by association. I thought he did some good things for us tonight. He took his time and made buckets. Nate is the heart and soul of this basketball team. He's the one guy during timeouts that is grabbing guys and making sure they don't get too excited and forget about the game plan. The good thing about Nate is he wants to be a coach and that's why he has a chance to be a good basketball player for us and why he is playing well.

"I thought Adrian and Darius rushed themselves in the first half. They have to do a better job of controlling themselves. We played down to the level of our competition. Those guys can score the basketball. If we're going to be a good basketball team we can't allow that to happen. Practice next week is going to be all about defense. We're explosive offensively, but have to do a better job defensively of stopping guys."