Dayton, OH – Yogi Ferrell had his coming-out party in the NCAA Tournament, with the freshman guard tallying 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists to help top-seeded Indiana to a dominating 83-62 victory over James Madison in an East Regional second round game.
Ferrell netted 14 of his points in the game's opening 5 1/2 minutes to enable the Hoosiers (28-6) to build a double-digit lead they never relinquished and easily advance into a matchup with ninth-seeded Temple in Sunday's third round.
Four other Indiana players scored in double figures in the rout, with Will Sheehey contributing 15 points off the bench and Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo each finishing with 11. Jordan Hulls added 10 points.
Freshmen Andre Nation and Charles Cooke each recorded career-high scoring totals for James Madison (21-15), a surprise winner of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament that was making its first NCAA appearance since 1994. Nation had 24 points before fouling out late, with Cooke making 4-of-5 shots from 3-point range in an 18-point effort.
"I feel like we clearly lost to a better team today," said Dukes head coach Matt Brady. "Watching them on tape and trying to prepare your team for Indiana is one thing, and then being on the court with them and having our team play against those guys with the speed and power with which they run plays and the quickness with which they pass the ball was really impressive."
The Dukes were coming off their first triumph in NCAA Tournament play since 1983 with Wednesday's 68-55 decision over Long Island in the First Four round, but were completely overmatched in the steep step-up in competition.
Ferrell scored on each of Indiana's first four possessions, driving the lane on two of those baskets and adding a 3-pointer on the final one as the Hoosiers roared out to a 9-0 lead less than 3 1/2 minutes in.
The young point guard buried another trey shortly afterward, then converted a layup on the Hoosiers' next trip down the court for a 16-3 IU advantage with 14:34 still to play in the first half.
"Yogi certainly got us going in a great direction with the way that he moved the ball, and then he was able to find some great areas to attack from," Hoosiers head coach Tom Crean remarked.
JMU never seriously threatened at any stage the rest of the way, with the differential reaching 19 points following a 7-0 run capped by an Oladipo dunk and 3-point bucket that staked the Hoosiers to a commanding 29-10 lead with eight minutes remaining before the intermission.
Back-to-back baskets from Will Sheehey late in the half pushed the margin to 23 points, and Indiana cruised into the break up by a comfortable 43-22 count after shooting better than 57 percent from the field.
"I thought [Indiana] played a dynamite first half, and it really took us a first half to catch up to the speed with which they play the game," said Brady.
The Hoosiers made it a 30-point spread after a Hulls triple ignited a 10-0 sequence that created a 56-26 score, and were ahead by as many as 33 before pulling their starters and the Dukes cut into the deficit against the IU reserves in the final stages.
Game Notes
Nation's previous career high for points was 19, set twice previously, while Cooke had 16 points in a loss at Drexel at Feb. 10 ... Ferrell's eight rebounds tied a personal best, originally recorded in the Hoosiers' loss to Butler in Indianapolis on Dec. 15 ... Indiana was competing in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 regional seed for the first time since 1993, when the Hoosiers eventually fell to Kansas in the Midwest final ... The Hoosiers outscored JMU by a 36-20 margin in points in the paint ... The teams had faced one another just once previously, an 84-52 IU win in Bloomington on Dec. 11, 1987 ... The Dukes fell to 4-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
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