Stony Brook falls to Indiana, 96-66
Indiana's Cody Zeller, left, works the ball against Stony Brook's Dallis Joyner during an NCAA college basketball game at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind. (Nov. 11, 2011) Credit: AP
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Opening on the road against a Big Ten opponent would never be confused with the easiest way to start a season. That held true Friday night for the Stony Brook men's basketball team, which fell to Indiana, 96-66, at Assembly Hall in the season opener for both squads.
An 18-5 run to close the first half proved to be all the cushion Indiana needed on this night. The Hoosiers held the Seawolves without a field goal in the last 5:50 of the half en route to taking a 45-28 lead.
"Hey, we get back home and get ready for Sunday,'' Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell said of the home opener against Mount Ida.
"In order to get where we want to be, we have to come on the road and play teams like this. We learn and move on. It will make us better in the end."
Anthony Jackson led Stony Brook with 14 points and shot 5-for-7, including two three-pointers. Dallis Joyner and Marcus Rouse added 10 points each.
Indiana shot 65.4 percent from the field, going 34-for-52, including 7-for-14 from three-point range. "You certainly can't win giving up 96 points and 65 percent shooting,'' said Pikiell, who stresses defense. "We will have to address that for sure."
Stony Brook guard Bryan Dougher, the school's all-time leader in made three-pointers, had a tough night. After hitting a three-pointer on the Seawolves' first possession, he missed his next seven shots and finished with four points.
In power forward Tommy Brenton's much-anticipated return from a dislocated knee that forced him to miss last season, the junior had two points and five rebounds in 26 minutes.
Stony Brook built an 18-14 lead on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Jackson on a feed from Dave Coley. But a jumper by Verdell Jones III four minutes later put the Hoosiers ahead for good at 22-21.
"We started missing some shots and that led to us pressing a little bit," Pikiell said. "We made it way too easy for them to get to the basket, especially late in that first half.''
Leonard Hayes' three-pointer early in the second half cut Stony Brook's deficit to 53-39 before Indiana pulled away.
Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo had 16 points each for Indiana. Will Sheehey had 13 points off the bench, all in the first half.
