EVANSTON — With a strong student showing and a palpable NCAA Tournament buzz filling Welsh-Ryan Arena, the Northwestern Wildcats (18-4, 7-2 Big Ten) lived up to the hype, beating the injury-plagued Indiana Hoosiers (15-7, 5-4) in front of a raucous crowd, 68-55.
Initially, it seemed as if the atmosphere was a little too much for the Wildcats, who settled for too many in the opening minutes and couldn’t hang with Thomas Bryant. The Indiana big man scored the game’s first points, on a three, and bullied Northwestern’s front-line early on with a putback shortly thereafter.
The Wildcats missed their first seven shots (four of which were from beyond the arc) as Indiana took a 10-1 lead, quieting a raucous, sold-out Welsh-Ryan Arena.