Freshman center Thomas Bryant broadens Indiana’s potential

When Indiana hosted Creighton on Thursday at Assembly Hall, it figured to be a game decided at the 3-point line with perimeter offense being a strength for both teams.

But the Hoosiers completely dominated Creighton by utilizing freshman center Thomas Bryant and showing it can play inside out. Indiana shot well over the Bluejays 2-3 zone knocking down 10 3-pointers but still managed to get the ball into the post to Bryant who scored 17 points and snared seven rebounds. The perfomance demonstrated Indiana is versatile on the offensive end and Bryant should be a force Big Ten teams will have to contend with when he is even more seasoned later in the year.

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The importance of Bryant’s performance was not lost on the fans who saw it in person. They seranaded Bryant with a Tho-Mas-Bry-Ant chant late in the game and gave the 6-foot-10 product of Rochester, N.Y., a standing ovation when he left the floor.

With three Wooden Award candidates already on the roster in Yogi Ferrell, Troy Williams and James Blackmon Jr., the Hoosiers were already tough to guard. That trio accounted for 47 points and 13 assists. Adding a skilled big man who showed a plethora of post moves Thursday and also can step out and hit jump shots from as deep as the 3-point line, the Hoosiers pose big problems for opponents.

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One of the big questions about Indiana coming into the season was whether it would play better defense this season. Three games in is much too early to make any determinations on how much progress has been made, but it’s not too early to say that Bryant makes them better on that end of the court, too. He blocked four shots in the win over Creighton.

Thomas Bryant has already shown he can get it done on offense for @IndianaMBB – now he’s showing his defensive game. https://t.co/BOgmfYn9CC

— Indiana on BTN (@IndianaOnBTN) November 20, 2015

The Hoosiers head to the Maui Invitational next for a date with Wake Forest on Monday.

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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo