First things first: I neglected to post my preview for this game, for the Post-Tribune. So here it is.

And here are my game stories, for the Post-Tribune and the Tribune-Star.

Now, one might note that in my preview, I talked about this being a good game for Christian Watford and Jordan Hulls to regain their scoring touch.

That wasn’t the case. Hulls was 2-for-3 from the field for 5 points; not great numbers, but realistically, not unexpected.

Hulls, after all, has never been a scorer in his time at IU. In 91 career games, he’s taken 621 shots, just under 7 per game. He’s a career 46.7% shooter, so he’s effective when he shoots. But it sure seems like Hulls would rather facilitate the offense than be the offense.

And that’s OK when you’ve got guys like Cody Zeller and Will Sheehey and Victor Oladipo to dish the ball to. And, yes, Watford as well.

There’s no doubt, though, that Watford is in a shooting slump. He followed an 0-for-5 performance at Iowa with an 0-for-8 showing last night against North Carolina Central. That’s three 0-fers in five games for Watford, who was 0-for-7 at Purdue.

But Tom Crean is not concerned.

“We wouldn’t be in this situation that we’re in this season, with 21 wins, without the play of Christian Watford,” Crean said. “He’ll make shots … he shot it great in practice the last couple days.”

Watford did have some good looks last night, the ball just didn’t fall for him. Here’s guessing it will soon enough.