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Indiana's first half on Monday evening was just about what you'd expect for the first outing of the season. A sizable portion of good play, a couple of things that stick out that will need work, and a comfortable lead to carry into the break. With 9:17 to play before the intermission and the score knotted at 21 a piece though, Indiana put the hammer down.

While a number of things began to click at the same time for Indiana, the true identity began to show for Mike Woodson's squad as his defense tightened their play and began to stifle Morehead State into oblivion. An ensuing 20-8 run carried Indiana into the half with a 41-29 lead, and the once restless crowd that had been timidly searching for something to get loud about was all of a sudden alive.

With the roof off the building and Indiana finally able to breathe a little bit, nothing really changed fundamentally. It was really just about getting comfortable.

"I think that's just us settling in," Race Thompson said after the game. "Everybody had a little bit of nerves coming into the first game. Crowd really showed out and it was a lot of fun. Everybody settled in and calmed down and just locked in on defense and the keys that we focused on in practice."

The Hoosiers wasted little time in pulling away once the second 20 minutes began, ultimately closing out the visiting Eagles 88-53. For Indiana, the mindset was never altered despite Morehead State's hot start. With defense as the tabbed calling card of this team, the goal is to make the proceedings on Monday night more than just a one time thing. It's meant to be habitual.

"I think that's where our team starts, with defense, and if we can get settled in on defense, everything else takes care of itself," Thompson said.

On the evening, Indiana's defense did more than just take care of itself. Overall, they totaled four blocks, nine steals, and held Morehead State to .779 points per possession. The Hoosiers forced 21 turnovers, a rate of 30.9% on Eagle possessions, and scored 29 points alone on those extra possessions. On top of that, Indiana limited an offense that hit six 3-pointers in the first half to just three in the final 20 minutes and allowed just 10 points in the paint all evening.

With Woodson's defensive background, he was pleased with the performance while still acknowledging room for improvement.

"Well, you hold them to 24 points the second half, I say defensively we did a solid job," Woodson said. "I thought our switching, we got burned a couple times, but for the most part I thought our switching was on par."

Although Indiana's inside-out nature can generally lead to an advantage on the boards, especially with the size margin Indiana had over their visitors on Monday, the rebound battle is one that the Hoosiers likely have circled as an area of high importance each time they hit the floor. However, when the discrepancy wasn't as severe as Woodson and company had probably liked, he was quick to acknowledge the woes.

"We rebounded the ball a little bit better (in the second half)," Woodson said. "We got to get better in that area, too, man, because this was a close game. I've got to get our guards helping our bigs rebound."

As Thompson had mentioned earlier, Indiana may have had some first-game jitters that prohibited them from really flourishing right away, but this isn't just any old opener either. With Morehead State being one of the favorites to come out of the Ohio Valley Conference, the Hoosiers needed the spark they got from the fans and the subsequent play to really establish themselves over their opponents.

"I mean, this was the first game for these guys," Woodson said. "I don't know if they were jittery or not. I thought we came out with a great start, you know, but you got to give Morehead State some credit. They didn't lay down. They fought early. But I thought the second half, we turned it up from a defensive standpoint, did what we had to do to secure a win."

Honing in further, Thompson mentioned that at the half as the Hoosiers caught their breath a bit, they had the opportunity to take away the one component of the Eagles' offense that had been beating them, that being the play and shooting from the perimeter.

The numbers support Thompson's statements, in that the same Morehead State offense that shot north of 40 percent from the field in the first half saw just 33 percent of their attempts go down in the second half.

"We really looked at some film, saw what we could improve on, and really focused on guarding the 3-point line," Thompson said of the adjustments. "I think our main thing was we can improve, and let's go out there and show them what we can do, and that's what we did when we came out."

As Indiana continues forward and takes on progressively tougher competition, film of the nature that the Hoosier defense played tonight provides invaluable material going forward while also building the confidence of each other and the ability they have to shut down opposing offenses. Of course, not every outing Indiana will take part in will they have the types of advantages they do right now, that's inevitable.

But for a team that hung it's hat on grinding out results a season ago to come back with that same mentality and improved scoring, Indiana could have something to say about those lofty expectations that hang over their head this upcoming winter. Yes, it's early, and yes, it's Morehead State, but make no mistake about it:

This does not appear to be the Indiana of old.

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