Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball and recruiting coverage. Get a 30-Day FREE trial to TheHoosier.com with promo code IUBB30.

Indiana overcame some early sluggishness to soundly defeat Merrimack in a 81-49 Sunday home win.

Merrimack came into today playing among the slowest paces in the entire nation, and they were able to impose their will on the game's tempo early. The Warriors' 2-3 and 3-2 zone gave the Hoosiers some trouble early on as they attempted to find the open spots on the floor. Merrimack forced seven turnovers in the first half and made Indiana play in the halfcourt nearly the entire time.

The Hoosiers went into halftime up by just six points with a score of 36-30. Merrimack met their season average for three-pointers per game in just the first half with six long balls. Ziggy Reid was responsible for half these makes, consistently finding open shots and making Mike Woodson's team pay.

Merrimack's shot-making would regress to the mean in the second half, and Indiana came out of the second half looking much more comfortable battling the zone. Woodson has shown the ability to make halftime adjustments that prompt a second-half surge from his team after the break.

The Hoosiers went on several long runs and forced a bad-shooting Warriors team to take 29 threes.

The starters spurred the Hoosier lead to beyond 20 and the bench came in and got some quality minutes, actually expanding the lead. Jordan Geronimo was particularly effective, scoring a career-high 13 points and pulling in 13 rebounds.

The frontcourt duo for Indiana imposed their will on a small Merrimack lineup. Race Thompson was all over the court, scoring 14 points and yanking down seven rebounds on 6-of-6 from the field. Trayce Jackson-Davis also feasted inside, scoring 16 points and grabbing nine boards.

IU's entire frontcourt helped tremendously on the glass as the Hoosiers out rebounded Merrimack 54-16. The Hoosiers also had 18 offensive rebounds. There was a 33-5 edge in the second half.

Jordan Minor and Malik Edmead carried Merrimack with a combined 24 points and 4-for-5 from the three-point line. Ziggy Reid had 11 points in the first half but had none in the second.

The Hoosiers will now prepare for a Notre Dame team that just knocked off No. 10 Kentucky on Saturday night. The Fighting Irish are just 4-4 but Mike Brey's squad will be looking for their second-straight big-time victory in the Crossroads Classic.

----

• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals

• Like us on Facebook.