MINNEAPOLIS — The game did not start the way Indiana wanted.

The Hoosiers started 0 of 6 from the field and did not score a bucket until Max Bielfeldt made a layup 3:30 into the game.

Nick Zeisloft started off on the wrong foot as he missed his first two 3-point attempts, but then the unexpected (or was it the expected?) happened. Zeisloft made four straight 3-pointers that gave the Hoosiers the spark they had been lacking up to that point. His fourth 3-point proved how hot he was, as he drained the bucket from the corner without having his feet set.

Bielfeldt said that Zeisloft was a big reason Indiana came out of The Barn victorious.

“He was like our defibrillator,” Bielfeldt said. “We had an irregular heartbeat, he hit those big ones, got us going.”

Yogi Ferrell scored 20 points and added seven assists and six rebounds as Indiana beat Minnesota 70-63 at Williams Arena.

The senior said, just like Zeisloft, he felt as if he did a good job of keeping the Hoosiers afloat in the second half.

“I just wanted to attack more and find my teammates,” Ferrell said. “I wanted to play more downhill against their bigs, try to get fouled and my shooters.”

Head coach Tom Crean said that the reason for the team’s slow start was settling for too many jump shots.

“We didn’t have a great start,” Crean said. “But it wasn’t because we weren’t prepared, and it wasn’t because we took it for granted. We took too many jump shots to start. We have to establish our game for us in the paint.”

The Hoosiers finished the game with 36 points in the paint, 22 of them coming in the second half.

With his seven assists, Yogi Ferrell surpassed Quinn Buckner for second on Indiana’s all-time assists list and finished one assist shy of tying Michael Lewis for first all-time.

Ferrell said that it’s a great honor, but that he has played with a lot of great teammates over the years.

“I definitely want the milestones,” Ferrell said. “But the main thing I want is the win. No matter what I do on the court or how I impact the game, I just want the win at the end of the day.”

Crean said that the leadership was key down the stretch.

“We grew up inside of the game,” Crean said. “I thought our leadership especially led by our seniors and juniors was tremendous in this game. The response of the seniors was huge.”

There was a high discrepancy between the amount of times each team got to the line. The Hoosiers only had 12 free throw attempts, making 10 of those (83.3 percent), while the Golden Gophers made 19 free throws on 30 attempts (63.3 percent).

In the first half, the Hoosiers found themselves in familiar territory as they were turning the ball over often. Indiana had 10 turnovers in the first half for a turnover percentage of 27 percent.

However, in the second half, Indiana only had three turnovers, all of which came at the beginning of the half. The Hoosiers did not have a single turnover in the final 16:34 of the game.

After his first career double-double a game ago, Thomas Bryant found himself sitting out the final seven and a half minutes of the game. Bryant finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Hoosiers are now 15-3 (5-0) on the season and have won ten straight games, with their last loss coming 45 days ago on Dec. 2 against Duke. Although some of the wins have not been pretty, the Hoosiers have found ways to win the close ones.

“We’re really proud of this win because we had to earn it,” Crean said. “We knew that we would have to here.”

Up Next: Indiana looks to keep its winning streak alive as the Hoosiers square off against Illinois Tuesday, Jan. 19.