Indiana went through the gauntlet of emotions on Wednesday night.
First, one of their most important players, O.G. Anunoby, went down with what appears to be a serious knee injury midway through the first half. Then, the Hoosiers blow a big lead at Penn State. Finally, James Blackmon Jr. bailed them out with a game-winning, buzzer-beating three.
After the game, head coach Tom Crean got choked up talking about the victory:
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Coach Crean after tonight's win. #iubb https://t.co/XBZjRaKFzo
— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) January 19, 2017
“As the leader of these guys I’m excited about the way they played considering everything we went through in this game,” Crean said. “There were a lot of tears in that locker room because no one knew what was going on with one of their fallen brothers. And I had to leave a guy who was crying and that wasn’t easy. But we found a way to win the game so I’m proud of them for that.”
Crean gets a lot of heat from fans - both of Indiana and of Indiana’s rivals - but that was a genuine moment of anguish. It’s easy to forget that he’s a human being dealing with more job-related stress than you can imagine. He’s paid handsomely for it, but that doesn’t make always make it easier.