BULLDOGS' IMPROVEMENT ON DISPLAY AGAINST NO. 1 INDIANA IN 2012-13 SEASON OPENER

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Bryant University men's basketball team opened the 2012-13 season with its toughest challenge not just in the Division I era, but in program history – taking on the No. 1 team in the country in Indiana University. And despite a 97-54 loss at Assembly Hall Friday night, the Bulldogs know just how far they've come over the last four years.

"I thought we competed well," said fifth-year head coach Tim O'Shea. "There's a big difference between a team that plays in the Northeast Conference and a team that's picked to win the National Championship. Honestly, I thought we competed well. We know that, with a few adjustments offensively and [if we] shoot the basketball better, there are a lot of games that we are going to have an opportunity to win on our schedule."

Junior forward Alex Francis (Harlem, N.Y.) led the Bulldogs (0-1) with 15 points – second in the game only to preseason national player of the year Cody Zeller (18 points) – and went 6-of-12 from the floor, pulling down a team-best eight rebounds in his 2012-13 debut while also dishing out three assists to tie the side high.

Senior point guard Frankie Dobbs (Berea, Ohio) added 12 for the visitors, dishing out a trio of helpers himself, while junior Corey Maynard (Adelaide, Australia) chipped in 11 points with seven boards and a pair of steals.

Zeller paced the contest for the top-ranked Hoosiers (1-0), who saw six players finish in double figures. Zeller added 10 rebounds for one of two Indiana double-doubles, as Christian Watford put up 15 points and a game-high 15 boards in 29 minutes of action. Remy Abell and Jeremy Hollowell chipped in 12 apiece as the home side also got 10 points from rookie Yogi Ferrell and junior Will Sheehey.

The Bulldogs kept the game tight through the opening 10 minutes despite spotting the Hoosiers a 7-0 lead out of the gates. Bryant fought back to within one before taking its only lead of the contest at the 11:37 mark, 15-14, on the third-straight bucket and seventh-consecutive point from Maynard.

The edge was short lived, however, as Indiana quickly flipped the score back to the home side, a run emphasized by a Zeller dunk to put the hosts up, 23-16.

Bryant also found itself in early foul trouble, putting Indiana in the double bonus with nearly four minutes to go in the first half after rookie big Andrew Scocca (Melrose, Mass.) took his fourth foul at the 4:17 mark and starting center Vlad Kondratyev (Nikolayev, Ukraine) earned his third whistle at the 5:25 mark.

The five-time national champions would take a 48-28 lead into the halftime break, shooting 55.6 percent to Bryant's 31.3 percent from the floor while capitalizing of their significant size advantage to outrebound the visiting Bulldogs, 24-16.

The second frame saw the Bulldogs shoot slightly better at 33.3 percent, and saw the appearances of seniors Daniel Calandrillo (Leonardo, N.J.), Raphael Jordan (Bel Air, Md.) and Erick Smith (Bel Air, Md.), as well as junior Tim McKinney (Duxbury, Mass.) and sophomore Patrick Matthews (Waipahu, Hawaii).

The contest featured the Bulldog debuts of starting guards and sophomore transfers Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) and Joe O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.), and saw rookies Scocca, Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) and Curtis Oakley (South Euclid, Ohio) contribute significantly on the floor. Starks scored eight in his first game in a Bryant uniform, snagging a game-best three steals.

On the evening, the Bulldogs went 20-of-62 (32.3 percent) from the floor with a 4-for-29 mark from beyond the arc. The Hoosiers took the margin on the glass, 46-29, but had just one less turnover than Bryant, with 17.

"I know we've got some good shooters, but we shot very poorly from three, and we had some good open looks," said O'Shea. "But then again, that doesn't surprise me. This is a very unique environment to come into with a big crowd like that. We had a couple guys playing their first game in Division I and a couple guys who sat out last year. I know what the scoreboard says, but I saw a lot of positive things from my team, and I can certainly see why Indiana is picked number one. They have a chance to win the National Championship. They were tremendous."

So what, ultimately, did the Bulldogs take away from their season opener and toughest test of the year? O'Shea has no doubt: "that we are vastly improved and that we have a chance, with the majority of our schedule this season, to be successful."

The Bulldogs have a quick turnaround to their next contest but will return home to the Ocean State for Monday's 7:00 p.m. outing against BIG EAST rival Providence College at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. The game will be aired live on Cox Sports in Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut and SNY in the NY Metro area.