Yogi Ferrell Leads Assembly Ball to 89-79 Win Over The Cru in The Basketball Tournament

With 27 points, former Indiana Hoosiers point guard Yogi Ferrell guided Assembly Ball to an 89-79 win over The Cru on Friday night in the Round of 64 in The Basketball Tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Jack Ankony | Jul 20, 2024

Yogi Ferrell dribbles the ball up the court during Assembly Ball's win over The Cru in The Basketball Tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse. / The Basketball Tournament

In this story:

Indiana Hoosiers

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – It wasn’t exactly Indiana University basketball, but for a few moments in July, it sure felt like it.

Point guard Yogi Ferrell, second on Indiana’s all-time 3-point leaderboard, elicited that sentiment soon after the opening tipoff. A few steps behind the 3-point arc on the right wing, he stepped back and drained a deep 3-pointer like he’s done so many times wearing the cream and crimson.

That opened the scoring for No. 1 seed Assembly Ball and set them on the path to an 89-79 win over No. 8 seed The Cru, a Valparaiso alumni-based team, on Friday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse in The Basketball Tournament (TBT).

"It was amazing," Juwan Morgan said postgame. "There's nothing like just getting ready for a game and the candy stripes. You see the sea of cream and crimson, and the fans are just amazing."

The teams went back and forth for much of the first half, but Assembly Ball closed the half on a 15-4 run to take a 48-38 lead into halftime. They enjoyed a comfortable lead for most of the second half – with “IU” and “defense” chants echoing throughout the arena – and advanced to the Round of 32, where they’ll face No. 4 seed Men of Mackey, a Purdue alumni-based team, on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

It wasn’t Assembly Hall – the team has six non-Hoosiers, too – but a couple other moments gave a few thousand Indiana fans that feeling of Indiana basketball they crave during the summer months.

Ferrell put on a show for the Hoosier faithful, leading Assembly Ball with 27 points. He wasn’t shy to pull up from long range, knocking down 4-of-9 3-point attempts, a few from way downtown. Ferrell played five NBA seasons and now plays professionally overseas, and it’s clearly his offense to operate.

Did that look like the same Yogi Ferrell from his college days?

"Yeah," Morgan said with a smile. "Just strong, fast and makes shots that are insane just look normal. He's the same Yogi."

Race Thompson, a Hoosier from 2017-23, got a big hand from the crowd when he checked in. Thompson spent the last year rehabbing a broken bone in his leg suffered after his Indiana career while preparing for NBA Summer League action with the New York Knicks. He attended many Indiana games during the 2023-24 season, and he grinned when it was finally his time to return to in-game action. Thompson finished with one rebound, one steal and a block in eight minutes.

Juwan Morgan, one of three Hoosiers all-time with a triple-double, did a bit of everything for Assembly Ball. He was smart to lob the ball to Julian Gamble for a transition alley-oop, and he never gave up on a possession, snatching 10 rebounds. Morgan showed off his perimeter game, too, knocking down 2-of-5 3-point attempts, which contributed to his 12 points.

"I feel great," Morgan said. "As you can see, it's a lot of our first times playing together. I mean, there's some blending of generations, whether that's Troy, Yogi and me, or me with Race and Devonte, and then the other guys that have come in as well ... Overall, I feel we have as great a chance as anybody."

The crowd loved to see Devonte Green drain a 3-pointer and dish out a couple flashy assists with his memorable unlimited ammo tattoo. But he ended the night just 1-for-6 from the field.

Even Indiana All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis, now with the Golden State Warriors, and Anthony Leal, who’s still playing for coach Mike Woodson’s Hoosiers, sat on the end of the bench and showed support for the team. They got a big round of applause from the heavily Indiana-favored crowd.

"Incredible," Julian Gamble said of the Indiana fans. "Showing up, I think we got here around six and it was all red in the gym. I almost forgot we were at Butler, but even to be an hour away and to have all these fans come out and support these guys and hearing the noise when you're coming out of the tunnel, it kind of does give you that college feel again.

"Even as a non-IU guy, I'm happy for them. I can only imagine what that feeling is to play back in front of your fans and you kind of feel like you're back at home and see a lot of old, familiar faces. You know, what better place to do it than a tournament where you have a chance to win $1 million."

Other former Indiana basketball players on the roster like Jordan Hulls, Miller Kopp, Troy Wiliams and Noah Vonleh didn’t play Friday night. Williams was in uniform but didn’t see the floor, and Kopp will join the team after his obligations with the Oklahoma City Thunder’s NBA Summer League team are over. Hulls and Vonleh weren’t in attendance.

As for the non-Hoosiers, Julian Gamble (Miami, 2008-13), Kristian Doolittle (Oklahoma 2016-20) and Keith Hornsby (UNC Asheville, LSU, 2011-16) accompanied Ferrell and Morgan in the starting lineup. Gamble was a force inside, scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds, while Doolittle finished with eight points and seven rebounds and Hornsby missed his five field goal attempts.

This win sets up a matchup between Indiana and Purdue alumni teams on Sunday, which will certainly draw an excited, in-state rivalry crowd on Sunday at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Does the rivaly add more excitement?

"Probably for them," Morgan said. "To us, it's just another game. We're going to just keep trying to win. Like we said today, we just got to go 1-0 six times and they're just in the way right now."

Related stories on Indiana basketball