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Bryant, meanwhile, couldn't contend with Indiana's dynamic front-line duo.
Alex Francis had 15 points and eight rebounds. Corey Maynard had 11 points and seven rebounds, and Frankie Dobbs had 12 points and three assists.
Against the size, though, the Northeastern Conference member from Rhode Island couldn't compete in its first game as a full-time Division I member -- and its first game against the nation's top-ranked team.
O'Shea understood why.
"These kids have played basketball for a long time," he said. "They understand there's a big difference between our level basketball and even the game Monday night, Providence is in the Big East, but they're not in the same stratosphere as Indiana right now."
Certainly not.
Zeller and Watford were so imposing inside that Bryant's two tallest players -- Andrew Scocca and Vlad Kondratyev -- combined for seven fouls in less than 16 minutes. When Scocca left after picking up his fourth foul with 4:17 to go in the first half, the Bulldogs didn't have anybody taller than 6-foot-6 to use the rest of the half.
The results were predictable.
Bryant hung around early against the anxious Hoosiers, even taking a brief 15-14 lead on Indiana's home court when Maynard scored on a putback with 11:37 to go in the first half.
Freshman Yogi Ferrell answered with two free throws to start an 11-0 run that gave Indiana control, and after that it was no contest. The Hoosiers followed that spurt with a 13-3 run and outscored Bryant 10-0 over the final 3:17 to take a 48-28 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs never cut the deficit below 20 in the second half, though the Hoosiers thought they could have played better.
"We've got to defend and rebound to be successful this year, and I thought we did fairly well throughout the game tonight," Zeller said. "But there were a few plays where we didn't do that and we'll go back to work on it tomorrow."
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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