Indiana fans rushed the court in Bloomington last week as if Christian Watford’s imitation of Jimmy Chitwood had knocked No. 1 Kentucky from March Madness. The Hoosiers had merely earned a Christmas gift.

Ho, ho, ho for IU. To witness the jubilation reminded me, in college hoops, the home team should always win. Tom Crean, to his credit, launched into praise for Hoosier fans. Their energy made the celebration possible. In a 73-72 hoedown, they were the Cream and Crimson difference.

Kentucky? With a nice Christmas gift from Santa Calipari and his team. Had a blue and white ribbon on it too. One for each color – personal fouls left unused in the last 5.6 seconds.

Indiana seized momentum early in large part because …

• The Hoosiers swished nine threes from places west of Milan, east of Vincennes and a bump off the rafters. Meanwhile, Crean outflanked the Calipari(s) by limiting Kentucky to just seven tries from the 3-line which trumped the Wildcats’ five field goal advantage overall.

• IU rookie Cody Zeller played smarter longer (37 minutes) than Anthony Davis. Last Saturday’s hero against North Carolina, Davis managed four shots in 24 minutes and too often beaten to the boards. His coaches forgot to remind their rookie, “hey kid, on the road, you get no calls. Don’t look over here! Play on!”

• Homecomer Marquis Teague arrived late, a first half no-show. Worse, leading scorer Terrence Jones arrived not at all. Considering his six turnovers in 28 minutes DNP would’ve served his team better.

• Jones, with a penchant for preening into television cameras, did a sleep walk Big Blue Nation had not seen since Randolph Morris slow-danced for Tubby Smith (2003-05). Game film. NBA general managers considering picking Jones next spring will want to see this video again before the draft.

• Numb skulled. With 5.6 seconds left, Kentucky coaches had to have preached to their Wildcats with Jimmy Swaggart zeal, “Listen up! We have two fouls to give, get into position to use one!” Alas, the Wildcats kept them for the bus ride back to Lexington unused.

• Anthony Davis got schooled in Bloomington – One lesson: Shelve the wide-eyed “I didn’t foul!” look. He will realize it’s a waste of time and concentration. And since prima donna officials don’t like being shown up, could affect the referee’s next whistle. Lesson: Play on and leave the whine to his coach.

Bottom line? Brag rights to the Hoosiers, milestone win for Crean’s program, but a warning too. Hoosier believers of newspaper headlines and talking heads declaring “the Hoosiers are back!,” might take a cue and twist from a Mark Twain wisdom, “Reports of Indiana’s rise back in the penthouse are vastly exaggerated.” At least until trips to East Lansing and West Lafayette.

Kentucky? Best Christmas gifts for the Wildcats are these: Riddance of No. 1 albatross, undivided attention at game film sessions, and Christmas turkeys (Chattanooga, Samford, Loyola and Lamar) to gnaw on until New Year’s Eve.

Postscript. All those who believe the Kentucky-Indiana series ought be ended, raise your hands. Only one person? Peculiar, that.

BEST IN KENTUCKY?

Ranking college hoops team in Kentucky. Who’s No. 1?

Since Kentucky choked at Indiana and Louisville has played one road foe, seven turkeys at home, and Vanderbilt, Rick Pitino’s Cardinals are No. 4 in the cupcake division.

Winner is Murray State.

Steve Prohm’s Racers are 10-0, half are road wins including the Great Alaska Shootout title and No. 20 Memphis. To date there’s been no whisper “but this is Billy Kennedy’s team.”

Murray was preseason pick to finish second in the Ohio Valley Conference behind Austin Peay.

Roll on, Racers.

XAVIER-CINCY BRAWL

In an ugly brawl reminiscent of the 1972 Minnesota-Ohio State game when Golden Gophers Corky Taylor and Ron Behagen set upon Luke Witte, kicking and stomping the Buckeye center, Cincinnati and Xavier players turned thug and embarrassed their schools last Saturday.

More ugly and vicious than Bearcat Yancy Gates sucker punching Xavier’s Kenny Frease, or more cowardly than Cincinnati’s Cheikh Mbodj kicking Frease as he lay on the floor, were these:

1. Xavier coach Chris Mack sent Tu Holloway and Mark Lane to a post game press conference where each spewed ignorance leaving us to wonder, “these guys are college students?”

2. School officials’ punishments announced Sunday were disgraceful. Game suspensions, one to six games for video tape evidence of assault and battery?

3. Coaches Mack and Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin should be held to account for righteous (self-serving?) speeches before slaps on the wrist were administered.

Holloway and Gates should be suspended for the season, Mbdodj dismissed from the team.

WORTH REPEATING

John Calipari’s rush-a-kid-to-riches-ready-or-not exploitation of college athletes aside, and a Gatlin gun monologue that keeps most in the media herd and Big Blue Nation under hypnosis, it’s easy to admire a fellow who says …

“I want to be a guy (who) had a good run … (and) everybody benefited by us coming together and my wife and I look back and say, hey, we’ve done good, we treated people right.”

Calipari, 52, said those things via The Associated Press last week then dropped this bomb: “And, if that’s the case, I’d be surprised if I’d be here (at Kentucky) longer than 10 years.

“It took me 20 years to get here, so I’m not like so quick to leave a place like this. Other guys have had these jobs for 15, 20 years. It took me 20 to get a job like this,” Calipari added.