Opponent: THE Ohio State University Buckeyes 12-1(1-0) Ranked #2 in the AP and Coaches polls.

Last Meeting: A 82-61 pasting of the Hoosiers by Brutus and the boys. The game was interesting for much of the first half due in part to Jared Sullinger getting in early foul trouble. But the Hoosiers were ultimately undone by the combination of tOSU being stronger, faster and smarter than the Hoosiers on the court. The last meeting in Bloomington was interestingly enough also on New Year’s Eve. The Buckeyes pretty much wiped the floor with Indiana in that one too 85-67. While I may not agree Indiana basketball is “back,” I can at least take comfort in knowing that I don’t have to feel good about an 18 point loss at home anymore.

Last IU win:  Another highlight of Indiana rebounding to respectability will be not having to acknowledge Kelvin Sampson when referring to IU’s last win against a plethora of opponents. Fortunately IU’s last win against THE Ohio State University came during Dan Dakich’s tenure, a 72-69 win in Bloomington.

The Buckeyes are a gritty, scrappy, plucky bunch:  At least as far as Goliath’s go. Thad Matta, perhaps the only former Butler coach to enjoy continued success after leaving the cozy confines of Hinkle Fieldhouse, has brought a bit of the underdog’s intense mentality and combined it with tOSU’s impressive resources to create a consistent top tier power. While the extended  NCAA tournament run hasn’t happened since 2007, the Buckeyes have made the Sweet 16 the last two years and will be among the favorites to win the title again this year. While last year’s squad saw the final remnant of perhaps the most celebrated recruiting class leave Columbus, David Lighty perhaps ushered in the most important recruiting class in school history. The combined efforts of Jared Sullinger, Deshaun Thomas, Lenzelle Smith Jr.  and Aaron Craft form the core of starting players which IU’s heralded class of incoming  freshman will be fortunate to match.  William Buford, a nominee for the Jess Settles-Evan Eschmeyer  award*,  leads the team in minutes and points.

*Like all B1G Ten Trophies, of course this one is named after two individuals, and goes to the player who has been on campus for what feels like a decade.

How to overcome the feeling of doom in 10 days or less:  A lot has been written and said about looking forward to seeing how IU responds to its first loss of the season. While I have little doubt the players will bounce back and put up a solid effort Saturday night.  I do think it would serve Hoosier fans well to come to grips with the fact this team is in fact very good. On the Spreecast following the game, Scott and Tony lamented Indiana’s constant inability to get the ball to Cody Zeller as a huge problem that has tormented the team all year, and worried that the five minutes of offensive death were a harbinger for things to come.  First, Zeller leads the team in scoring, so someone’s getting him the ball on occasion.  Second, IU is currently 7th in the nation in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted offense ranking.  I understand the fear of slipping back to the putrid offense we’ve seen for the past three years. This fear is compounded by the fact that most IU fans also root for some of the most  disheartening teams in all of sports. So we’re used to losing. While the minutes of stagnant offense are difficult to stomach, it’s worth noting that they will happen to absolutely every team.  The problem with previous year’s offense wasn’t just that it went 5 minutes at a time without scoring, it’s that it didn’t score enough on its runs to make up for a bad period or two.  This isn’t to say that IU wouldn’t do well to consistently focus on giving Zeller every opportunity, but also recognize that when the defense commits as much energy to denying clean passes into the post, that the other players need to step up and take advantage. 

Stat to consider while you celebrate a New Year in Vienna  by watching the Hoosiers game tip off just after midnight:  28.42 That’s the total number of points below their season average put up by Jordan Hulls, Cody Zeller, and Will Sheehey who had the excuse of not even playing against Michigan State. The fact that IU was even in the ball game with the cold efforts by three of the top five scorers says a lot about the improved depth of offensive options at Tom Crean’s disposal.

Scouting Future Opponents

Michigan hosts Minnesota Sunday in a rare New Year’s Day event for Minnesota athletics. And if you think I’m going to let the fact that IU went 1-11 this year keep me from making fun of a fellow Big Ten cellar dwellar, then you’re so so wrong.

Penn State attempts to see if the Welsh Ryan arena can actually be less intimidating for opponents when they visit Northwestern Sunday night.

As mentioned, Minnesota visits Michigan Sunday afternoon. Feel free to take your own cheap shot at Minnesota in the comments below.

Prediction: Looking at Brutus the Buckeye will not make any Hoosier fans long for a mascot of our very own.   In a lot of ways, Michigan State is a tougher matchup for IU. I believe IU has caught up to the basketball world in terms of the cliche “basketball skills.” But Michigan State can and did physically beat up the Hoosiers on Thursday night. While tOSU may be more talented than Sparty, they can’t be as physical because they don’t really go as deep to the bench. Obviously, this is still an uphill climb. I predict Indiana to threaten all evening but for the Buckeyes to come away with a slim victory. Buckeyes 75 -Hoosiers 71.

Isn’t Big Ten season exciting? After a couple months of solid non-conference games, we get to the grittiness that is Big Ten play. Following a triple-header on Big Ten Network last night and including the Illinois-Minnesota battle Tuesday, we’ve learned a lot about all the times, specifically IU. Michigan State exposed a lot of weaknesses, but I’ll cover those in a bit. What we have figured out so far is that we have a very deep conference. This week, Ohio State (2), Wisconsin (11), Indiana (13), Michigan State (16), and Michigan (18) were all ranked in the AP Top 25, and Illinois has been ranked on the season.

So I have decided to give a weekly power ranking for our great conference. The rankings will be based on the premise that if the NCAA Tourney started today, which teams would fare best. It may not necessarily be the best rankings, but they’re my rankings and I’ll run them how I want. So with that being said, I’ll jump right in.

1. Ohio State

Surprise, surprise. Really, it’s no contest. With Jared Sullinger, Ohio State is one of the best team’s in the nation. I grew up a Duke fan (please begin jokes now) and watched them dismantle Duke. It was no contest from the beginning and they would have beaten Duke on a neutral court and probably even in Cameron Indoor Stadium. They have an absolutely perfect blend of role players and stars and it all revolves around Sullinger. Aaron Craft is arguably the best defensive point guard in the nation and Deshaun Thomas is highly underrated. The front line of Sullinger, William Buford, and Thomas is one of the best in the nation.

The only problem I see lying with Ohio State is how heavily they rely on Sullinger. We saw them essentially fall on their face against Kansas and struggle with South Carolina as Sullinger was not at 100%. If they do lose Sullinger or a team figures out how to contain Sullinger, this team will struggle. However, I say this like it’s an easy task when it isn’t. Realistically, I haven’t seen a better team play all season.

2. Wisconsin

The drop-off from Ohio State to Wisconsin is more significant, in my opinion, than the rankings indicate. Realistically, Ohio State is the only national title contender in the Big Ten right now. But that’s not to take anything away from Wisconsin, who has a solid team. Their only losses on the year came at UNC by three points and a bit of a let-down game at home against Marquette, both very respectable losses.

Everyone knows Jordan Taylor, but in reality, this is a pretty balanced team. Taylor leads the team with 12.6 points, but Jared Berggren is right behind him at 12.1 points, Ryan Evans with 10.8, and Ben Brust at 10.6. The team is very, very balanced and, as you can see, isn’t entirely reliant on Taylor.

However, all that being said, Taylor’s supporting cast isn’t nearly as good as Sullinger’s is at OSU. Berggren, Evans, and Brust are solid players, but they aren’t the type of players that can take over games and likely will never single-handedly win you games. They fit well within Bo Ryan’s system. Defense is what sets this team apart, like most Bo Ryan teams. Only two teams have scored more than 60 points against them (which, coincidentally, where the two games they lost) and nine times they’ve held their opponents under 45 points. If you take a moment and analyze that, it’s an incredibly impressive performance.

3. Michigan State

The best thing that happened to this Michigan State team was the fact that they lost and struggled as much as they did early on. Their first two games, and only two losses, were to UNC and Duke. Those two losses not only gave the Spartans a bit of a dose of humility, but it also took all the pressure off them. Izzo was moving players around and experimenting with line-ups, most notably Brandon Woods at PG, and there was a lot of pressure early on. In those first two games, Woods was a combined 9 for 21 and 2 of 7 from three with just three total assists. Since then, he’s grown and shown what Izzo saw to put him as a starter. Against our Hoosiers last night, Wood set the tone early and led the Sparties all night.

And no one is talking about Draymond Green, who is one of the top five players in the Big Ten. He leads the Big Ten in double-doubles this year and is flying under the radar like his team.

Personally, I really like this team. Woods looks like a completely different player than the one that took the floor against Duke in Madison Square Garden. Green can be their go-to guy down low and is the leader of this team. The key to them, though, is the oft-talked about big man Derrick Nix. Nix’s wait loss has been highly publicized and with that, he’s become a new player. He still has the size to bang down low and provide them some quality minutes. Mark my words, this team, come season’s end, will be one of the top 10 team’s in the nation and could become a possible national title contender.

4. Indiana

To most Hoosier faithful, the outcome of tonight’s game did not come as a surprise. The way it happened may have surprised some, but I, for one, saw this coming. The problems of this team have been masked, for better or for worse, by the opponents we played. Facing the UMBCs and the Howards makes you look good. UK might be the best game we play all season, but the fact it was a home game aided us.

For one, and probably the biggest issue in my opinion, is the fact that our offense looks incredibly stagnant more often than not. Crean supposedly runs a motion offense, but come crunch time or big moments, the only motion is the ball moving from person to person around the perimeter. It’s been our offense all year, but we’ve simply been better than most the teams we play. We seem to have no idea how to make a post entry pass despite the fact we’re 13 games into a season with one of the best big man in the Big Ten on our team. This is something that is a serious problem by this point.

For the first time last night, Cody looked mortal. Can’t say we didn’t expect it some time this season, and last night made sense. Your first Big Ten road game came against a ranked Michigan State team in a hostile environment and against one of the better low post guys in the league in Draymond Green. The only think I took from this is that Cody is a freshman. Wednesday was a big step in the maturation of Cody.

However, the most encouraging thing about IU’s recent games has easily been Christian Watford. He’s the key to this IU team. Three of the last five games, he’s scored at least 20 points. In the last two games, he’s averaged 24 points and 10 rebounds. He seems to have found his groove and is playing his best ball at IU. If he and Zeller can play at a high level together, this team because that much better.

5. Michigan

Personally, I’m still not entirely sold on this Wolverines team. Their biggest win was against supremely overrated Memphis squad and a loss on a neutral court against Duke, who has improved, but isn’t as good as their rating suggests. The more telling points are that they beat Western Illinois by just 4, lost to Virginia by 12, beat Oakland by just 10, and beat Bradley by just 11. This is the makings of a team that is above average, but not one of the 25 best in the league.

As Tim Hardaway Jr goes, so does this team. It really isn’t anything no one knows or surprises us, but it’s the truth. In all but two games, he’s scored double digits. As of right now, he’s likely a first-team All-Big Ten based on non-conference play. However, I don’t expect the same success in the Big Ten where teams know everything about you.

Which is why I don’t think this team is very good. The cast around Hardaway isn’t anything to fear. For Big Ten teams that aren’t totally overwhelmed by the 1-3-1 zone, they’ll be picked apart.

The one thing that Michigan has going for them, at least early on, is an easy schedule. The Wolverines don’t have a hard stretch until late January when they travel to Ohio State, host Indiana, then travel to Michigan State. Outside of that, this team doesn’t have any hard parts in their schedule. They’ll likely ride that to a high finish in the Big Ten and a high ranking in the NCAA tourney, but that’s a long way away.

6. Illinois

7. Purdue

I put these two together because they both have similar teams. Neither have played particularly hard schedules and the only losses have come to the ranked teams they’ve played. Illinois does have a win over Gonzaga, but it was a Gonzaga team that was ranked off reputation early in the season rather than based on talent.

For Illinois, Kenpom.com ranks them as having the 221st hardest schedule, or basically not a hard schedule. Things will get harder very quickly as they enter Big Ten play. They struggled mightily against Minnesota and things don’t get any easier. This team is about to fall hard on their face.

The reason I put Purdue lower, though, is I’m not sold on their team. They have the 212th hardest schedule, but have a star that Illinois doesn’t. Without Robbie Hummel, this team would be awful. Straight awful. It’s a credit to how good Hummel is and how far he’s come back after two ACL injuries.

All that being said, the drop-off from Michigan to Illinois/Purdue is very steep.

8. Minnesota

Few teams, if any, took a bigger hit early on in this season than Minnesota did when they lost Trevor Mbakwe seven games in. Despite that, Tubby Smith has these boys motivated and playing great. The only two losses was to Dayton in the game they lost Mbakwe and to Illinois in the Big Ten opener. Similar to Illinois and Purdue, the Gophers have played just the 209th hardest schedule. They haven’t faced a single ranked team and are certainly a benefit of the schedule. Considering three of their next four games come against teams I ranked higher than them, we’ll find out a lot about this Minnesota team in the near future.

9. Northwestern

This is your typical Northwestern team: beating the teams they should and losing to the teams they should. Their inability to make it to the NCAA tournament is often talked about and nothing really shows me this team will change that trend this year. Kenpom has them ranked as the 69th best team, which would leave them out of the tourney as of now. And considering the competition level they’ve faced (192nd SOS), they’ll likely struggle in the Big Ten.

10. Iowa

11. Nebraska

12. Penn State

Again, I clump these teams together because they are incredibly similar. Their records, respectively, are 8-6, 8-4, and 8-5. Kenpom ranks them 122nd, 126th, and 143rd, respectively. They are about as similar as can be. They are suck about the same.

The Nebraska merger into the Big Ten was entirely football related and it shows as they are and likely always will be the bottom-feeder of the conference in basketball.  Considering six of their first eight matches come against ranked teams, they’re going to get a very rude awakening in the Big Ten.

Waiting for them at the bottom, though, is Iowa and Penn State. The perennial bottom-feeders of the Big Ten will happily welcome another loser. Nothing tells me these teams will improve this year and the three of them are pretty interchangeable in the bottom. If anyone of these teams win more than about four or five matches in conference play, it’ll be a successful year.

Scott & Tony Adragna (@tonyadragna) host a postgame show on Spreecast.  They talk about the loss to Michigan State, why we have had a season long problem getting Cody the ball, and Jordan Hulls increased turnovers in the last few games.  They also look forward to our next few B1G games, and discuss why the game against Michigan now holds so much importance and if we will have another B1G slide.

You can watch the whole Show at : www.spreecast.com/events/msu-postgame

Or listen to the Audio on our podcast on via the audio player below.

Remember to subscribe to us on iTunes by clicking here & follow us on Twitter @CrimsonCast.

Michigan State Postgame Show [ 41:10 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (217)

Scott is  joined once again by Tony Adragna (@tonyadragna), IU Senior, contributor to IU Sport Com & co-creator of Hysterical Hoosiers (@hystericalIU).

Some of the topics they discuss are:

• IU’s current ranking
• Predict IU’s record in the B1G
• Why IU is such a good shooting team
• Why Cody Zeller is so important to this team
• How will we respond if Zeller gets in foul trouble
• How will injuries effect us & why Roth could be the key
• MSU Preview
• B1G standing predictions
• How long will Zeller stays at IU

Remember to subscribe to us on iTunes by clicking here & follow us on Twitter @CrimsonCast.

CrimsonCast 12.28.11 - MSU & B1G Preview [ 48:50 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (120)

Opponent: #16/#17  Michigan State Spartans 11-2

Last Meeting: The Spartans escaped what was probably Indiana’s best effort of the season with an 84-83 loss in East Lansing last year.

Last IU victory:  With the student section chanting Kelvin Sampson’s name, the Hoosiers defeated Michigan State 80-61 in the penultimate game of Sampson’s short IU career. Sampson was gone less then a week later and the slide to the worst run of IU basketball was just beginning.

Last IU victory in East Lansing:  February 28, 1991. It’s been more than 20 years since IU has beaten back Sparty on the road. One thing that made last year’s overtime loss so unique was that despite Tom Crean’s inability to win on the road, and despite IU’s complete inability to win at Michigan State,  the game last year was as close as the Hoosiers came to winning on the road.

So what can IU prove now? After a pre-conference run which even the most optimistic Hoosier fan predicted, the Hoosiers open up B1G Ten play a brand new set of questions to answer. Going into the season, the question was if IU could finally break .500 or perhaps even get back to the NCAA tournament. Now the question is if IU is truly one of the top teams in the country or if the 12-0 start is a product of an easy schedule.

I’ve already shown that I believe  the 12-0 start is certainly real, or at least as real as any other top team’s start. But no matter, skeptics remain.  If IU were to win even one of the first two games against either Michigan State or Ohio State, it would certainly quell many of the doubters. The brutal stretch at the beginning will allow the skeptics to grow louder if IU starts off 0-2 or 0-3 in the conference.  While some games probably only allow for negative conclusions to be drawn, this early stretch should really only allow IU to exceed expectations. Even if the Hoosiers  start out 0-3, the schedule begins to open up and it’s still quite likely that Indian reaches double digit wins in conference.  If the Hoosiers are able to come out of three game stretch with at least 2 wins, IU will have established itself as one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the B1G Ten.

The Cody Watch: Before the season, I pointed out that last year’s post player trifecta of Derek Elston, Tom Pritchard, and Bobby Capobianco combined for 258 points. Several Reader’s gave their best guess as to when Zeller would pass that mark this season.  So far the fair haired freshman leads the Hoosiers with 181 points. At his current rate, Zeller would pass the 258 point mark with his first 3 point play at Ohio State. (Game 18.)  While there have been other improvements for the Hoosiers this year, the fact that the post play has gone from terrible to terrific is reason #1 for the Hoosiers’ 12-0 record. Now we get to see how it holds up over a B1G Ten  season.

Stat to discuss while pondering if all mascots looked like Sparty, would IU fans still want a mascot Hoosier: 75.5  That’ Jordan Hulls true shooting percentage which currently leads the nation. The primer for true shooting percentage is here, but as anyone who has seen Hulls over the last 3 years can tell you, if it’s a shooting percentage of any usefulness, Hulls will rank pretty high.

Scouting Future Opponents

Ohio State also opens their conference season Wednesday night. The Buckeyes host Northwestern.

Michigan faces Penn State  at home on Thursday night.

Penn State coincidentally goes on the road to play Michigan on Thursday night

Prediction: I feared that I was too optimistic when I picked IU to win 10 games before the conference season, but it turns out that I didn’t give the Hoosiers quite enough credit. I don’t intend to make that mistake again. Just like against Kentucky, I’d love to say I see a sure path to victory. And it is useful to play Michigan State while the majority of the student body is on break. But unfortunately I can’t pick IU to win this one. I see IU leading with about 15 minutes left but Michigan State winning with a few backbreaking plays down the stretch. Michigan State wins 77-69.

As a band of walk on’s put the finishing touches on yet another blowout victory in Assembly Hall, I heard a familiar refrain from the dwindling group of IU doubters. “Big deal, they’d say. So you beat UMBC by 40, any decent team should be beating these cream puffs by 40 points.”  Even the staunchest Hoosier fans have at times worried whether this schedule was giving the Hoosiers a stern enough test to prepare the team for B1G Ten play. 

So I looked to see how IU’s schedule compared to the rest of the conference. And the first thing that jumped out at me was that IU has in fact played an easier schedule. According to the statsheet.com rpi rankings that accompany each team’s schedule, the Hoosiers’ average rpi of 220 is nearly 75 spots higher than the average B1G 10 school. According to the site’s formula, IU has played 9 teams with an RPI above 200. 

Still, I figured I should dig a little bit more. Looking at each B1G Ten squads opponents on Ken Pomeroy’s rankings, I noticed that IU had 1 game against a team in the top 25(Kentucky,) and 2 more against teams currently in the top 100(NC State and Notre Dame.)  This is actually pretty close to the Big Ten average of 1.25 top 25 opponent and 3.42 top 100 opponents.  IU had three games against a BCS conference opponent, which is just above the B1G Ten average of 2.92.  Further while every team has slummed down to pick up at least one win against an opponent ranked higher than 300, only Indiana and THE Ohio State University own wins against teams currently ranked in the top 10.

When I look at the various schedules,  a few things become apparent. Every team is slumming for at least a few of their wins. Even Wisconsin and Michigan State, who are perenially known for playing a difficult schedule, played 5 and 4 top 100 opponents respectively. Essentially every Big Ten team plays the same basic schedule. First there are  between 3 and 5 games against bigger name opponents. For IU these games were NC State, Butler, Kentucky, and Notre Dame.  Most then will play against 1 or 2 smaller schools from in state. Whether it’s Purdue playing Valpo, Indiana playing Evansville, or Ohio State playing Wright State, these games help keep the smaller schools happy, and usually result in a win.  The final 5 or6 games of every team’s pre-conference schedule are filled with the various branch campuses and oddly named schools that make up the Atlantic Sun, Metro Atlantic,Southern and other weak conferences. Whether it’s Howard or Stetson or Fairleigh Dickinson or Alcorn State or Stony Brook or SIU Edwardsville. The opponent is an opponent in name only. Really they’re just on the floor so that the B1G Ten school can charge money for admission and chalk up a victory.

So while perhaps IU’s creampuffs have been worse than other team’s cream puffs, it’s not as though any B1G Ten team should lose to a team from the MEAC or the MAAC. But what of the blowout victories, do those tell us anything?  Yes and No. Obviously a 50 point win over Howard won’t translate in any way when IU goes into the Breslin Center. But its worth noting that most B1G Ten schools have each been taken down to the wire by a small school.  Illinois barely defeated Cornell 64-60. Purdue had back to back squeekrs against High Point and Iona.  Michigan only has two wins this season by more than two touchdowns.  So blowing out a lesser opponent doesn’t really prove anything, but it beats the doubt that comes in with the alternative.

We’ll find out soon enough whether this 12-0 start is truly the beginning of an NCAA run, or if the team really has done nothing more than position itself to take the America East crown. But one way or another, the schedule coming in has allowed the Hoosiers to gain confidence and grow together as a team while giving them just a little taste of the talent level they’re going to see in the Big Ten. That’s pretty much the best you can hope for.

Final Score:
Indiana:   89
UMBC:      47

Another cupcake win turned out to be just that. Due to injuries, Indiana was without Derek Elston and Will Sheehey, and only got one half of Verdell Jones III. This didn’t stop the Hoosiers from doing what they do best, making it rain from deep.  Many high school teams could have beaten UMBC; not to discredit this win, but just saying matter-of-factly. This was a big win in a historical/statistical sense but I doubt this will win over the likes of the selection committee come March.

I don’t know if it was just me but was anyone else just kind of bored with this game? I mean don’t get me wrong, I enjoy watching Indiana kick the dog crap (pun intended) out of bottom feeders of the America East, but I would have almost rather this been a video game, so I could just simulate to the big games. I’m being somewhat greedy and selfish and I know these games have a lot bigger value than I give them credit for, but I come from a generation that desires instant gratification, so that’s my excuse. The fact that Indiana just tied its win total from last year in 11 less games and I still find a way to complain about something is my way of trying to stay humble through all of this.

Despite my personal issues with the game, the Hoosiers did put out another impressive performance on the court. Hulls, Watford, and Roth were unconscious in the second half. Victor was Victor. Zeller wasn’t clicking on all cylinders but at the end of the day he will get it done every single time out. I really liked in the second half when Coach Crean went to the bench, it didn’t skip a beat. If the Hoosiers are going to be without some key guys against Michigan State, the likes of Abell and Roth will have to step up huge. The sad part of this game is when Jordan snapped his free-throw streak at 58.

So its time to say goodbye to the non-conference schedule. It brought some unbelievable memories but some big questions still have yet to be answered. Will this team continue its success in the conference? Can IU finally win on the road in a hostile environment like Michigan State or Ohio State? Will Zeller be the same Zeller against the likes of Sullinger or Leonard or Green?

I hope you are as excited for conference play to start as I am.

Team Grade: A-

Looking Forward- Indiana’s first test in conference is a tough one. Next Wednesday, the Hoosiers will try to go into the heart of the Izzone and duplicate the way they played last year, except winning this time is mandatory.

Happy Holidays!

Scott is joined by Ben Heisler, former Sports Director at WIUX and currently a producer for MLB Network Radio on Sirus/XM Radio. Ben can also be found at The Honest Brew. They talk about:

• Why Albert Pujols’s contract could be considered a good deal
• Why the Angles will never be able to take over the LA market
• Why Victor Oladipo might be our best player
• Why beating Notre Dame was such a big win
• How Zeller can open up the court for us
• Why IUBB still scares us
• How will this team react to it’s first loss
• Should IU retire numbers
• B1G projections
• What the average sports fan thinks about IUBB

Remember to subscribe to us on iTunes by clicking here & follow us on Twitter @CrimsonCast.

CrimsonCast 12.20.11 - Ben from MLB Radio Network [ 39:30 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (757)

Final Score:
Indiana:  107
Howard:   50

Well that was….awesome.

Indiana came into the game as heavy favorites and pretty much did whatever it wanted to against this young Howard squad. The Bison were undersized and out played in just about every facet of the game. After the first TV timeout the score was 8-5. The next timeout came around and the score already was turning lopsided, at 22-10 in favor of the Hoosiers. Although this game was pretty much a guaranteed win coming in (KenPom gave IU a 99% chance to win this game), I was very impressed by the way this Hoosier team was able to stay focused throughout the whole game.

Howard filled the gym with defensive breakdowns and the Hoosiers were able to make them pay, pretty much every time. IU came into the game as the #1 three-point shooting team in the country. Apparently, that didn’t satisfy this team enough as the team went on to knock down a stellar 11-20 from behind the arc, improving their percentage. Two of which (Jordy’s left-handed three and Barnett’s “in-your-eye” three at the end), Hoosier Nation probably will never witness again.

Throughout the game, Crean was able to try a bunch of different lineups and sets out, which will be beneficial in the long run, especially in conference play. If he didn’t get to use everything he wanted, well, at least he has Thursday’s game to do it.

11-0 sounds all too sweet right now. From now on, each game at some point during the telecast the ’76 team will be brought up until they lose. This team has mountains to climb before you can truly start comparing the two teams. Except, for the fact both teams did start 11-0, so I guess that counts.

The true season starts after Christmas but you have to look at the body of work and be super impressed with the team Tom Crean has built. I wonder if the other B1G coaches have started to sweat yet, because this team is only going to get better.

Team Grade: A+ (I was scared to give them this, but I mean, come on, they won by 57.)

Looking Forward- IU will be home again on Thursday to wrap up the non-conference schedule before Christmas. Those feisty Retrievers from Maryland- Baltimore County will bring their 1-9 record into Assembly Hall hoping to start up a dog fight.

Thanks for reading my first column being a part of the CrimsonCast team. I am currently a sophomore at this great place they call Indiana University. I have been a Hoosier sports fan my entire life. Scott found me through my IU basketball blog “Five and Counting” that I have kept over the last year and a half. He asked me if I would write a post-game column on this website, and I gladly accepted. So this is the first installment of what will become hopefully an enjoyable read after each of IU’s games. Welcome to my mind and feel free to disagree with everything I say. 

Final Score:
Indiana:           69
Notre Dame:   58

Ugly can be beautiful. Perhaps, the team was still recovering from the hangovers they got from after the Kentucky win. Maybe Notre Dame’s sloppy play rubbed off on us. Regardless of the reason, the final score had us winning by 11 over an in-state opponent. Can’t be mad about that.

The inaugural Crossroads Classic wasn’t a “can’t-miss” but the Purdue-Butler game was definitely more entertaining than the Hoosiers’ game. After-all, watching Purdue choke away a 12-point lead can be almost as good as watching IU win.

As uneventful as a game this was, as a fan, you can take away a few big things. First, Coach Crean and “The Boys” obviously watched a lot of film on the Kentucky game during finals week and noticed how much they were missing Cody Zeller on the offensive end. I saw a consistent effort tonight on trying to get the freshman the ball and running our offense through him. He didn’t disappoint, with 21 points and 8 boards. Secondly, no matter how stagnant this team is at times, how eye-gouging their offensive can be, how many times Tom Pritchard gets called for phantom fouls, this team will be in every game they play because of their defense. They seriously are one of the most underrated defensive teams in the country.

I knit-pick about the offense, even though they are in the top ten nationally in numerous statistics, because what else is there to complain about. This team is 10-0. No one could see this coming before the season started. Well no one, that is, that isn’t a part of the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team. They believed in themselves and now that got all of Hoosier Nation believing as well.

Exciting times are in Bloomington and the non-conference season is coming to an end. They took another step into becoming the best team in the state and will be 12-0 (yes, they will win these next two games) heading into what will be a tough start to the B1G season. This team has shown that it can play with anybody in the country and I still feel they haven’t played their best basketball yet. This has me all sorts of giddy as I sit here repping my Errek Suhr/Danny Moore/Isiah Thomas jersey.

Team Grade (for the Notre Dame game) : B

Looking Forward - Indiana will be back in Assembly Hall on Monday against the Bison from Howard. I have a hunch the gym won’t be as packed as it was the last time the Hoosiers suited up at home.

See ya then. Go Hoosiers.