Hoosiers Face Spartans In Big Ten Tournament On Thursday Night

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The postseason begins on Thursday night when No. 7 seed Indiana faces No. 10 seed Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. ET live on BTN Plus and FS Indiana Plus.

No. 7 Indiana (16-13) vs. No. 10 Michigan State (17-12)
Thursday, March 1, 2018 • 6:30 p.m. ET
Bankers Life Fieldhouse • Indianapolis, Ind.
Broadcast: FS Indiana Plus | BTN Plus (Lisa Byington, Christy Winters Scott, Vera Jones)
Radio: WHCC 105.1 FM (Greg Murray)
Live Stats: Gametracker
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

ABOUT THE COACHES
Indiana
Teri Moren
Career Record: 273-181 (15th Season)
Indiana Record: 74-51 (4th Season)

Michigan State
Suzy Merchant
Career Record: 442-240 (23rd Season)
Michigan State Record: 242-120 (11th Season)

SERIES HISTORY
Michigan State leads 46-27

LAST MEETING
1/20/18 - W, 69-65 (East Lansing, MI)

ABOUT THE SPARTANS
Michigan State won three of its last four to close out the regular season including a win on Sunday at Purdue, 82-68. They are led by redshirt sophomore Shay Colley, who returned from injury on Feb. 14, with 11.0 points per game. Senior guard Branndias Agee adds 10.3 ppg., and junior forward Jenna Allen contributes 10.2 ppg. and 4.9 rpg. The Spartans are scoring 73.7 points per game while shooting 42.5 percent from the floor.

BUSS, CAHILL AND PENN HONORED BY BIG TEN
Senior guard Tyra Buss, senior forward Amanda Cahill and freshman guard Jaelynn Penn were all honored by the Big Ten in the annual postseason awards announced on Monday. Buss earned her third-straight All-Big Ten first team selection while Cahill also earned her third-straight All-Big Ten second team distinction. Both earned nods from the coaches and the media, with Buss coming in as a unanimous selection on the first team by the coaches. Penn earned All-Freshman team honors, the first IU freshman since 2014 to earn a spot on the team.

PREVIOUSLY WITH THE SPARTANS
Meeting for the third time this season on Thursday, Indiana and Michigan State split the regular season series with each team winning on the road. The Spartans took the 68-48 Big Ten opener meeting on Dec. 28 while Indiana came away with a 69-65 victory in East Lansing for the first win on the road since 2009.

STREAK SET AT EIGHT
Indiana tied the longest win streak in Big Ten play in school history with eight consecutive wins from Jan. 20-Feb. 24. IU won eight-in-a-row in the 1982-83 seasons and also marked the longest win streak under fourth-year head coach Teri Moren.

FOR THREEEEE
The Hoosiers have combined for 25 3-pointers in the last two games while shooting 51.0 percent from beyond the arc. Leading the way during that stretch are Buss (10) and Cahill (6).

PUSH FOR THE POSTSEASON
The Hoosiers will look to boost its resume in the Big Ten Tournament this weeks, with the chance of its third-straight postseason on the line. It would mark the first time in the program's 46th year that they have made the postseason for three-straight seasons.

THAT SCHEDULE IS TOUGH
The Hoosiers are playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation, which is currently eighth in Division I. They have faced six ranked opponents this season, including four of their first seven games in Big Ten play. Of those four league foes, they met three of those on the road. In addition, Indiana has three top 50 RPI wins - Western Kentucky (41), Rutgers (43) and Minnesota (46),The Hoosiers are sitting at No. 54 in the latest RPI.

MORE RECORDS TO BREAK
With six school records already broken, senior guard Tyra Buss still has potential to break one more record before her career is over. She broke the school record for assists and 3-pointers attempted in Saturday's game at Iowa while also holding records in points scored, free throws made, free throws attempted and steals. The seventh school record in her sights in the 3-pointers made record as she has scored 190 in her career. She is second all-time currently in the category and needs 17 to break the all-time record held by

Category (Number To Break Record)
3-pointers made - 17

600 X 3
Buss also became the first player in school history on Saturday to score 600 points in three-straight seasons. She has now scored 603 points this season and has potential to pass her personal best scoring season of 620 points which she set as a sophomore in 2015-16.

CAHILL MAKES HER MARK
Senior Amanda Cahill has also etched name into IU's record books in her final season in Cream and Crimson. She became the third player to record 1,000 rebounds along with Denise Jackson (1,273) and Whitney Thomas (1,090) to reach the career milestone. She's just the second-ever player to record over 1,700 points and 1,000 rebounds. She ranks seventh all-time in scoring (1,746), third all-time in rebounds (1,057), third in all-time double-doubles (39) and seventh in blocks (121). She is also seventh amongst all active Division I players in rebounds.

PENN PUTS UP POINTS
Freshman guard Jaelynn Penn continues to put up solid numbers for Indiana in her freshman season. She has posted 12 games in double digits this season including 13 points in the season finale at Iowa. The Louisville, Ky. native is averaging 10.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in her freshman season. She ranks sixth in points per game amongst all Big Ten freshmen, tied for third in steals (1.1), sixth in rebounding and tied for sixth in assists (2.2). She is a two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week selection as she picked up honors in back-to-back weeks on Jan. 22 and Jan. 29 while starting every game for Indiana this season.

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Hoosiers Face Spartans In Big Ten Tournament On Thursday Night

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Players Mentioned

Tyra Buss

Amanda Cahill

Jaelynn Penn