Indiana University Athletics
Release Notes
12/30/1997 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Release Notes
WINNING WAYS: Indiana enters today's game with a six-game winning streak which is its longest of the season. The modest streak is also the longest since last year's eight-game streak which happened at the end of the non-conference slate and the first game of the Big Ten season. The Hoosiers have also won eight of their last nine games.
CHART WATCHING: A.J. Guyton is now seventh on IU's all-time 3-point attempt list with 211 (Greg Graham is sixth with 246). Guyton also needs 26 3-pointers to move into seventh on that all-time list and surpass Steve Alford who had 107. Andrae Patterson now has 1,078 career points which is 30t h on the all-time scoring list. He needs 18 to move into 29th place and pass Daryl Thomas. Over the weekend Patterson surpassed the 100 career games mark. The senior has now played in 101 with 82 starts.
NICE TO BE AT HOME: Indiana has played all across the country this season with stops in Philadelphia, Birmingham, Honolulu, Indianapolis (twice) and Oakland. The round trips to all five of of these cities from Bloomington comes close to 18,000 miles. Today's game is only the fifth of the season for IU.
HOLIDAY CHEER: The Hoosiers have usually played well in December. IU's record in December since the 1990-91 season stands at 58-8 heading into today's game. That mark includes a 7-1 record this season and 9-0 in 1990-91 which is the best record of the month during this span.
COMEBACK KIDS: The victory over Western Michigan marked the fourth time this season the Hoosiers have overcome a halftime deficit and won the game. Last year IU was 4-9 when trailing at the half but this season they are now 4-1. This record also includes wins over UAB, South Alabama and San Francisco.
FROM THE FIELD: The Hoosiers have failed to reach the 50% mark in the last five games (127-279, 45.5% during this span) after shooting better than 50% in the four previous games (128-231, 55.4%) for the first time since 1993-94. Recently, Indiana has been a good second half team as they have shot 50% or better in the second half of each of the last nine games. The Hoosiers shooting percentage stands at 48.6% coming into today's game. That mark is still well above last season's 43.8% team mark. Three Hoosiers P Rob Turner (56.6%), William Gladness (51.5%) and Luke Recker (54.3%) P are shooting at least 50% from the field. The Hoosiers have shot 49.7% (255-513) in their victories but just 44.7% (68-152 ) in the losses. Last season the Hoosiers shot better than 50% only three times but have done so four times already this year.
SECOND HALF SHOOTING: As mentioned previously, the Hoosiers' shooting has been much better during the second half. IU has shot better than 50% in each of the last nine games. During this span the Hoosiers are shooting 56% (126-225).
CHARITY TOSSES: Indiana broke a three-game sub-70% stretch from the line by making 16-18 (88.9%) against Western Michigan. That total was the second best of the season. Indiana's season-high is 94.1% (16-17) against Northeast Louisiana and that mark ties for the 10th best in school history. Indiana was one of the top free throw shooting teams in the nation last season finishing second at 76.6%. The Hoosiers come into tonight's game at 71.7%. Andrae Patterson is the top player at 33-39 (84.6%). In the their victories IU has made 161 free throws while the opponents have attempted 143. In the losses the opponents have almost twice as many attempts (56) as IU does free throws (32).
THREE-POINTERS: The Hoosiers had their worst 3-point shooting game of the season against Western Michigan as they made only 2-14 (14.3%). IU is only 5-24 (20.8%) in the last two games. Indiana has failed to shot at least 40% in a game in five of the last six contests. The Hoosiers did not even attempt a 3-point shot in the second half of the SW Missouri State game. Indiana is shooting 34.5% on the season. Rob Turner is the top long range shooter at 14-35 (40%). A.J. Guyton leads the team with 26 treys and he, Turner and Luke Recker have combined to make 51 of the Hoosiers 59 3-pointers. IU is shooting 43.1% in the losses but 30.8% in the victories.
THE BOARD REPORT: Indiana has been grabbing some rebounds lately. The Hoosiers have averaged 41.5 boards per game in the last two contests. That was the first time this has happened since the first and second games of the year. Indiana's rebounding margin is +3.2. IU has now had 40+ rebounds five times. The Hoosiers have held an edge in rebounding in seven games. The two 40 efforts came on the heels of a season-low 25 vs. USF.
ASSISTS ANGLE: IU has averaged 20.3 assists per game over the last three contests (after averaging 15 pg in the two previous games). This includes 20 vs. USF and 22 vs. SMSU. The Hoosiers have registered 20 or more assists five times this season. The Hoosiers have averaged 19.9 in the last nine games after an average of just 11.7 in the first three games. Taking care of the ball has been a good barometer for Indiana success this season. In the victories they have 176(19.5) assists but just 38 (12.7) in the losses. Indiana's assists to turnovers ratio (214-188) is at its highest mark of the season.
TURNOVER TALE: The Hoosiers have been taking care of the ball as they have averaged just 13 turnovers per game in the last five contests. This stretch includes a season-low 10 vs. UW-Green Bay. This average is below the season average 15.7 per game. In the victories the Hoosiers have turned the ball over 127 times (14.1 tpg) while in the losses that number inflates to 61 (20.3 tpg). Indiana has registered eight games this season in which the assists have outnumbered the turnovers (happened only 5 times last season).
BLOCK PARTY: The Hoosiers have 48 blocks this season but 43 of those have come in the victories. The Hoosiers have 12 in the last three games after averaging 5 a contest in the previous two games. Andrae Patterson (13) leads the team.
MAKING THE STEAL: Indiana has averaged 10.8 steals per game over the last four games which includes a season-high 16 against SMSU. That was the fourth time this season IU has been in double figures in steals. The 16 steals ties for the fifth-highest mark in school history. IU has 90 (10 spg) steals in the victories but just 13 (4.3 spg) in the losses.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: The Hoosiers have held four opponents under 40% (accomplished this 13 times last year in 33 games). The opponents are shooting just 42.3% coming into today's game. In the victories, Indiana has held the opponents to 41.7% from the field and forced them into 164 turnovers which includes an opponents season-high 25 by USF. By contrast in the losses, the opponents are shooting 43.8% and have turned the ball over 39 times.
GET AHEAD, STAY AHEAD: This year the Hoosiers are 4-1 while leading at halftime, 4-1 when trailing and 0-1 when tied. The Hoosiers are usually good at holding onto a lead as they are 22-2 in the last 24 games in which they led at the half over the last two seasons.
MARGIN MATERIAL: Each of Indiana's wins this season have been by at least 7 points. The average margin of victory is 14.1 ppg while the loss margin stands at 8.7. Only four of the Hoosiers' games this season has been decided by less than 10 points P at Temple (-6), vs. Kentucky (-3), vs. South Alabama (+8) and vs. Western Michigan (+7).
SCORING SOME POINTS: The Hoosiers enter tonight's game averaging 74.8 points per game. Indiana averages 78.7 ppg in the wins but just 63.3 ppg in the losses. After averaging 64.5 ppg in victories over USA and USF, the Hoosiers averaged 74 ppg in last weekend's victories. Indiana's season-high was 103 vs. Northeast Louisiana in the final game in Hawai'i. The 103 points was the first time the Hoosiers had eclipsed the century mark since Dec. 29, 1995 when they also scored 103 points against Appalachian State (span of 56 games). The Hoosiers scored over 90 points only twice last year in 33 games but have already matched this number through 12 games.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES: Indiana has led the Big Ten in scoring over the last seven years with a average of 79.9 points per game.... As strange as it might sound, no Indiana player has ever recorded a triple-double.
WINNING PROGRAM: The Hoosiers have had 27 consecutive winning seasons. Every Coach Knight team at IU has had a winning season. During Knight's tenure in Bloomington, Indiana is the only school in the Big Ten to register an overall winning record each year. Along those same lines with 9 conference victories last year, the Hoosiers have 24 (out of 26) non-losing conference seasons during Knight's tenure.
ONE OF THE NATION'S ELITE: Indiana is one of the top schools in the country during the 1990's. Entering the season, IU ranks 12th among all teams during this span with a 72.4 winning percentage.
HOOSIERS IN ASSEMBLY HALL: All-time in Assembly Hall the Hoosiers are an impressive 323-42 (.884) including a 193-35 (.846) record in Big Ten games. Since the beginning of the 1990-91 season the Hoosiers are 90-9 (.909) in Assembly Hall. Indiana is 61-22 (.735) against ranked teams in Assembly Hall.
NEXT UP: The Hoosiers play Saturday at Illinois. Tipoff is set for 2:30 p.m. (ET)/1:30 p.m. (CT). The game will be televised on the ESPN-Plus Regional Network which includes WTTV Ch. 4 in Indianapolis.
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