Indiana University Athletics
HOOSIERS PLAY BOWLING GREEN FOR INDIANA CLASSIC TITLE
12/12/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HOOSIERS PLAY BOWLING GREEN FOR INDIANA CLASSIC TITLE
GAME #12 FACTS: Bowling Green (5-2) vs. Indiana (9-2). Saturday (Dec. 12). Assembly Hall (17,357), Bloomington, Ind. Game time is 7 p.m. ET. Championship game of the 25th annual Indiana Classic. Grambling and Boise State play in the consolation game at 4:45 p.m.
GAME DATA: The Indiana Hoosiers try to win their 25th consecutive Indiana Classic title tonight as they play Bowling Green. The Hoosiers advanced to the championship game with a 90-66 victory over Boise State last night. IU comes into tonight's game with a 9-2 record.
TELEVISION: The Bowling Green game will be broadcast by ESPN RegionalNetwork. John Laskowski and Ted Kitchel call the action.
RADIO: Every IU game can be heard on the IU Radio Network. Don Fischer, Bob Hammel, Joe Smith and Norm Ellenberger call the action. The pregame fun begins 40 minutes prior to tipoff.
INDIANA HEAD COACH BOB KNIGHT. . . is college basketball's winningest active head coach with 729 victories (all games at the Division I level). He is just one of 12 NCAA coaches all time to have recorded 700 or more victories. He is in his 28th season as the Indiana head coach and has a record of 627-222 (.739). Knight is in his 34th season as a collegiate head coach and has an overall record of 729-272 (.728). Knight's record in Big Ten play is 334-138 (.708). He has led the Hoosiers to three NCAA titles (1976, 1981 and 1987) and a conference record 11 Big Ten Championships (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993). He was inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame in May of 1991. Knight is 2-0 vs. Bowling Green overall and at Indiana.
THE SERIES: Indiana and Bowling Green are meeting for the third time. The Hoosiers won the previous two meetings - 89-52 in 1977-78 and 78 67 in the championship game of the 1995 Indiana Classic. Both previous games have been played in Bloomington.
HOOSIERS VS. THE MAC: The Hoosiers are 54-10 against teams that are in the Mid-American Conference. The last time IU played a MAC team was Dec. 28, 1997 against Western Michigan (W, 70-63). Indiana's 23 games against Miami (O.) are the most for the Hoosiers against a MAC team.
HOOSIER IN THE POLLS: The Hoosiers are ranked 11th by ESPN/USA Today and Associated Press.
HOLIDAY CHEER: The Hoosiers have been a good team in December over the years. IU's record in the final month of the year since the 1990-91 season is 61-9 heading into tonight's game. That mark includes a 3-1 record this season and 9-0 in 1990-91 which is the best mark during this span.
INDIANA CLASSIC OPPONENT NOTES: Bowling Green is making its third appearance in the Indiana Classic. In the Falcons previous appearances they lost to Indiana and Princeton in 1977 but then defeated The Citadel before losing to Indiana in the 1995 tournament. Boise State and Grambling are making their first appearance in the tournament. Grambling did play in Indiana's other tournament, the Hoosier Classic, in 1982.
INDIANA CLASSIC HISTORY: Indiana has won the previous 24 Indiana Classics. Last year the Hoosiers defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay (72-58) and South Alabama (64-56) to win the title. Current Hoosiers Luke Recker and A.J. Guyton were named to the all-tournament team. Over the years this has been a tournament the Hoosiers have dominated as they have won the previous 49 games by an average of 24.8 points per game. Indiana's closest game in tournament history happened in the first round of the 1986 Classic when the Hoosiers defeated UNC-Wilmington 73-72. By contrast, the largest margin of victory was a 47-point victory over Central Michigan (99-52) in the championship game of the 1991 Classic. Indiana's margin of victory has been wide spread through tournament history. There have been five games decided by 40 or more points, six by 10 points or less, 13 by 11-20 points and 21-30 points and 11 by 31-40 points.
KNIGHT AGAINST FORMER ASSISTANT AND PLAYER DAKICH: This weekend marks the return of former IU player and assistant coach Dan Dakich to Assembly Hall. Dakich was at Indiana for 16 years and is in his second year at Bowling Green. Tonight's game is the third time this season Coach Knight has coached against a former assistant coach (Royce Waltman at Indiana State and Murry Bartow at UAB).
LAST GAME: (Indiana 90, Boise State 66): A.J. Guyton scored 26 points and William Gladness added 11 as Indiana bounced back from a overtime loss by defeating Boise State, 90-66, in the opener of the Indiana Classic. Luke Recker added 10 points and Rob Turner 9 for Indiana, which improved to 49-0 in the tournament it has hosted since 1974. Indiana, which rallied from a 9-point deficit in the final two minutes of regulation, only to lose in overtime to Kentucky on Tuesday, led just 26-20 with 7:28 to go in the first half. But the Hoosiers closed the half with a 20-10 run to break open the game. Roberto Bergersen scored 30 points for Boise State, which was coming off its biggest win of the season, a 69-61 upset of then 14th ranked Washington.
LAST NIGHT'S TOP PERFORMERS: Boise State's Roberto Bergersen was the top scorer with 30 while IU's A.J. Guyton had 26. Bowling Green's Anthony Stacey had 25 points and 6 rebounds. BG's Len Matela had 10 points and 11 rebounds while Grambling's Thomas Dodd had 16 points and 9 rebounds. Luke Recker and BG's Dave Esterkamp each had 4 steals.
COMEBACK KIDS: Indiana has had the ability to come back in games this season with great success. Indiana's last second victory over Temple was the fourth come-from-behind victory of the season. With 8:42 left, IU was down by 9 (52-43) and with 3:54 left, IU was 6 points down (56-50). They trailed by 19 at the half (45-26) to Indiana State and came back and won 76-70. They trailed by 18 (47-29) with 18:50 to play vs. Kansas State and won 71-70 and they trailed by 11 (45-34) with 17:03 to play vs. Notre Dame and won. IU was down by 9 with 68 seconds to play vs. Kentucky and managed to tie the game and send it into overtime.
GUYTON CLOSES IN ON 3-POINT RECORDS: A.J. Guyton has 157 career 3 pointers and needs 10 more 3-pointers to move into second place on the school's all-time 3-point field goal list (Damon Bailey is second with 166). His 379 3-point attempts is also third and he needs just 2 more to move into second place (Bailey's 380 is second). Brian Evans tops both lists at 186-456.
TOUGH SCHEDULE: The Hoosiers just finished a portion of their schedule where they played four games against nationally-ranked opponents in the last five contests. Those games were against No. 18 Utah, No. 19 Syracuse, No. 10 Temple and No. 5 Kentucky. The Hoosiers went 2-2 in those games.
WINS AND LOSSES: There have been some interesting differences in the 9 wins and 2 losses this season. IU has shot 46.4% in the wins but just 38.7% in the losses. The Hoosiers have also shot 39.1% in the victories and just 28.2% in the losses from 3-point range. IU's rebounding margin in the wins is +0.6 but in the losses it drops to -10.5. The Hoosiers also average 22.7 free throw attempts in the wins and just 12 in the losses.
FROM THE FIELD: The Hoosiers shot 53.8% vs. Boise State after shooting just 42.4% (75-177) in the three previous games. That effort broke a streak of 7 games under 50% for IU. It was also the third time this season IU has shot better than 50%. Indiana was the top shooting team in the Big Ten last season at 49.1% but comes into tonight's game shooting 45%. IU has still outshot their opponents 9 times and has won each of those games.
LONG RANGERS: IU has made only 9-31 3-point field goal in the last two games. IU has been under 36% from long range only three times this season. Indiana's 27 3-point attempts against Temple is a school record. The previous record was 25 vs. Iowa last year. The Hoosiers also tied a season-high with 9 3-pointers vs. the Owls.
CHARITY TOSSES: Indiana made a season-high 30-38 free throws last night after going just 12-18 from the line in the two previous games. In the three previous games, the Hoosiers had made only 27-45 (60%) free throws. Over the years one of Indiana's keys to success has been making more free throws than its opponents attempt. This year IU has made 161 but the opponents have attempted 169. The last three games have been most of that difference as IU has made 27 and the opponents have attempted 184.
BOARD REPORT: The Hoosiers have won the battle of the boards in two of the last three games which includes last night. IU has had 12.7 offensive rebounds in each of the last three games which is a season best. Indiana comes into tonight's game with a rebounding margin for the season of -1.3.
ASSIST ANGLE: The Hoosiers came back from a season-low 9 assists vs. Kentucky to post 18 vs. Boise State. Indiana had an assist on 64.6% of their field goals last season but are at 62.1% this year. Indiana has tallied more assists than their opponents 8 times this season. The Hoosiers have had only three games this season where they have had more turnovers than assists.
TURNOVER TALE: The Hoosiers are 7-2 when they commit the same or less number of turnovers. IU has averaged only 11 miscues per game in the last three contests which includes a season-low 10 vs. Kentucky. The Hoosiers have had less than 15 turnovers in each of the last six games and have averaged only 12.2 miscues per game during this stretch. This year the team is averaging 13.9 miscues per game. Last year it was 15.3 per game.
A STEAL OF A TIME: Indiana's defense has been good and one of those indicators is the team's total of 98 steals (8.9 per game). Last year the team averaged just over 7 a contest. Indiana has had six games in which it has registered at least 9 steals and four games in double figures.
ON THE DEFENSE: The Hoosiers held 8 opponents under 40% from the field last year but have already done this seven times this season. The only teams to shoot better than 40% were Seton Hall (40.3%), Syracuse (55.8%), Temple (42%) and Boise State (43.2%). The Hoosiers went through one stretch this season where they allowed no more than 10 field goals in six of seven consecutive halves (second half of Indiana State game through Utah game). Indiana has also allowed single figures in field goals in six halves. IU's opponents come into tonight's game shooting just 39.7% from the field.
POINT PRODUCTION BACK: Indiana scored 90 points last night after averaging just 64.3 ppg in the six previous games. Last night's total improved IU's season total to 72.9 points per game. Indiana has still managed to score over 80 three this season. When the Hoosiers do score 80 or more points it usually means a victory. During Coach Knight's 28 years the Hoosiers are 302-18 when scoring 80 or more, 141-4 when scoring 90 or more (as they did with a season-high 91 vs. UAB) and 44-0 when scoring 100 or more points.
BLOCK PARTY: Indiana tied a season-high with 5 blocks vs. Kentucky and had 3 last night. They had just 7 in the four previous games combined. Kirk Haston leads the team with 11. The Hoosiers are averaging 3.4 blocks per game after averaging 3.3 a year ago.
DID YOU KNOW... over the last eight years the Hoosiers have led the Big Ten in scoring? During this span IU has averaged 79.1 points per game in conference play and have finished in the top half of the league in scoring every season.
ONE OF THE TOPS IN THE NATION: During the 1990's Indiana has been one of the top teams in college basketball. The Hoosiers have won 214 games this decade which makes them one of only 13 teams to have won 200 or more games during this span.
BIG WINNERS: When the Hoosiers win they usually have a tendency to win big. Last season they won 13 games by 11 or more points and 19 contests by 6 or more points. This season the margin of victory stands at 12.3 points per game.
HOOSIERS IN ASSEMBLY HALL: The Hoosiers are 333-44 (.883) in Assembly Hall including a 199-37 (.843) record in Big Ten games. Since the beginning of the 1990-91 season the Hoosiers are 100-11 (.909) in Assembly Hall. Indiana is also 64-24 (.724) vs. ranked teams in the building. Indiana has also won 62 of its last 63 non-conference games in Assembly Hall dating back to 1984-85.
NEXT GAME: The Hoosiers have the week off for final exams and return to action next Sunday (Dec. 20) against San Francisco in Assembly Hall. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. The game will be on the ESPN Regional Network and can be heard on the IU Radio Network.
#11 DANE FIFE: Played well over the last four games as he has averaged 9.5 points (13-20 FGs, 5-9 3FGs) and 3.5 rebounds per game. . .8 points, 3 rebounds, career-high 5 assists vs. Boise State. . .10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals vs. Kentucky. . . made game-tying 3 to put that game into overtime. . .7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals vs. Temple. . .career-highs of 13 points (4-4 FGs, 2-2 3FGs), 7 rebounds at Notre Dame. . .8 points, 2 assists and a rebound vs. UAB. . .8 points, 2 assists vs. Seton Hall. . .tough, hard-nosed player. . .McDonald's All-American last season and Michigan's Mr. Basketball. . .father, Dan, and brother, Dugan, both played at Michigan.
#53 TOM GEYER: A walk-on to the program who is now eligible to play after redshirting last season. . .scored the first points of his career vs. UAB as he tallied 4 on a FG and was 2-2 from the line. . .also had an assist and 2 rebounds in the game in 4 minutes. . .did not score in 2 minutes vs. Kentucky. . .had an assist and a rebound in 3 minutes vs. Boise State.
#30 WILLIAM GLADNESS: Came off the bench to register 11 points vs. Boise State. . .4 points, 4 rebounds vs. Kentucky. . .4 points, 6 rebounds vs. Temple. . .7 points, 5 rebounds at Notre Dame. . .averaged team-highs of 14.3 points, 10.7 rebounds per game in Maui. . .career-highs of 24 points and 7 steals to go along with 10 rebounds vs. Syracuse. . .that was his third double-double of the season (and fifth of his career). . .13 points and tied a career-high with 14 rebounds vs. K-State. . .career-high 5 assists vs. Seton Hall. . .has 19 steals. . . had 7 steals vs. Syracuse which tied for the third-highest single game total in school history. . .37% (29 of 76) of his rebounds have been on the offensive glass.
#25 A.J. GUYTON: Season-high 26 points (10-14 FGs, 3-5 3FGs), 5 rebounds vs. Boise State. . .15 points, 5 rebounds, season-high 3 steals vs. Kentucky. . .8 points, which included game-winning 3, vs. Temple. . .was just 1-9 from the field before making two 3's to help the Hoosiers win. . .season best 6 assists vs. Utah. . .25 points (season-high 5 3FGs) vs. K State. . .team-high 21 points and a season-high 6 rebounds vs. UAB. . .made 8-11 FGs and 4-4 3FGs in the game. . .23 points (9-12 FGs, 3-4 3FGs) vs. Seton Hall. . .preseason All-American. . . good perimeter player who is as good driving to the basket as well as outside shooting. . .second on team with 32 assists. . .became the 34th player in school history to register 1,000 or more points earlier this season. . .now has 1,152 career points which is 27th on the all-time IU list. . .Quinn Buckner is next on the list at 1,195.
#35 KIRK HASTON: Redshirted last season and has been a solid player along the frontline. . .started vs. BSU but had just 4 points and a rebound in 11 minutes. . .6 points, 5 rebounds and a season-high tying 3 blocks vs. Kentucky. . .12 points, team-high 9 rebounds in 29 minutes vs. Temple. . .second double-double of the season with 10 points, 10 rebounds vs. Utah. . .has scored in double figures six times. . .10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists vs. UAB. . .career-highs of 18 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks vs. ISU. . .17 points, 8 rebounds in 27 minutes vs. Seton Hall. . .10 points and 5 rebounds vs. USC. . .a good passer, he has 13 assists. . . possesses good hands and makes good decisions. . .Knight called him one of the most improved players last season.
#12 LUKE JIMENEZ: Good outside shooter. . .excellent ball handler who has a knack for not turning the ball over (38 TO's in 765 career minutes). . .1 point, 1 rebound vs. BSU. . .0 points, 2 assists in 8 minutes vs. Kentucky. . .3 points, 3 assists vs. Temple which included the pass to Guyton on the game-winning shot. . .did tied season-high with 3 assists vs. K-State in the second half as the Hoosiers came from 16 points down to win. . .5 points, career-high 5 rebounds and a season best 3 assists vs. UAB. . .season-high 6 points vs. ISU. . .played a key role in IU's comeback in that game with his ballhandling and defense.
#24 MICHAEL LEWIS: 7 points, 3 assists vs. BSU in 19 minutes. . .did not score in 13 minutes vs. Kentucky. . .played a season-low 8 minutes vs. Temple and had 3 points and 2 assists. . .came off the bench to have 7 points and a season-high 7 assists at ND. . .7 points, 3 assists vs. Utah in a season-high 37 minutes. . .season-high 11 points, 3 assists vs. K-State. . .registered 6 points (2-2 3FGs) vs. USC to go along with a team-high 5 assists and 3 rebounds. . .led the Hoosiers in assists last season with 150 which included a school record-tying 15 at Iowa. . .leads team with 36 assists.
#43 JARRAD ODLE: Career-high 5 rebounds and a point vs. Boise State. . .2 points in 6 minutes vs. Kentucky. . .2 points, 1 rebound in first career start vs. Temple. . .4 rebounds in a career-high 24 minutes at Notre Dame. . .played well in Maui off the bench. . .key player in IU's comeback victory over K-State with his defense. . .tied a career-high with 6 points vs. Utah. . .. . .career high of 6 points vs. UAB. . .good competitor who has good hands and is not afraid to shoot. . .will also look to score.
#10 ANTWAAN RANDLE EL: Indiana's starting quarterback who joined the basketball team in Maui. . .broke the first metacarpal bone in his right hand in practice Nov. 28 and is out of action for three more weeks.
#4 LUKE RECKER: Indiana's leading scorer (16.4). . .10 points, season-high tying 4 steals and 3 rebounds vs. Boise State. . .team-high 18 points (7-14 FGs, 3-7 3 FGs) vs. Kentucky. . .team-high 15 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists vs. Temple. . .season-high 27 points (8-18 FGs, 5 10 3FGs) at ND. . .now has four 20+-point games this season. . .23 points, 7 rebounds vs. ISU. . .scored 15 points in the second half of that game as the Hoosiers came back to win. . .team-high 22 points, team-high tying 5 assists and another team-high 4 steals vs. USC. . .leads team in FT-FTA with 38-52. . .hard-nosed player who is a crowd favorite among the Indiana faithful.
#33 LARRY RICHARDSON: Season-highs 8 points and 5 rebounds plus a career-high 3 blocks vs. Boise State. . .0 points in 8 minutes vs. Kentucky. . .DNP vs. Temple. . . . . .played only 14 minutes in Maui and scored 1 point against K-State and Syracuse. . .2 points, 3 rebounds in 14 minutes vs. UAB. . .played 10 minutes in the first two games. . .did have an assist in 8 minutes vs. USC.
#23 ROB TURNER: Season-highs of 9 points and 6 rebounds vs. Boise State in first start of the season. . .2 points, season-high tying 4 rebounds vs. Kentucky. . .4 points, 2 assists in 17 minutes vs. Temple. . .tied season high with 6 points (2-4 3FGs) and had a season best 3 assists vs. Syracuse. . .season best 2 steals vs. K-State. . . season highs of 6 points, 4 rebounds in 17 minutes vs. UAB.
#44 LYNN WASHINGTON: 5 points, 2 rebounds vs. BSU. . .4 points, 4 rebounds
and a block vs. Kentucky. . .5 points, 4 rebounds in 17 minutes vs. Temple.
. .interior defense in that game helped IU win down the stretch . . .best
game in the islands came vs. K-State as he had 2 points and tied a season
best with 6 rebounds. . .season-high 8 points vs. ISU in 14 minutes. . .4
points, 4 rebounds in just 15 minutes vs. SHU. . .had 7 points and 6 rebounds
(4 on the offensive end) vs. USC in 18 minutes. . .strong, physical player
who is aggressive going to the basket.
©Indiana University Athletics, 1998
