IU Set for Minnesota

1/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

January 24, 2005

Bloomington, Ind. - Indiana will be playing its first game on the road in nearly two weeks, when the Hoosiers travel to Minnesota (13-5, 3-2 Big Ten) on Jan. 26 at 9 p.m. EST. The game will be played in Williams Arena (14,625) in Minneapolis, Minn.
meeting between Minnesota and Indiana, and the Hoosiers currently own an 84-60 advantage in the series, including wins in three of the last five consecutive contests. The Golden Gophers took the last meeting between the two schools, with a 73-71 win in Bloomington (Feb. 18, 2004).

Indiana head coach Mike Davis has an all-time record of 3-3 against the Golden Gophers, including an 86-81 decision in the Hoosiers' last trip to Minneapolis.

Scouting Minnesota
Minnesota (13-5, 3-2 Big Ten) enters the Indiana game having won 11 of its last 13 contests. However, the Golden Gophers have dropped two of their last three contests, most recently falling at home to Michigan State, 69-55, on Dec. 22. Minnesota also dropped a game at Iowa (66-60) on Jan. 15, which snapped a 10-game win streak.
The Golden Gophers enter the game against the Hoosiers with two players averaging double figures. Junior guard Vincent Grier who averages a team-high 16.5 points and 5.3 rebounds. Jeff Hagen is the only other Minnesota player to average double figures, coming in with 11.7 points, while also collecting 4.9 boards - both numbers rank second on the team. Senior guard Aaron Robinson leads the team with 2.8 assists per game, while freshman guard Rico Tucker has a team-best 39 steals.
The Golden Gophers are one of the quickest teams in the Big Ten, leading the conference with 10.22 steals per game.

The Series vs. Minnesota
Wednesday's contest marks the 145th meeting between Minnesota and Indiana. The Hoosiers currently own an 84-60 advantage in the series, including taking wins in three of the last five consecutive contests. However, the Golden Gophers won the last meeting in the series, sneaking a 73-71 win out of Bloomington on Feb. 18, 2004. It marked Minnesota's first win at Assembly Hall since capturing a 96-91 decision on March 1, 1997. IU snapped a five-game losing streak in its last trip to Williams Arena, taking an 86-81 win on Jan. 24, 2004. It was just the Hoosiers' second win at Williams Arena since 1994.
Below is a look at a few facts between the two rivals:
SERIES FACTS
Last Meeting: Minnesota 73, Indiana 71 (Bloomington on 2/18/04)
Indiana at Home: 54-18
Indiana at Minnesota: 30-42
IU vs. UM on Neutral Court: 0-0
Last Indiana Win: 86-81 (OT) (1/24/04)
Last IU Win At Minnesota: 86-81 (OT) (1/24/04)
Last Minnesota Win: 73-71 (2/18/04)
Last Minnesota Win At Indiana: 73-71 (2/18/04)
Most Points IU Scored vs. Minnesota: 105 (W, 105-104 1/27/62)
Most Points Minnesota Scored vs. IU: 108 (W, 108-89 1/28/90)
Current Overall Streak: Minnesota W1 (L1 at home)

Boarding Strickland
A key to an Indiana victory may lie in reboudning from the guard position, in particular Marshal Strickland's rebounding. In the Hoosiers' 67-60 win over Ohio State, the Winfield, Md., native collected six boards. In the nine IU wins, Strickland averages 4.1 rebounds, while in seven losses, he only grabs an average of 2.3 rebounds per contest. In fact, Strickland has only grabbed 14 boards in seven losses, compared to 37 rebounds in nine victories.

White Hot
Indiana freshman D.J. White leads the team and ranks fifth in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (.588). This is the best single-season effort by a Hoosier since Alan Henderson shot .595 in 1994-95. It is also on pace to be the third-best single-season freshman effort in IU lore.
White has been more productive in Big Ten games, hitting .667 (26-of-39) from the floor. This is tied for the league lead with Purdue's Carl Landry and is the best effort by a Big Ten player since the Boilers' Steve Scheffler hit .767 (115-of-150) in 1990.

Wright-ing The Ship
Bracey Wright's second half performance against Ohio State is a perfect example of the way he has carried the Hoosiers over the last eight contests. The Colony, Texas, native scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half in IU's 67-60 victory over the Buckeyes. With the Hoosiers down 37-35, Wright scored 12 consecutive points over a stretch of four minutes, to give his team a 47-44 advantage with just over 11 minutes remaining. In fact, in second half alone this season in games Indiana has won, Wright is scoring 13.2 points of his 19.1 points per game average.

Double Figure Streak Still Going
Indiana freshman D.J White has now reached double figures in 10 consecutive games dating back to the Missouri contest and 13 of 16 games this season. He is approching the single-season record for freshman who score in double figures for consecutive games and total games in a season. Below is a look at both records:
Consecutive Games
Mike Woodson (1976-77) 18
Bracey Wright (2002-03) 14
Jay Edwards (1987-88) 14
Calbert Cheaney (1989-90) 13
Jarred Jeffries (2000-01) 12
Season Total
Jared Jeffries(2000-01) 29
Calbert Cheaney (19889-90) 27
Bracey Wright (2002-03) 25
Isiah Thomas (1979-80) 24
Steve Alford (1983-84) 23

Charity Stripe
A key for the Hoosiers four-game win streak is the second-half free throw shooting. In each of the nine Indiana wins this season, the Hoosiers are shooting .780 from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes. IU is 124-of-159 in the second stanza, which breaks down it an average of 13.8-of-17.7 attempts.

Heating Up
The Hoosiers began the campaign with a 2-6 record, with the sixth setback (Dec. 22 against Charlotte) resulting in a desperation buzzer beater to down the Hoosiers, 74-73. However, IU has since won seven of its last eight contests, including four consecutive Big Ten victories. Much of the success can be attributed to the defensive performance. In the last eight games alone, Indiana has allowed opponents to shoot just .378 from the floor and .299 from behind the arc. In comparison through the first eight games, the Hoosier defense allowed .417 from the floor and .365 from three-point range. Over the eight-game span, Indiana has won by an average of 4.9 points (67.2-62.4, shot an impressive .452 from the floor and has collected 47 blocks compared to just 16 for its opponents.

Three Amigos
Over the last four contests, Bracey Wright, D.J. White and Robert Vaden have been proving a tough trio to stop. Over that span, they have combined for 197 of the team's 278 points. That equates to 49.3 of the team's 69.5 points per game average or 71 percent of the team's scoring. Most importantly, the Hoosiers are 4-0 during that stretch.

Home Sweet Home
With a victory over Ohio State on Saturday, the Hoosiers are now 7-3 at Assembly Hall this season. Additionally, IU is shooting .410 from the floor and outscoring their opponents by an average margin of 3.6 points (64.1-60.5).
The win moves the program to only four wins shy of reaching the program's 400th victory in the facility. In its 33rd year of service for the men's basketball team, IU has an all-time record of 396-63, which averages out to 12 wins and just 1.7 losses annually.

Shooters Warming Up
Indiana has been one of the better shooting teams in the Big Ten over its last eight contests. Over that period, the Hoosiers have shot .453 from the field and have a record of 7-1. In addition, IU has averaged .480 (83-of-173) from the floor in the second stanza during the span.
Through the first nine games this season, IU was able to reach the 40 percent mark for field goal percentage in only three halves. However, since then, the Hoosiers have accomplished the feat in 17 of the last 22 halves, including scorching the nets for a season-high 59.1 percent in the second half against Northwestern.

The Wright Stuff
Junior guard Bracey Wright continues to show why he is considered one of the top players in not only the Big Ten, but in the country. Recently coming off his eighth 20-point performance this season and 30th of his career in the, 67-60, win over Ohio State on Jan. 22, Wright continues to lead the Big Ten in scoring with 19.1 points per game. The last Hoosier to lead the Big Ten in scoring was Kirk Haston who did so in 2001 (20.3 ppg). In fact, over his last eight contests, Wright has averaged 21.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, while shooting .429 (51-of-119) from the floor and .797 (55-of-69) from the charity stripe. During that span, IU has gone 7-1.

Tough Tandem
Junior guard Bracey Wright and freshman center D.J. White are proving that they can be a tough tandem for opponents to deal with. Over the last four contests, all Indiana wins, the twosome have averaged 38.0 points and 12.1 rebounds. On the season, the duo combines for 32.1 points, which is tied with Purdue's Carl Landry (18.4) and David Teague (13.7) for the best combination in the Big Ten, and 10.6 rebounds per contests.

Comeback Kids
After not coming back from a halftime deficit to win a game on 17 consecutive occasions, the Hoosiers have now done so in two of the last three games against Purdue (Jan. 15) and Michigan (Jan. 19). It marked the first time since the EA Sports Maui Invitational on Nov. 26 and 27, 2002 that Indiana has won consecutive games despite trailing at the half. On Nov. 26, 2002, Indiana trailed Gonzaga, 36-35 before coming back to win, 76-75. On Nov. 27, the Hoosiers trailed Virginia, 33-32 at intermission before coming back to win the EA Sports Maui Invitational title.

Freshmen Fab Four
The freshmen class has lived up to its billing during the 2004-05 season. D.J. White, Robert Vaden, A.J. Ratliff and James Hardy are showing why they were each highly recruited coming out of high school. In four Big Ten games, the foursome has averaged 34.4 of the Hoosiers' 66.0 points and 16.1 of the 31.0 rebounds per game. Those numbers account for 52 percent of both the scoring and rebounding.
They are also found among the leaders among freshmen in the Big Ten stats. As of Jan. 22, D.J. White led all freshmen in scoring (13.0), blocked shots (2.12) and field goal percentage (.588) and ranks second in rebounds (5.1). Vaden leads freshmen in free throw percentage (.865), second in steals (157) and third in scoring (9.8) and rebounding (4.8). Ratliff was also seen throughout the freshmen stats, leading in three-point percentage (.444), sixth in rebounding (3.2) and ninth in scoring (5.6). Overall, a Hoosier freshman is in the top three in every category except for assists.

Ratliff Doing It All
Freshman guard A.J. Ratliff is proving to be one of the top newcomers in the Big Ten. Against rival Purdue, the Indianapolis, Ind., native had possibly his most complete game of his career with seven points, six boards and a career-best four blocks in the Hoosiers' double overtime victory. Ratliff is the first IU guard to have at least four blocks in a game since Greg Graham achieved the feat with four swats against Texas A&M on Dec. 28, 1989. Thus far through five Big Ten games, Ratliff is averaging 8.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and .529 (9-of-17) from three-point range.

Freshmen Taking Over
The Hoosiers have arguably one of the top freshmen classes in the nation. D.J. White, Robert Vaden and A.J. Ratliff are key reasons why Indiana has won seven of its last eight contests. Each player started the eight games and combined to average 30.9 points and 14.3 rebounds on the campaign. This effort accounts for 46 percent of the team's scoring and 44 percent of the rebounding.

Deja vu?
After winning in 62-53 over Michigan last Wednesday, the Hoosiers improve their record to 4-1 in Big Ten play. It marks the third consecutive season IU has had four wins through its first five conference games.

One, Two, Three...CHARGE!
For the season, Indiana has drawn 25 charges for an average of 1.6 per game. A.J. Ratliff and Patrick Ewing lead the team with five drawn charges, while Ryan Tapak has four charges on the year. Below is a breakdown of which players have drawn offensive charges on the season:
Name Charges Drawn
A.J. Ratliff 5
Pat Ewing 5
Ryan Tapak 4
Sean Kline 3
Errek Suhr 2
Bracey Wright 2
Mark Johnson 1
Mike Roberts 1
Rod Wilmont 1
Robert Vaden 1
Totals 25

Did You Know...
Below is a few things to take into consideration over the last several games for Indiana:
 Mike Davis has a penchant for kicking the new year off in winning fashion. During his head coaching career, he has a 26-12 (.684) record in the month of January. This year, Davis is 6-1 during the month.
 Over the last two contests, the Hoosiers have hit 14-of-34 three-point attempts which is an average of .412. On the season, IU ranks last in the Big Ten in three-point percentage (.309).
 Indiana is the only school in the Big Ten currently ranked among the top four in the league in both field goal percentage defense (first, .397) and three-point field goal percentage defense (fourth, .309).
 As a team, IU has averaged 67.3 points in its eight victories; however, in its seven defeats, the Hoosiers have scored just an average of 59.0 points.
 The Hoosiers' defense has been impressive this season. As a team, IU only allows its opponents to shoot an average of .397 from the floor. That number leads the Big Ten and ranks 34th in the country according to the most recent NCAA stats (1/17).
 The Hoosiers won their seventh game this season at Assembly Hall, surpassing last year's number of total home wins of six. Since opening the facility in the 1960-61 season, the Hoosiers have an all-time record of 396-63 (.862).