IU Set for Iowa

1/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

January 27, 2005

Bloomington, Ind. - Indiana will be playing its second consecutive game on the road, when the Hoosiers travel to Iowa (14-5, 2-4 Big Ten) on Jan. 27 at 5 p.m. EST. The game will be played in Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500) in Iowa City, Iowa.

This contest marks the 155th meeting between Iowa and Indiana, and the Hoosiers currently own an 94-60 advantage in the series, including wins in two of the last three games and four of the last six. The Hawkeyes took the last meeting between the two schools, with an 84-82 double-overtime win in Bloomington (Feb. 7, 2004). The Hoosiers have won the last two games played in Iowa City, taking a 79-63 decision on Feb. 19, 2003 and a 79-51 outcome on Feb. 5, 2002.

The last two games played between the rivals have ventured to overtime, with each team winning once. The Hoosiers won in extra time, 91-88, in Bloomington on March 1, 2003.

Each Indiana basketball game can be heard live on the IU Radio Network. WHCC (105.1 FM in Bloomington) is the flagship station for the network that has more than 50 stations broadcasting Hoosier basketball all season long. Don Fischer (play-by-play), former Indiana guard Todd Leary (color commentary) and Joe Smith (pregame, halftime and postgame host) call all of the action.

The game will be televised on ESPN, and is the fourth of eight games the Hoosiers will have on ESPN and ESPN2. Dave Barnett will do play-by-play, while Tim McCormick will handle the color commentary.

Freshman Of The Year?
Several preseason newsstand publications tabbed Indiana's D.J. White as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and the 6-9 forward is certainly living up to expectations. Among Big Ten freshmen in all games, White is first in scoring (13.6), blocked shots (2.24) and in field goal percentage (.592), second in rebounding (5.2) and sixth in free throw percentage (.760).

Assist-to-Turnover
Indiana had 14 assists and nine turnovers at Minnesota, its best assist-to-turnover ratio since it had 14 helpers and six miscues at Connecticut on Dec. 4. Coach Mike Davis said before the game that juniors Bracey Wright and Marshall Strickland have to set the tone for their younger teammates on the road, and that they did in Minneapolis. The third-year tandem combined for 10 assists and just one turnover in 78 combined minutes.

Freshmen No More
Despite the fact that Indiana is one of six teams nationally (Georgia, Fresno State, Tulane, Navy and Manhattan are the others) starting at least three freshmen, the Hoosier newcomers continue to gain experience with each game. For example, with Minnesota leading by as much as 15 (47-32 with 9:50 left), the Hoosiers proceeded to go on a 28-17 run for the next nine minutes to cut the lead to four at 64-60. Here is an individual statistical breakdown for D.J. White, AJ. Ratliff, Robert Vaden and James Hardy during this stretch

White - 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks

Vaden - 8 points, 1 rebound

Hardy - 2 assists

Ratliff -2 points

Vaden At The Line
Although he is just one free throw away from qualifying for the league statistical minimum, Robert Vaden's .846 free throw percentage would rank as the fourth-best in the Big Ten. This also ranks as the fourth-best single-season freshman effort in school history.

Free Throw Percentage (50 Att. Minimum)

Steve Alford 1983-84 .913 (137-150)

Jay Edwards 1987-88 .908 (69-76)

A.J. Guyton 1996-97 .851 (80-84)

Uncharacteristic Hoosiers
Mike Davis-coached Indiana teams own four of the top 10 single-season team three-point field goal records in school history. Unfortunately for the Hoosiers, IU has not been as productive from beyond the arc this winter. IU was 2-of-19 from three-point range at Minnesota, bringing the season percentage to .296, which is last in the Big Ten. Indiana hopes that Carver-Hawkeye Arena can cure those woes. In their last trip to Iowa City on Feb. 19, 2003, the Hoosiers were 10-of-21 from beyond the arc en route to a 79-66 victory.

Maximizing The Charity Stripe
In nine Indiana victories, the Hoosiers have made an average of nearly 26 trips to the free throw line. Compare that to eight losses, where the average is 16 trips to the free throw line.

By comparison, Minnesota made 26 trips to the free throw line in the second half of Wednesday night's game. This marks the third time this season (Wisconsin - 22, Missouri -23) that the Hoosiers have allowed a team to get to the free throw line at least 20 times in the second half. Furthermore, Minnesota's 26 secondhalf free throw attempts are the most for an opponent since Michigan State made 28 trips to the stripe on Jan. 31, 2004 in an 84-72 win at East Lansing.

Turnover Turnaround
Entering the Jan. 5 Big Ten opener at Northwestern, junior guard Marshall Strickland had 32 assists and 34 turnovers. He has addressed this issue in the first six league games by posting 18 assists and just nine miscues.

White Hot
Indiana freshman D.J. White leads the team and ranks fifth in the Big Ten in field goal percentage (.592). 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 .655 (66-of-55) from the floor. This is second in the league behind Purdue's Carl Landry (.667) and is the best effort by a Big Ten player since the Boilers' Steve Scheffler hit .767 (115-of-150) in 1990.

Double Figure Streak Still Going
Indiana freshman D.J White has now reached double figures in 11 consecutive games dating back to the Missouri contest and 14 of 17 games this season. He is approaching 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

Jared 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

Three Amigos
Over the last five contests, Bracey Wright, D.J. White and Robert Vaden have been proving a tough trio to stop. Over that span, they have combined for 252 of the team's 343 points. That equates to 50.4 of the team's 68.6 points per game average or 73 percent of the team's scoring.

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.

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 22.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, while also leading the team in assists (3.1/game), steals (1.3/game), points and rebounds during that stretch.

League Ranked Opponents
Entering Saturday's game at No. 23/24 Iowa, Mike Davis has won seven of his last 11 league regular season games against ranked opponents, dating back to Feb. 24, 2001.

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 five contests, four of which were Indiana wins, the twosome have averaged 38.8 points and 11.4 rebounds. On the season, the duo combines for 32.7 points, which is tied with Purdue's Carl Landry (18.9) and David Teague (13.8) for the best combination in the Big Ten, and 9.8 rebounds per contests.

Comeback Kids
After not coming back from a halftime deficit to win a game on 17 consecutive contests, the Hoosiers have now done so in two occasions 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 five Big Ten games, the foursome has averaged 34.9 of the Hoosiers' 65.8 points and 15.5 of the 31.0 rebounds per game. Those numbers account for 53 percent of the scoring and 50 percent of the rebounding.

They are also found among the freshmen leaders in the Big Ten stats. As of Jan. 27, D.J. White led all freshmen in scoring (13.6), blocked shots (2.24) and field goal percentage (.592) and ranks second in rebounds (5.2). Vaden leads freshmen in free throw percentage (.846), second in steals (1.47) and third in scoring (10.0) and rebounding (4.9). Ratliff was also seen throughout the freshmen stats, leading in three-point percentage (.429), sixth in rebounding (3.1) and ninth in scoring (5.4). Overall, a Hoosier freshman is in the top three in every category except for assists.

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 nine contests. Each player started the nine games and combined to average 31.6 points and 14.4 rebounds on the campaign. This effort accounts for 47 percent of the team's scoring and 45 percent of the rebounding.

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

Pat Ewing 5

Rod Wilmont 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 26-13 (.667) record in the month of January. This year, Davis is 5-2 during the month.

 Over the last five contests, the Hoosiers have outshot their opponents by more than 50 points (.434 to .381) and have a record of 4-1 over that stretch.

 Freshman forward D.J. White scored 11 of his team's first 20 points and 12 of IU's final 21 points in the 70-65 loss at Minnesota.

 As a team, IU has averaged 67.3 points in its nine victories; however, in its eight defeats, the Hoosiers have scored just an average of 59.8 points.

 The Hoosiers' defense has been impressive this season. As a team, IU only allows its opponents to shoot an average of .400 from the floor. That number leads the Big Ten and ranks 34th in the country according to the most recent NCAA stats (1/17).