Indiana University Athletics
#IUBB Game 7 Preview: Pittsburgh
12/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2014
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GAME 7 - ACC/Big Ten Challenge
Tuesday, Dec. 2 -- vs. Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m. ET
Video: ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen & LaPhonso Ellis) | WatchESPN
Live Stats: Gametracker
Game Notes: Indiana Notes | Pitt Notes
Last Meeting: 12/8/2009 - Indiana 74, Pitt 64 (at Madison Square Garden)
All-Time Series: Tied, 4-4
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OPENING TIP
• The 2014-15 college basketball season represents the 115th in the history of Indiana University. The Hoosiers are coming off an 87-79 win over UNC Greensboro on Friday night.
UP NEXT
• IU will host Savannah State on Saturday, December 6 at 7:30 p.m.
ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE
• The Hoosiers won at NC State in 2011 and at home in 2012 against North Carolina. Last year, IU fell at Syracuse. The Hoosiers last played Pittsburgh in the 2009 Jimmy V Classic winning 74-64. During his career, Tom Crean is 6-3 against the Panthers.
HEAD COACH Tom Crean
• Indiana named Tom Crean as its 28th men's basketball coach on April 2, 2008, and he is in his seventh year with the Hoosiers. He is 296-194 all-time as a head coach and in the last 3+ years, he has led IU to a 78-32 record, the 2013 Big Ten Championship and back-to-back appearances for the Hoosiers in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1994. In 2012-13, he was named NABC District 7 and USBWA District V Coach of the Year. In the last two seasons, Crean has mentored three NBA Lottery picks which is tied with Kansas for the most among NCAA schools in that span.
• Crean is the only Big Ten coach to mentor an NBA lottery pick, a National Player of the Year, a first team All-American, a first team Academic All-American and a Senior Class Award winner this decade.
• Over the last three years, Indiana leads all Big Ten teams in scoring (76.9), field goal percentage (47.7), three-point field goal percentage (39.7), free throw percentage (74.5) and free throws made (2,020).
• The Hoosiers 3-point field goal percentage is the highest among major college conference schools in that time frame.
• With the win over No. 22 SMU, IU leads Big Ten teams with 16 regular season wins over Top 25 teams since the start of the 2011-12 season.
THREE YEAR WIN TOTAL
• The Hoosiers 73 wins from 2011-12 to 2013-14 represents the highest three-year win total for IU since 1990-91 to 1992-93.
FROM LAST YEAR
• IU was sixth in the country last year in rebound margin (+7.6) and 12th in the country in three-point field goal percentage defense.
BEST IN THE NATION
• IU is among the top academic programs in the country with four straight perfect APR scores of 1,000 and has received an NCAA Recognition Award each of the last two years. Twenty-one players have earned a degree while playing for Crean at Indiana, including five who have earned master's degrees. IU has been honored a league best 27 times on the Academic All-Big Ten team since 2010.
IU INSIGHT
• Among freshmen, James Blackmon, Jr. leads the nation in scoring (20.8) and is second in points/rebounds/assists (27.3 per game. He is second in the Big Ten in scoring and first in 3-PT FG made per game (3.3). He led the Hoosiers with 24 points and nine rebounds against UNCG and is second in the Big Ten in free throw shooting (90.0) and third in 3FG percent (57.1) He finished with a team-high 26 points and added seven rebounds against SMU. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on November 24 after averaging 22 points and 6 rebounds in wins over Texas Southern, SMU and Lamar.
• Junior Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell, a Wooden and Cousy Award candidate, is averaging 20.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in his last three games. He made 20 of 22 free throws last week against UNCG and Eastern Washington.
• Sophomore Troy Williams had 19 points and matched his career-high with 9 rebounds against Eastern Washington. He is averaging a team-best 6.0 rebounds in the last three games.
• Sophomore Collin Hartman had a career-high 7 points and tied his career-best with four rebounds against UNCG and Eastern Washington. After not making a three-pointer last season, he has nailed 5-of-11 from beyond the arc this year.
NUMBERS
• IU is eighth in the nation averaging 88.5 points per game and 13th in the country making 9.7 three-point field goals per game. IU is 14th in the country in effective FG percentage at 59.7.
WOODEN AWARD
• The Los Angeles Athletic Club has announced its Preseason Top 50 for the John R. Wooden Award and the list includes IU junior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell.
Chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts, the list is comprised of 50 student-athletes who are the early front-runners for the sport's most prestigious honor.
Ferrell is averaging 18.2 points and 5.8 assists and is shooting 45.8 percent from three-point range
TISDALE AWARD
• James Blackmon, Jr., and Robert Johnson have been named to the watch list for the Wayman Tisdale award, which is handed out by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) to the top freshman in the country each season.
Blackmon Jr., a native of Marion, Ind., has started all six games for the Hoosiers this season and is averaging 20.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest. He is also shooting 57.1 percent (20-of-35) from behind the 3-point line.
Johnson has also started all six games so far and is averaging 12.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and over three assists per game. The Richmond, Va., native has made 52.8 percent of his shots from the floor and leads the team with seven steals.
QUICK HITS
• Freshman Robert Johnson is averaging 12.2 points and leads the team in steals with 7.
• Junior Nick Zeisloft is averaging 7.2 points per game and is shooting 40.7 percent from three-point range.
• Junior Hanner Mosquera-Perea had 10 points and six rebounds in 24 minutes against the Lamar. He is shooting 70.8 percent from the field making 17-of-24 field goal attempts.
• Sophomore Stanford Robinson is third on the team in assists with 8.
• Freshman Emmitt Holt has seven rebounds in 17 minutes of action in two games.
• Blackmon (5.5), Johnson (4.7) and Ferrell (4.0) are averaging a combined 14.2 rebounds per game from the guard position.
ARMED FORCES CLASSIC
• In 2016, the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii will host a doubleheader just weeks ahead of the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Indiana and Kansas will meet in one of the games, with Arizona and Michigan State meeting in the other.
STAFF WITH EXPERIENCE
• The Hoosiers have four former head coaches on their coaching staff this season.
• Associate Head Coach Tim Buckley begins his seventh year at Indiana. Former head coach at Ball State. His Cardinals beat #3 Kansas and #4 UCLA at the 2001 Maui Classic.
• Associate Head Coach Steve McClain is in his fifth year in Bloomington. Former head coach at Wyoming who led the Cowboys to the 2002 NCAA Tournament and a win over Gonzaga.
• Assistant Coach Chuck Martin joined the IU staff this past summer. Former head coach at Marist.
• Director of Operations Rob Judson came to IU in mid-season a year ago. Former head coach at Northern Illinois, who captured a MAC West title.
EIGHT IN THE PROS
• Eight of Tom Crean's former IU players are currently playing professional basketball.
Victor Oladipo (Orlando),13.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.2 apg.
Cody Zeller (Charlotte), 8.5 ppg, 5.2 rpg.
Noah Vonleh (Charlotte), 3.0 ppg.,1.0 rpg.
Christian Watford (Maine), 14.0 ppg., 9.0 rpg. Verdell Jones III (Japan), 16.5 ppg., 4.2 assists
Jordan Hulls (Kosovo) 9.9 ppg., 5.1 rpg, 6.1 apg.
Will Sheehey (Montenegro) 4.2 ppg., 2.0 rpg.
Derek Elston (Portugal) 16.2 ppg., 4.8 rpg.
