Preview: Homestand Continues With McNeese State on Saturday

Saturday, December 12

Bloomington, IN

6:30 PM

Indiana University

McNeese State

Preview: Homestand Continues With McNeese State on Saturday

12/11/2015 1:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball

OPENING TIP
• Indiana University is in its 116th season of men's basketball and will face McNeese State in Assembly Hall on Saturday. The Hoosiers are coming off a 90-65 win at home against IPFW, while the Cowboys, lost 97-64 at Louisiana on Wednesday

• The win over IPFW gave the Hoosiers 100 victories since the start of the 2011-12 season, marking the first time that IU has notched 100 wins in a similar span since 1999 to 2004 when IU won 101 games in five full seasons.

McNeese State (1-6) at Indiana (7-3)
Saturday, Dec. 12 • 6:30 p.m. ET
Assembly Hall (17.472) • Bloomington, Ind.
Live Stats: IUHoosiers.com
TV: BTN & BTN2Go (Cory Provus & Jon Crispin)
Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, Joe Smith)
Series History: First Meeting
Last Meeting: First Meeting

UP NEXT
• The Hoosiers host play Notre Dame at the Crossroads Classic in Indianapolis on Saturday, December 19.

HEAD COACH TOM CREAN
• Tom Crean is in his eighth year of leading the Hoosiers. Over the last four+ years, IU is 100-48 and leads the Big Ten with 19 regular season wins over ranked opponents during that time. During that same span, the Hoosiers have appeared nationally ranked in at least one major poll during the season. He has also seen a Big Ten best three players selected in the NBA lottery over the last three years and has recruited a McDonald's All-American in each of the last five years. In addition, he has seen seven of his players score 1,000 points or more in an IU uniform. Since 2011, the Hoosiers have averaged 23 wins per season compared to 20 averaged at IU from 1995-2008. Seven players have scored 1,000 points in their career under Tom Crean at Indiana. Christian Watford (1,730), Yogi Ferrell (1,552), Verdell Jones III (1,347), Jordan Hulls (1,318), Cody Zeller (1,157), Will Sheehey (1,120) and Victor Oladipo (1,117).

WOODEN AWARD
• The John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's announced its Preseason Top 50 in November. 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 college basketball's most prestigious individual honor. IU has three players on the Preseason Top 50 list that was announced on Tuesday. The Hoosiers are represented by senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell, junior forward Troy Williams and sophomore guard James Blackmon, Jr.

YOGI GOES FOR 38
• Senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell posted a career-high 38 points against IPFW and moved into 14th on the Hoosiers all-time list for career scoring. The 38 points scored by Ferrell is the most for an individual in a game in the Tom Crean Era, surpassing the 33 scored by James Blackmon, Jr., a week ago. It also is the most at Assembly Hall by an IU player since Steve Alford set the record with 42 points against Michigan State (2/4/87) and is tied for the fifth most by any IU player at Assembly Hall (building opened in 1970-71 season). Ferrell made 12-of-18 field goals in the game, the first time an IU player has made 12 or more field goals since Will Sheehey made 13 against Iowa (2/27/14). He also connected on 10-of-10 from the free-throw line in the game.

NIEGO STEPS IN
• Due to foul trouble in the IU backcourt, freshmen walk-on Harrison Niego played a season-high 12 minutes and tallied season bests in rebounds (4) and assists (1) against IPFW. Prior to the game, he had played in 16 minutes in six other games. He had left the pre-game meal earlier in the day to take a final exam before the game.

FERRELL PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
• Senior All-Big Ten guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell has been named second team Preseason All-American by The Sporting News and USA Today, in addition to garnering third team honors from Athlon Sports and fourth team mention in Blue Ribbon Magazine. A first-team NABC and USBWA All-District selection last season, Ferrell was sixth in the Big Ten averaging 16.3 points and was fourth in assists at 4.9. Ferrell now has 1,552 points in his IU career and moved into 14th on the Hoosiers all-time list for career scoring. He now has 1,552 points and is 39 points from passing Greg Graham for 13th on the list. He now has 502 career assists in his IU career, which ranks third in school history. He has made 210 threes in his IU career, which ranks third in school history. For the season, he has 64 assists and just 22 turnovers in 10 games. For the season, he is averaging 17.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.4 assists.

WILLIAMS 15-19-5 A RARE FEAT
• Junior forward Troy Williams grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds for the Hoosiers. The 19 rebounds are the most for an IU player since Cody Zeller (19) against Central Connecticut State on Dec. 8, 2012. Last year, he finished third in the Big Ten in rebounding at 7.4 per game.

• He is currently ninth in the league at 6.9 per game. He also finished with 15 points and five blocked shots. Since 1996-97, only 12 NCAA Division I players have posted 15 points, 19 rebounds and five blocked shots in 33 minutes or less like Williams did against IPFW.

WATCH LISTS
• The Indiana Hoosiers were well represented on the preseason watch lists released by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this month. The watch lists recognize the top 20 players in the country at each of the five positions on the court. Here's who was recognized from Indiana:

Bob Cousy Award (Top PG): Kevin Yogi Ferrell
Jerry West Award (Top SG): James Blackmon Jr.
Julius Erving Award (Top SF): Troy Williams
K. Abdul-Jabbar Award (Top C): Thomas Bryant

IU'S MAJOR CONFERENCE RANKINGS (2011-PRESENT)
• 3-point percentage, 40.1 (1st)
• Field goal percentage, 47.7 (1st)
• Free throw percentage, 73.7 (3rd)
• Points per game, 77.2 (4th)
• Home wins, 70 (5th)

ODDS AND TRENDS
• The Hoosiers have notched 50 percent or better shooting in 14 out of 20 halves played so far this season.

• In the first six games of the season, IU was averaging 18.1 trips to the free throw line making 62.3 percent from the line. In the last four games, the Hoosiers are going to the line 26.8 times per game and making 75.8 percent of its charity tosses.

• No major college team has been a better three-point shooting team over the last 4+ years than IU. In their last 148 games, IU has made 40.1 percent of its long distance tries. The next closest program to the Hoosiers is Duke at 38.8 percent and in the Big Ten , Michigan is at 37.5 percent.

• The Hoosiers have 14 blocked shots in the last two games.

• In the last four games, junior Troy Williams has been to the free throw line 34 times.

• Sophomore Robert Johnson tied for the second best shooting night from long distance in IU history when he made all five of his three-point field goal attempts against IPFW. He had 16 points on the night. He has hit 15 of his last 24 shots and made nine of 12 3-point attempts.

• Sophomore James Blackmon, Jr., had a career-high 33 points against Alcorn State and is seventh in the league in 3-point field goals made at 2.5 per game.

• Senior Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell is averaging 20.3 points and shooting 56.3 percent from the field and 47.4 percent from 3-point range and has 22 assists and just seven turnovers since returning from Hawaii.

• Freshman Thomas Bryant leads Big Ten in field goal percentage at 69.0 percent.

• Senior Max Bielfeldt has made 15 of his last 20 shots and had 11 points and eight rebounds against IPFW. He has shot 76.0 percent from the floor in his last five games and is averaging 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds.

• Over the last two seasons, senior Nick Zeisloft is the top 3-point shooter among major conference players making 47.0 percent of his three-point attempts (85-for-181).