Indiana University Athletics
IU Excited For Primetime Game Against Duke
12/2/2015 9:15:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Win or lose, Indiana is going to receive an honest assessment of itself tonight.
That tends to happen when a team takes the floor opposite the defending national champions.
The Hoosiers (5-2) travel to Durham, North Carolina, tonight for a 9:30 p.m. matchup against the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils (6-1). The game at Cameron Indoor stadium offers a resume-boosting opportunity for both sides as one of the headliners of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.
"I can't wait," junior forward Troy Williams said. "That's what I came to Indiana for, these big-stage games."
Sophomore guard James Blackmon Jr.—fresh off a 33-point game Monday—agreed.
"This is a huge opportunity for us," he said. "We're going to practice hard like we have been doing, get it rolling and do what we're supposed to do."
Practice has been a talking point among Indiana's players over the last week. A group of veteran guys organized a players-only film session in Hawaii following a loss to UNLV to try to correct what they'd been doing wrong in their two losses.
What they found was they played different in games than they practiced, players said. The Indiana team they saw on film wasn't the same they insist they're capable of being.
Blackmon said discovering that alone made the film session time well spent.
"I know they got a lot out of it," head coach Tom Crean said. He wasn't aware the players had organized the film session until after returning to the mainland.
"That's good ownership."
Indiana was able to use what it learned about itself in a blowout win against Alcorn State on Monday but will likely have a tougher challenge doing so against top-ranked Duke in the Hoosiers' first true road game of the season.
Crean is 1-1 in his coaching career against Duke, having beat the Blue Devils at Marquette in the 2006 CBE Classic Championship game before losing to them in the 2007 Maui Invitational Final. Tonight will be his first chance to coach against Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski at Indiana.
Duke hasn't lost any of its last 120 non-conference home games, dating back to 2000. The next longest such streak in the nation belongs to Minnesota, though they shouldn't expect to catch the Blue Devils any time soon.
The Golden Gophers' streak stands at 47 games.
"I don't think we'll have any trouble with being ready to play a game like that," Crean said. "It's more of just making sure we understand the personnel, understand what they want to do and understand how best we want to attack them."
Duke is coming off a 33-point win over Utah State and has one lone loss on the season to No. 1 Kentucky. Since then, the defending champions have wins over Georgetown and VCU.
The Blue Devils take advantage of the new rule changes limiting defensive contact, drawing fouls often and taking the second most free throws in the nation. Their offense is the most efficient in the nation, averaging just over 1.18 points per possession.
All told, it's an ideal matchup for a pair of teams with aspirations of competing at a national level.
Crean said his team is ready for it.
"It's the first true road game in a tough environment," Crean said. "They present tremendous challenges."
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Win or lose, Indiana is going to receive an honest assessment of itself tonight.
That tends to happen when a team takes the floor opposite the defending national champions.
The Hoosiers (5-2) travel to Durham, North Carolina, tonight for a 9:30 p.m. matchup against the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils (6-1). The game at Cameron Indoor stadium offers a resume-boosting opportunity for both sides as one of the headliners of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.
"I can't wait," junior forward Troy Williams said. "That's what I came to Indiana for, these big-stage games."
Sophomore guard James Blackmon Jr.—fresh off a 33-point game Monday—agreed.
"This is a huge opportunity for us," he said. "We're going to practice hard like we have been doing, get it rolling and do what we're supposed to do."
Practice has been a talking point among Indiana's players over the last week. A group of veteran guys organized a players-only film session in Hawaii following a loss to UNLV to try to correct what they'd been doing wrong in their two losses.
What they found was they played different in games than they practiced, players said. The Indiana team they saw on film wasn't the same they insist they're capable of being.
Blackmon said discovering that alone made the film session time well spent.
"I know they got a lot out of it," head coach Tom Crean said. He wasn't aware the players had organized the film session until after returning to the mainland.
"That's good ownership."
Indiana was able to use what it learned about itself in a blowout win against Alcorn State on Monday but will likely have a tougher challenge doing so against top-ranked Duke in the Hoosiers' first true road game of the season.
Crean is 1-1 in his coaching career against Duke, having beat the Blue Devils at Marquette in the 2006 CBE Classic Championship game before losing to them in the 2007 Maui Invitational Final. Tonight will be his first chance to coach against Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski at Indiana.
Duke hasn't lost any of its last 120 non-conference home games, dating back to 2000. The next longest such streak in the nation belongs to Minnesota, though they shouldn't expect to catch the Blue Devils any time soon.
The Golden Gophers' streak stands at 47 games.
"I don't think we'll have any trouble with being ready to play a game like that," Crean said. "It's more of just making sure we understand the personnel, understand what they want to do and understand how best we want to attack them."
Duke is coming off a 33-point win over Utah State and has one lone loss on the season to No. 1 Kentucky. Since then, the defending champions have wins over Georgetown and VCU.
The Blue Devils take advantage of the new rule changes limiting defensive contact, drawing fouls often and taking the second most free throws in the nation. Their offense is the most efficient in the nation, averaging just over 1.18 points per possession.
All told, it's an ideal matchup for a pair of teams with aspirations of competing at a national level.
Crean said his team is ready for it.
"It's the first true road game in a tough environment," Crean said. "They present tremendous challenges."
Players Mentioned
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