Preview: B1G Play Begins At Rutgers

OPENING TIP
• Indiana University is in its 116th season of men's basketball and will open Big Ten Conference play on the road for the fifth straight year when it travels to Rutgers, December 30. The Hoosiers have won five in a row and are coming off a 99-72 win over Kennesaw State at home on December 22.

AGAINST RUTGERS
• Last year, the Hoosiers defeated the Scarlet Knights 72-64 in Bloomington and 84-54 at Rutgers. James Blackmon, Jr. averaged 18.5 point per game to lead the Hoosiers to the victories.

Indiana (10-3, 0-0 Big Ten) at Rutgers (6-7, 0-0 Big Ten)
Wednesday, Dec. 30 • 1:00 p.m. ET
Rutgers Athletic Center (8,000) • Piscataway, N.J.
Live Stats: IUHoosiers.com
TV: ESPN2 & WatchESPN (John Brickley & Craig Robinson)
Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, Joe Smith)
Series History: Indiana leads, 3-0
Last Meeting: IU 84, at RUT 54 (2/22/15)

UP NEXT
• The Hoosiers travel to Nebraska to face the Cornhuskers on January 2.

HEAD COACH TOM CREAN
• Tom Crean is in his eighth year of leading the Hoosiers. Over the last four+ years, IU is 103-48 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 (1,588), Verdell Jones III (1,347), Jordan Hulls (1,318), Cody Zeller (1,157), Will Sheehey (1,120) and Victor Oladipo (1,117).

BRINGING FATIGUE TO THE GAME
• In Hoosier wins, IU is shooting 62.9% from the floor and 54.4% from three-point range in the final 10 minutes of games compared to its opponents shooting 38.7% from the floor and 25.5% from long distance during the conclusion of contests.

YOGI IS BIG TEN ACTIVE LEADER
• Senior Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell enters his final conference season as the active leader in scoring (1,588), assists (515), three-point field goals made (215) and is the only senior in the league to have started every game he has played (115). He is currently ninth in the Big Ten in scoring, fourth in assists, and second in free throw percentage.

OFFENSIVE BOARDS
• With 20 offensive rebounds against Notre Dame, IU has won 10 straight games since 2010 when it has hauled in 20 or more of its own missed shots. Overall, IU out-rebounded Notre Dame 21-13 in the second half.

IMPROVED FT SHOOTING
• In the last seven games, the Hoosiers are shooting 74.2% from the line making 132 of 178 charity tosses during that time.

COMEBACKS IN THE TOM CREAN ERA
Deficit            Date               Opponent             Score
16 12/19/2015             vs. Notre Dame 80-73
15           01/11/2014             at Penn State 79-76
12           11/20/2014             SMU 74-68
11           01/18/2015             at Illinois                 80-74
11           03/10/2013             at Michigan            72-71
10      01/14/2014             Wisconsin 75-72

• IU outscored the Irish 40-17 over the final 15:11 and the Hoosier defense held the Irish to 30.7% shooting from the field (8 for 26) during that span including a 1-for-8 effort from downtown.

TROY IS EMERGING
• Junior forward Troy Williams is averaging 16.4 points and 8.8 rebounds in his last five games and is shooting 56.9 from the field. His seven three-point field goals in 13 games eclipses his season-totals of six in each of the last two seasons. Williams is seventh in the league in rebounding, eighth in field goal percentage and leads the Big Ten in steals.

FERRELL IN RARE COMPANY
• Senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell is one of two active players in the country to have at least 1,550 career points (1,572), 500 assists (511) and 350 rebounds (other is Juan'ya Green, Hofstra) He posted a career-high 38 points against IPFW, which is the most for an individual in a game in the Tom Crean Era, surpassing the 33 scored by James Blackmon, Jr., Nov. 30 against Alcorn State. It also was the most at Assembly Hall by an IU player since Steve Alford scored 42 points vs. Michigan State (2/4/87) and is tied for the fifth most by any IU player at Assembly Hall. He was 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. Ferrell now has 1,588 points in his IU career, which ranks 14th on the all-time list at IU. He is 3 points from passing Greg Graham for 13th on the list. He also has 515 career assists in his IU career, which ranks third in school history. He has made 215 3FG in his IU career, which ranks third in school history. For the season, he is averaging 16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists.

IU'S MAJOR CONFERENCE RANKINGS (2011-PRESENT)
• 3-point FG percentage, 40.2(1st)
• Field goal percentage, 47.8 (1st)
• Free throw percentage, 73.7 (3rd)
• Points per game, 77.6 (4th)

ODDS AND TRENDS
• The Hoosiers have notched 50 percent or better shooting in 19 out of 26 halves played so far this season.

• No major college team has been a better 3-point shooting team over the last 4+ years than IU. In their last 149 games, IU has made 40.2 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 second at 37.5 percent.

• Freshman Thomas Bryant is second among the league's first-year players averaging 12.2 points. He leads the Big Ten in field goal shooting making 72.0% of his shot attempts. He is coming off a career-high 20 points against Kennesaw State.

• Sophomore James Blackmon, Jr. is 10th in the league in scoring, eighth in three-point field goal percentage and fourth in three-point field goals made. He has made 114 three-point field goals in a season and a half. Last year, he averaged 18.5 points and 6.0 rebounds against Rutgers and shot 53.6% from the field and 38.5% from long distance.

• Sophomore Robert Johnson is second in the Big Ten in three-point field goal percentage making 56.1% of his shots.   Team is 7-0 when he starts. He averaged 8.0 points against Rutgers last season.

• Senior Max Bielfeldt has exceeded his career averages at Michigan in his one season with Indiana. He is averaging 8.0 points (3.5 at UM), 4.4 rebounds (2.3 at UM), and is shooting 63.6% from the field (45.3 at UM) and 53.8 from three-point range (26.8 at UM). Bielfeldt had one of his best games ever at Michigan against Rutgers last year with 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds against the Scarlet Knights.

• Senior Nick Zeisloft is third in the Big Ten shooting 54.2% from three-point range. He is second among all major conference players shooting 47.3% from long distance since the start of the 14-15 season. Zeisloft averaged 10.5 points against Rutgers last season and made five of seven from long distance (71.4%)

• Junior Collin Hartman is averaging 5.5 points and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 66.7% from the field in the last two games.

• Freshman OG Anunoby is averaging 3.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 9 minutes per game the last two games.

• Freshman Juwan Morgan had two points, two rebounds, a block and a steal against Kennesaw State.

Junior Troy Williams averaged 10.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in two games against Rutgers last season. Nineteen of his 21 rebounds were on the defensive end.

Senior Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell averaged 15.5 points and shot 52.2% from the field in two games against the Scarlet Knights last season.

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Players Mentioned

OG Anunoby

Max Bielfeldt

James Blackmon Jr.

Thomas Bryant

Collin Hartman

Robert Johnson

Juwan Morgan

Troy Williams

Nick Zeisloft

Indiana University Athletics