Indiana University Athletics
Streaking Hoosiers Heading North
1/15/2016 9:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Now is about the time the grind of the Big Ten starts setting in.
Conference play is just shy of one-fourth of the way through and the Hoosiers find themselves tied atop the Big Ten standings along with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Saturday afternoon's opponent, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, are on the other end of the spectrum and are still searching for their first win to climb from the bottom of the conference table.
But Indiana (14-3, 4-0) insists it can't look at that or anything that's gone into a nine-game winning streak dating back to the beginning of December. The players say they're focused on maintaining the course and walking out of Williams Arena on Saturday with another conference road win.
"Good teams understand that you have to look at the season one game at a time," fifth-year senior forward Max Bielfeldt said. "Others may not and try to play the prediction game, but you have to let the full 18-game schedule play out. How a team plays in the first or second week of January may not be the way the team plays come March. It only takes one play to turn a season one way or another so we definitely try and live in the now."
The present challenge means handling a Golden Gophers team that has lost nine of their last 10 games. In their last game, the Gophers (6-11, 0-5) fell to the Nebraska Cornhuskers—a team Indiana beat by 10 points earlier this season—by 25 points on the road.
Indiana head coach Tom Crean said Minnesota's recent play doesn't necessarily reflect how strong of a team Richard Pitino has. He made a point of bringing up the Gophers non-conference win against Clemson, who later went on to beat Louisville and Duke, as evidence of Minnesota's potential.
"You can't look at their record," Crean said. "I think Richard is an excellent coach and I don't think there's any question about it, he's his own man. He has an excellent style, they're very athletic. We're looking at this team with great respect."
Minnesota plays as young as anyone in the Big Ten, having started two sophomores (Nate Mason and Bakary Konate) along with three freshmen (Dupree McBrayer, Ahmad Gilbert Jr. and Jordan Murphy) in its loss against Nebraska.
Mason, at guard, is leading Minnesota with 12.7 points per game, but an overall lack of consistency has hurt his Gophers. Despite that, Indiana senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell said Indiana can't afford to overlook Minnesota's talent at the risk of getting burned.
"You have to be at your best every time you go out there in this league or you can become humbled very quickly," he said.
The Hoosiers will look to avoid any sort of humbling and continue a stretch of play that has them inching closer to breaking into the AP Top 25. After nearly a full week off, the Big Ten slate is set to get busier as the Hoosiers enter the heart of the schedule.
Even after a 25-point game against Ohio State last weekend, Crean said he could think of about five things the Hoosiers needed to do better. January isn't the time to peak, and he certainly doesn't think his team has yet as they head north for another Big Ten challenge.
"I continue to believe that there is a lot of room for improvement with our team," Crean said. "I've been really pleased with the way different guys have stepped up in different situations. When you have that, you can allow players to work through tough stretches without the pressure that can come with adversity. Our guys know that and they have developed a greater trust amongst each other and allowed the game to come back to them naturally."
Conference play is just shy of one-fourth of the way through and the Hoosiers find themselves tied atop the Big Ten standings along with the Iowa Hawkeyes. Saturday afternoon's opponent, the Minnesota Golden Gophers, are on the other end of the spectrum and are still searching for their first win to climb from the bottom of the conference table.
But Indiana (14-3, 4-0) insists it can't look at that or anything that's gone into a nine-game winning streak dating back to the beginning of December. The players say they're focused on maintaining the course and walking out of Williams Arena on Saturday with another conference road win.
"Good teams understand that you have to look at the season one game at a time," fifth-year senior forward Max Bielfeldt said. "Others may not and try to play the prediction game, but you have to let the full 18-game schedule play out. How a team plays in the first or second week of January may not be the way the team plays come March. It only takes one play to turn a season one way or another so we definitely try and live in the now."
The present challenge means handling a Golden Gophers team that has lost nine of their last 10 games. In their last game, the Gophers (6-11, 0-5) fell to the Nebraska Cornhuskers—a team Indiana beat by 10 points earlier this season—by 25 points on the road.
Indiana head coach Tom Crean said Minnesota's recent play doesn't necessarily reflect how strong of a team Richard Pitino has. He made a point of bringing up the Gophers non-conference win against Clemson, who later went on to beat Louisville and Duke, as evidence of Minnesota's potential.
"You can't look at their record," Crean said. "I think Richard is an excellent coach and I don't think there's any question about it, he's his own man. He has an excellent style, they're very athletic. We're looking at this team with great respect."
Minnesota plays as young as anyone in the Big Ten, having started two sophomores (Nate Mason and Bakary Konate) along with three freshmen (Dupree McBrayer, Ahmad Gilbert Jr. and Jordan Murphy) in its loss against Nebraska.
Mason, at guard, is leading Minnesota with 12.7 points per game, but an overall lack of consistency has hurt his Gophers. Despite that, Indiana senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell said Indiana can't afford to overlook Minnesota's talent at the risk of getting burned.
"You have to be at your best every time you go out there in this league or you can become humbled very quickly," he said.
The Hoosiers will look to avoid any sort of humbling and continue a stretch of play that has them inching closer to breaking into the AP Top 25. After nearly a full week off, the Big Ten slate is set to get busier as the Hoosiers enter the heart of the schedule.
Even after a 25-point game against Ohio State last weekend, Crean said he could think of about five things the Hoosiers needed to do better. January isn't the time to peak, and he certainly doesn't think his team has yet as they head north for another Big Ten challenge.
"I continue to believe that there is a lot of room for improvement with our team," Crean said. "I've been really pleased with the way different guys have stepped up in different situations. When you have that, you can allow players to work through tough stretches without the pressure that can come with adversity. Our guys know that and they have developed a greater trust amongst each other and allowed the game to come back to them naturally."
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