PREVIEW: #9 Hoosiers Take On #18 Butler At Crossroads Classic

Saturday, December 17

Indianapolis, IN

5:00 PM

Indiana University

Butler

PREVIEW: #9 Hoosiers Take On #18 Butler At Crossroads Classic

12/14/2016 5:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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OPENING TIP
• This season marks the 117th season of Indiana Basketball and the defending Big Ten Champions are ranked 9th in both major polls. With the 76-67 win over No. 3 North Carolina, the Hoosiers have now won a national-best 6 games against top 3 programs since the 2011-12 season. The Hoosiers enter Saturday's game tied for 1st in the country in rebound margin at (+14.8).

UP NEXT
• The Hoosiers will host Delaware State this Monday night at 8 p.m. on BTN.

HEAD COACH TOM CREAN
• Tom Crean, the 2016 Big Ten Coach of the Year, begins his ninth year of leading the Hoosiers. Over the last five years, IU is 128-54 and leads the Big Ten with 25 regular season wins over ranked opponents during that time. IU is nationally ranked for the sixth straight season. Eight players in his first six recruiting classes have scored 1,000 points in their career under Crean at Indiana. Yogi Ferrell (1,986), Christian Watford (1,730), Verdell Jones III (1,347), Jordan Hulls (1,318), Cody Zeller (1,157), Will Sheehey (1,120), Victor Oladipo (1,117) and Troy Williams (1,115) also have scored 1,000 points or more. From the Class of 2014, James Blackmon, Jr., is the next closest Hoosier to approach the mark. He has scored 859 points. Three players, Yogi Ferrell (2016), Cody Zeller (2013) and Victor Oladipo (2013) have been selected as All-Americans. In addition, Oladipo earned two National Player of the Year honors and was named National Defensive Player of the Year. IU won the 2013 and 2016 Big Ten titles outright. Last year's outright title is the team's second in a four-year period with the last time that happened at IU coming in 1980, 81 and 83. The Hoosiers are now tied for the Big Ten lead in overall championships (22) and outright titles (13).

IU INSIGHT
• IU is tied for 1st country in rebound margin, is 2nd in rebounds per game, and in 3-point field goal defense, 7th in scoring margin, and 22nd in field goal percentage defense and in blocked shots.

• Since 2011-12, IU has had the most potent offense in the Big Ten, leading in points scored (78.2), field goal percentage (48.0), and 3-point field goal percentage (40.2). The Hoosiers lead all major conference schools in field goal percentage and 3-point percentage during that same time frame.

• The 2015-16 Hoosiers were just one of three teams in the last 20 years in college basketball to average more than 80 points, shoot better than 50 percent from the field and 41 percent from 3-point range. The others are the 2001-02 Kansas Jayhawks and the 2000-01 Stanford Cardinal.

LONGEST IU HOME WINNING STREAKS
50--Feb. 24, 1991 - Jan. 24, 1995
34--Dec. 22, 1973 - Dec. 6, 1976
33--Jan. 15, 1986 - Jan. 24, 1988
29--Feb. 22, 2006 - Jan. 26, 2008
25--Dec. 5, 1938 - Feb. 24, 1941
24--Nov. 13, 2015 to present

CURRENT NCAA HOME WINNING STREAKS
47 -- Kansas
32 -- South Dakota State
30 -- Oregon
25 -- California
24 -- Indiana

• IU opponents are shooting 37.5 from the field and 25.1 from 3FG after shooting 42.1 and 35.5 after 9 games last season.

THE SERIES
• IU holds a 38-14 lead in a series which began in 1901. This will be the fourth meeting in six years between the two school's with IU winning the last matchup, 82-73, in the 2014 Crossroads Classic.

DID YOU KNOW
• IU is 3-2 in the Crossroads Classic. The Hoosiers are 1-1 vs. Butler and 2-1 vs. Notre Dame. IU has a 2-game winning streak in the event.

• Sophomore Juwan Morgan set a school record my making 14 straight field goals over 3 games against SIUE, SEMO and HBU.

• Indiana, Baylor and Villanova are the only teams in the country with a 2-0 record against the RPI Top 25. IU beat Kansas in the Armed Forces Classic and North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

• IU leads the Big Ten in scoring (87.6), scoring margin (+21.9), 3-point field goal defense (25.1) and rebounding margin (14.8),

• Four former Crean-coached Hoosiers are on active NBA rosters including Cody Zeller (Charlotte), Victor Oladipo (Oklahoma City), Noah Vonleh (Portland), and Troy Williams (Memphis). Three of his former players at Marquette also are active including Dwyane Wade (Chicago), Steve Novak (Milwaukee) and Wes Matthews (Dallas). Oladipo just signed a 4-year, $84 million extension and Zeller got 4-years and $56 million.

• Since 2014-15, the Hoosiers have averaged 9.6 3-point field goals per game, the most of any major college program. Villanova is second at 9.0.

• Since 2011-12, IU has a Big Ten best 88.7 winning percentage (88-11) on its home floor.

• The Hoosiers have three former head coaches on their coaching staff this season (Buckley, Martin, Judson). Associate Head Coach Tim Buckley begins his ninth year at Indiana. The former head coach at Ball State, his Cardinals beat No. 3 Kansas and No. 4 UCLA at the 2001 Maui Classic. Assistant Coach Chuck Martin is in his third year with the Hoosiers and was the head coach at Marist (2008-13). Assistant Coach Rob Judson is in his second year as an assistant coach after serving as Director of Operations in early 2014. He was the head coach at Northern Illinois (2001-07) and won the MAC West title in 2006.

• IU has held its opponents to 28.6 percent 3FG shooting or less in each of the last seven games, the longest such stretch since 2008-09.

• The Hoosiers have averaged 7.0 blocks in the last 5 games.

• Junior James Blackmon, Jr. and sophomore center Thomas Bryant are among 50 candidates for the 2017 Naismith Award and John Wooden Award.

• Bryant was named Preseason All-American by Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook (first team) and NBCSports.com (second team). He also was named Preseason All-Big Ten and is on the Kareem Abdul Jabbar Watch List (Top Center). He had 19 points and 10 rebounds against Kansas. He had 11 rebounds against HBU, the fifth time in nine games he has had double-figure rebounds. He had 18 points and 12 rebounds against Fort Wayne, his fourth career double-double. He had 12 points and 7 boards against North Carolina. He is now 5th in the Big Ten in rebounding at 8.4 per game. Against SEMO, Bryant was the second player this season to register at least 7 points/10 rebounds/3 assists/3 steals/4 blocks in a game (Jeremy Morgan – Northern Iowa – on 11/20/16 against Xavier)

• Blackmon Jr. has the second highest career average (15.9) of any player who has played for Crean at Indiana. He was National Player of the Week and Big Ten Player of the Week following his 26-point effort against Kansas. He was named Preseason All-Big Ten and is on the Jerry West Award watch list. He had 14 points and tied his career-high with 9 rebounds against North Carolina. He is fifth in the league in scoring (16.9) and second in 3-point field goals made per game (3.1). He had 18 points against HBU and is second on the team averaging 6.6 rebs.

Top 5 Career Scorers In Tom Crean Era
Cody Zeller                  16.1
James Blackmon, Jr.   15.9
Yogi Ferrell                 14.5
Christian Watford       13.1
Thomas Bryant           11.9

•Junior guard Robert Johnson is the most experienced Hoosier, having started 64 career games. Coming off of ankle surgery in the offseason, he is averaging 13.1 points and is second on the team with 23 assists. He had 17 points and 7 rebounds against SEMO and had 16 points against HBU. The trio of Blackmon (6.6), Johnson (4.3) and junior Josh Newkirk (3.1) are averaging 14.0 rebounds per game.

• Sophomore forward OG Anunoby is a preseason All-American and elite defender who had a career-high 21 points to go with 8 rebounds in the win over MVSU. Against North Carolina, he had 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. He is on the Julius Erving Award List. He leads the team with 9 blocked shots and is shooting 57.4 percent from the field.

• Senior forward Collin Hartman will begin rehab for his knee immediately. He played three games in the NCAA Tournament with a fractured wrist and averaged 5.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 rebounds.

• Junior guard Josh Newkirk has fit right in with the Hoosier attack, averaging 7.7 points and 3.7 assists. A native of Raleigh, N.C., he scored 10 points and 3 assists in helping the Hoosiers to the win over UNC. He also had a career-high five rebounds against Liberty. He had 8 assists against SEMO and had 11 points against HBU

• Sophomore forward Juwan Morgan is averaging 14.0 points in his last 3 games. On the season, he is contributing 8.7 points and 6.3 rebounds. He is second on the team with 21 offensive rebounds and is 3rd on the team with 8 blocked shots. He has started 5 games this season and is shooting 58.7% from the field.

• Freshman De'Ron Davis has had back-to-back 14-point efforts. He is 19-for-31 from the floor and is averaging 6.7 points and 3.0 rebounds. He also has 8 blocked shots. He hit two key free throws in the final minute in the win over Kansas. He had five points, three rebounds and two blocked shots against North Carolina.

• Sophomore walk-on Zach McRoberts played 15 key minutes and had a +15 contribution against Fort Wayne and earned a start against MVSU and had 3 points. He also had 3 points and 2 assists against SIUE.

• Freshman Curtis Jones had 11 points and 3 rebounds against HBU. He had 8 points and 2 steals against SEMO. He had seven of his 15 points in overtime in beating Kansas. He had 9 points and 5 rebounds against MVSU.

• Freshman Devonte Green and junior Freddie McSwain, Jr., both had a season-high 8 points against Houston Baptist. McSwain also had 4 rebounds.

• Junior Tim Priller had a career-high 4 points against Houston Baptist and freshman Grant Gelon added 3 points in that game.