PREVIEW: #9 Hoosiers Return Home To Host Delaware State

Monday, December 19

Bloomington, Ind.

8:00 PM

Indiana University

Delaware State

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PREVIEW: #9 Hoosiers Return Home To Host Delaware State

12/18/2016 5:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Indiana Game Notes (PDF)Live Stats Listen Live ($)Watch Online (BTN2Go)Buy Tickets

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 Monday's game leading the country in rebound margin at (+14.9).

UP NEXT
• The Hoosiers will host Austin Peay this Thursday night at 7 p.m. on BTN Plus.

#9/9 Indiana (8-2) vs. Delaware State (3-9)
Date	Monday, Dec. 19
Location	Bloomington, Indiana
Venue	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222)
Tipoff	8:00 p.m. ET
TV	BTN & BTN2Go (Jeff Levering & Bob Wenzel)
Radio	IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, Joe Smith)
Live Stats	IUHoosiers.com

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 128-55 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 885 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 leads the nation in rebound margin, is 3rd in rebounds, 7th in 3-point field goal defense, 13th in scoring margin, 15th in scoring, and 16th in blocked shots per game.

• In the last 5 games, the Hoosiers are averaging 7.1 blocked shots per game. Last year, IU averaged 3.9 blocks per game.

• Since 2011-12, IU has had the most potent offense in the Big Ten, leading in points scored (78.2), field goal percentage (47.9), and 3-point field goal percentage (40.1). 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
49 -- Kansas
34 -- South Dakota State
32 -- Oregon
27 -- California
24 -- Indiana

THE SERIES
• This will be the first meeting between the Hoosiers and the Hornets. IU is 12-0 against school's from the MEAC.

DID YOU KNOW
• Delaware State will play at Iowa on Thursday, December 22. They defeated St. John's 79-72 on November 29.

• With his 26 points against Butler, junior James Blackmon, Jr. has scored 20 points or more 17 times in his career. It is the third time in his career that he has scored 26 points against a nationally ranked team. He also had 26 as a freshman against SMU and earlier this year against Kansas.

• Junior Robert Johnson has made 50 percent or more of his 3-point attempts in a game in 5 of the Hoosiers 10 contests this season. He leads the team from long range, making 43.2 of his treys.

• IU leads the Big Ten in scoring (87.6), scoring margin (+19.2), 3-point field goal defense (27.3) and rebounding margin (14.9).

• 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 2nd (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.

• 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 is coming off a 15-point, 7-rebound performance against Butler. He and Juwan Morgan are tied for the team lead with 26 offensive rebounds. He is tied for 4th in the league in blocked shots averaging 1.7 per game.

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 8.3 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 highest career average (16.1) 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 is 3rd in the Big Ten in scoring at 17.9 per game. 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 (3.2). He had 18 points against HBU.

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

•Junior guard Robert Johnson is the most experienced Hoosier, having started 65 career games. Coming off of ankle surgery in the offseason, he is averaging 12.9 points and is second on the team with 24 assists. He had 17 points and 7 rebounds against SEMO and had 16 points against HBU. The trio of Blackmon (6.0), Johnson (4.1) and junior Josh Newkirk (3.2) are averaging 14.3 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 shooting 54.7 percent from the field. He returned to the lineup against Butler after missing 3 games with an ankle injury and had 7 points and 3 assists.

• Senior forward Collin Hartman will begin rehab for his knee immediately. He played three games in the 2016 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 7.8 points and 3.4 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 9 points against Butler.

• Sophomore forward Juwan Morgan had 10 rebounds and had a career-high 4 blocked shots against Butler. On the season, he is contributing 8.4 points and 6.7 rebounds. He is tied for the team lead in offensive rebounds with 26 and is second in blocked shots with 12. He has started six games this season and is shooting 58.0 percnet from the field.

• Freshman De'Ron Davis had back-to-back 14-point efforts against SIUE and SEMO. He is 20-for-34 from the floor this year and is averaging 6.2 points and 2.8 rebounds. He also has 9 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.