Indiana University Athletics
Saturday, December 10
Bloomington, Ind.
4:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
Houston Baptist
PREVIEW: #9 Indiana Set To Take On Houston Baptist
12/8/2016 4:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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 #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 ranked 2nd in the country in rebound margin at (+14.9).
UP NEXT
• The Hoosiers will play #16 Butler in the Crossroads Classic, December 17 in Indianapolis at 5 p.m.
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 127-54 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 841 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).
THE SERIES
• This will be the first meeting between the Hoosiers and HBU which is a member of the Southland Conference. The Huskies also will play Northwestern on December 22. IU is 8-0 all-time against Southland foes, while HBU is 0-3 against Michigan and 0-1 against Ohio State.
IU INSIGHT
• IU is 2nd in the country in rebound margin, 3rd in rebounds per game, 10th in 3-point field goal defense, 15th in scoring margin, 21st in field goal percentage defense and 22nd in blocked shots.
• Since 2011-12, IU has had the most potent offense in the Big Ten, leading in points scored (78.1), 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
23--Nov. 13, 2015 to present
23--Feb. 25, 1952 -Feb. 22, 1954
CURRENT NCAA HOME WINNING STREAKS
47 -- Kansas
32 -- South Dakota State
30 -- Oregon
25 -- California
23 -- Indiana
DID YOU KNOW
• Sophomore Juwan Morgan has made each of his last 12 shots from the field in games against SIUE and SEMO. He is shooting 56.1 percent from the field and made 17-of-21 free throws. Following the UNC game, Morgan was shooting 37.9 percent from the floor hitting on just 11 of his first 29 shots this season and missing all 7 of his 3-point attempts.
• Indiana and Baylor are the only two 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 margin (+19.4), 3-point field goal defense (26.4) and rebounding margin (14.9),
• After 8 games, IU is allowing teams to shoot 37.4 percent from the field and 26.4 percent from 3-point range. Last year, opponents were shooting 45.5 percent and 36.7 percent after 8 games.
• 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.
• Junior James Blackmon, Jr. and sophomore center Thomas Bryant are among 50 candidates for the 2017 Naismith Award and John Wooden Award.
• During the last two years, 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 (87-11) 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.
• 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 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 6th in the Big Ten in rebounding at 7.9 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 (16.7) and second in 3-point field goals made per game (3.0). He has missed 24 games in his career due to injury.
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 63 career games. Coming off of ankle surgery in the offseason, he is averaging 18.1 points and is second on the team with 22 assists. He had 17 points and 7 rebounds against SEMO and is averaging a team-best 12.6 in the last 5 games. The trio of Blackmon (7.1), Johnson (4.3) and junior Josh Newkirk (3.1) are averaging 14.5 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 7.4 points and 3.8 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
• Sophomore forward Juwan Morgan is averaging 14.5 points in his last two games. On the season, he is contributing 8.1 points and 7.9 rebounds. He is second on the team lead with 20 offensive rebounds and is 3rd on the team with 7 blocked shots. He has started 4 games this season.
• Freshman De'Ron Davis has had back-to-back 14-point efforts. He is 19-for-31 from the floor and is averaging 7.1 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. He is shooting 64.3 percent from the field in his last two games.
• 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 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 and 7 points and 2 assists against SIUE.
• IU has held its opponents to 28.6 percent 3FG shooting or less in each of the last six games, the longest such stretch since 2008-09.
• The 30 blocked shots in the last four games is the most in the Crean era since IU began the 2013-14 season with 34 blocked shots in the first four games.
• 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 #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 ranked 2nd in the country in rebound margin at (+14.9).
UP NEXT
• The Hoosiers will play #16 Butler in the Crossroads Classic, December 17 in Indianapolis at 5 p.m.
| #9/9 Indiana (7-1) vs. Houston Baptist (3-4) | |
| Date | Saturday, Dec. 10 |
| Location | Bloomington, Indiana |
| Venue | Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222) |
| Tipoff | 4:00 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 127-54 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 841 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).
THE SERIES
• This will be the first meeting between the Hoosiers and HBU which is a member of the Southland Conference. The Huskies also will play Northwestern on December 22. IU is 8-0 all-time against Southland foes, while HBU is 0-3 against Michigan and 0-1 against Ohio State.
IU INSIGHT
• IU is 2nd in the country in rebound margin, 3rd in rebounds per game, 10th in 3-point field goal defense, 15th in scoring margin, 21st in field goal percentage defense and 22nd in blocked shots.
• Since 2011-12, IU has had the most potent offense in the Big Ten, leading in points scored (78.1), 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
23--Nov. 13, 2015 to present
23--Feb. 25, 1952 -Feb. 22, 1954
CURRENT NCAA HOME WINNING STREAKS
47 -- Kansas
32 -- South Dakota State
30 -- Oregon
25 -- California
23 -- Indiana
DID YOU KNOW
• Sophomore Juwan Morgan has made each of his last 12 shots from the field in games against SIUE and SEMO. He is shooting 56.1 percent from the field and made 17-of-21 free throws. Following the UNC game, Morgan was shooting 37.9 percent from the floor hitting on just 11 of his first 29 shots this season and missing all 7 of his 3-point attempts.
• Indiana and Baylor are the only two 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 margin (+19.4), 3-point field goal defense (26.4) and rebounding margin (14.9),
• After 8 games, IU is allowing teams to shoot 37.4 percent from the field and 26.4 percent from 3-point range. Last year, opponents were shooting 45.5 percent and 36.7 percent after 8 games.
• 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.
• Junior James Blackmon, Jr. and sophomore center Thomas Bryant are among 50 candidates for the 2017 Naismith Award and John Wooden Award.
• During the last two years, 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 (87-11) 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.
• 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 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 6th in the Big Ten in rebounding at 7.9 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 (16.7) and second in 3-point field goals made per game (3.0). He has missed 24 games in his career due to injury.
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 63 career games. Coming off of ankle surgery in the offseason, he is averaging 18.1 points and is second on the team with 22 assists. He had 17 points and 7 rebounds against SEMO and is averaging a team-best 12.6 in the last 5 games. The trio of Blackmon (7.1), Johnson (4.3) and junior Josh Newkirk (3.1) are averaging 14.5 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 7.4 points and 3.8 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
• Sophomore forward Juwan Morgan is averaging 14.5 points in his last two games. On the season, he is contributing 8.1 points and 7.9 rebounds. He is second on the team lead with 20 offensive rebounds and is 3rd on the team with 7 blocked shots. He has started 4 games this season.
• Freshman De'Ron Davis has had back-to-back 14-point efforts. He is 19-for-31 from the floor and is averaging 7.1 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. He is shooting 64.3 percent from the field in his last two games.
• 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 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 and 7 points and 2 assists against SIUE.
• IU has held its opponents to 28.6 percent 3FG shooting or less in each of the last six games, the longest such stretch since 2008-09.
• The 30 blocked shots in the last four games is the most in the Crean era since IU began the 2013-14 season with 34 blocked shots in the first four games.
Players Mentioned
Forward
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Center
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Forward
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Forward
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Guard
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Guard
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Forward
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Guard
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Forward
/ Men's BasketballFB: Under the Hood with Indiana Football - Week 10 (at Maryland)
Wednesday, October 29
FB: Devan Boykin Media Availability (10/28/25)
Tuesday, October 28
FB: Kaelon Black Media Availability (10/28/25)
Tuesday, October 28
IUBB Pregame Press Conference
Friday, October 24