Preview: IU Opens NCAA Tournament vs. Mocs

Thursday, March 17

Des Moines, Iowa

7:10 p.m.

Indiana University

(#12 seed) Chattanooga (First Round)

3/14/2016 4:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

OPENING TIP
• Indiana University is the #5 seed in the East Region and will face Southern Conference Champion, #12 Chattanooga, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Des Moines.   IU won its 22nd Big Ten title (tied for most with Purdue) and its 13th outright crown. The winner will play the winner of the #4 Kentucky vs. #13 Stony Brook game on Saturday.

GAME INFORMATION
#5 seed Indiana (25-7) vs. #12 seed Chattanooga (29-5)
Thursday, March 17 • 7:10 p.m. ET tipoff
Wells Fargo Arena (16,869) • Des Moines, Iowa
TV: CBS (Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill & Tracy Wolfson)
Radio: IU Radio Network; Sirius 93/XM 203; Westwood One (Brandon Gaudin & Mike Montgomery)
Series History: Indiana leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: Nov. 13, 2011 (IU 78, Chattanooga 53)

DID YOU KNOW
• The Hoosiers are making their Big Ten-best 39th NCAA Tournament appearance and are 64-33 all-time in the event.

• After rebuilding the program from scratch, IU Coach Tom Crean has guided the Hoosiers to four NCAA bids in the last five seasons.

BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR TOM CREAN
• Tom Crean is in his eighth year at IU and has led them to outright Big Ten titles in 2013 and 2016. Over the last five years, IU is 118-52 and leads the Big Ten with 22 regular season wins over ranked opponents during that time. Since 2011, the Hoosiers have averaged 23 wins per season compared to 20 averaged at IU from 1995-2008. For his efforts this season, he was named Big Ten Coach of the Year (AP, Big Ten Coaches, Big Ten Media and CBSSports.com). He also was named USBWA District V Coach of the Year.

TOM CREAN'S 1,000 POINT SCORERS BY RECRUITING CLASS
2008-Verdell Jones III (1,347)
2009-Christian Watford (1,730) and Jordan Hulls (1,318)
2010-Will Sheehey (1,120) and Victor Oladipo (1,117)
2011-Cody Zeller (1,157)
2012-Yogi Ferrell (1,923)
2013-Troy Williams (1,069)

HOOSIER SHOOTING
• IU is third in the country in field goal percentage (50.1), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (41.5), 10th in scoring margin (+13.4), 11th in scoring offense (82.3), and
11th in 3-point field goals made per game (9.9).

FERRELL IS 45TH IU ALL-AMERICAN
• Senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell was named second-team All-American by USA Today, The Sporting News, NBCSports.com and ESPN.com. He is a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten choice and becomes the first Hoosier to earn that distinction in consecutive years since Calbert Cheaney did in 1991, 92 and 93. He also is a member of the league's All-Defensive Team.

MORE NATIONAL HONORS
• Ferrell is being considered for the Wooden and Naismith Awards for National Player of the Year. He was also named one of five finalists for the Cousy Award, given to the nation's top point guard. Ferrell is the only player in Big Ten History with 1,900 points, 600 assists, 400 rebounds and 250 3-pointers made. He is IU's all-time leader in games started (134) and assists with 615 (Michigan's Gary Grant had 2,200 points, 700 assists and 400 rebounds). He joins IU greats Calbert Cheaney, Don Schlundt, Damon Bailey, and Kent Benson to rank among the top 10 scorers all-time at IU and win multiple Big Ten titles.

MORE ALL-BIG TEN HONORS
• Graduate transfer Max Bielfeldt was named Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and junior Troy Williams and freshman Thomas Bryant were named third-team All-Big Ten by the Coaches. Bryant also was a member of the coaches All-Freshman team and was an honorable mention All-League pick by the media.

Crean Era Superlatives In B1G Play
• The Hoosiers allowed the fewest number of free throws made per game (11.5) in conference play during Coach Crean's eight seasons at IU. Opponents also hauled in just 8.6 offensive rebounds.

• The Hoosiers averaged 78.1 points per game in conference play, the highest since the Hoosiers averaged 74.6 in 2013. IU also had its best rebounding season, hauling in 36.8 per game, compared to 36.5 in 2013.

• IU dished out 15.2 assists per game, which eclipses the 12.9 it accomplished last season.

• The Hoosiers made (9.9) and took (24.8) the highest number of 3-pointers it ever has.

JAMES BLACKMON, JR.
Sophomore guard James Blackmon, Jr., (15.8 ppg) is out for the season after he had surgery on his right knee. In his two years with the Hoosiers, IU is 21-0 anytime he shot 47.0 percent or higher from the field.   He is the Big Ten sophomore class career leader in scoring averaging 15.7 ppg.

IU INSIGHT
• Senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell has started an IU record 134 games and will tie former teammate Jordan Hulls (135, 2009-13) as the IU career leader in games played against Chattanooga.

• Indiana has made 316 3-point field goals in 32 games and need 4 more triples to break the school record of 319 set last season.

• Since the 2011-12 season (170 games), the Hoosier offense is first in the Big Ten in points scored (77.6), field goal percentage (47.8), and 3-point field goal percentage (40.2).

• Tom Crean (2) joins Tom Izzo and Thad Matta (3) as active Big Ten coaches with multiple outright league titles.

• The Hoosiers have made 347 three-point field goals in conference play the last two seasons, which is 21 more than any other major college program (Villanova, 3269).

ODDS AND TRENDS
• Senior graduate transfer Max Bielfeldt is the first Big Ten hoops player to win championships at two different league schools (Michigan 2, IU 1). He is averaging 8.0 points and 4.5 rebounds. He had his second double-double with 15 points and 10 boards at MSU. He had 16 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and three steals against Illinois. His best day as a collegian came at Rutgers, when he recorded 18 points, 14 rebounds, two assists and two steals off the bench. He has shot 43.9% (25-of-57) from long distance this season.

• Sophomore Robert Johnson is shooting 43.6 percent from 3-point range.   He forced a game-winning steal in the final seconds at home against Wisconsin. He had 16 points and six rebounds at Michigan and had 13 points against Iowa and Nebraska. He is second on the team in assists (88). His former high school teammate, Jackson White (Richmond, Va./Benedictine) plays for Chattanooga.

• Senior Nick Zeisloft is second on the team in 3-point field goals with 61 made. He made his third straight start and had nine points against Maryland, 11 at Iowa, and 14 at Illinois. He finished with 15 points at Minnesota and led the Hoosiers with 14 points at Penn State. He is shooting 52.7% from long distance this season and 45.5% in the last five games.

• Freshman Thomas Bryant had 14 points and 8 rebounds at Illinois and his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds at Iowa. He is a two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week honoree. He had a career-high 23 points at home against Minnesota. He had his first career double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds against OSU. He leads the Big Ten in field goal shooting, making 68.6% of his attempts.

• Junior Troy Williams tied his career-high with a 23-point effort against Maryland (also had 23 against OSU this season. He had 15 points and seven rebounds at Iowa. He was B1G Player of the Week after scoring 18 against Nebraska and 19 versus Purdue (2/22). He has made 21 3-point field goals this season after making 12 total during his first two years with the Hoosiers.
• Junior Collin Hartman started 16 B1G games this season and averaged 5.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in those games. He is shooting 41.7% in Big Ten play from 3-point range combined over the last two seasons. That is the third-highest total among players who have taken more than 75 3-point attempts in the last two years in the league.

• Freshman OG Anunoby had a career-high 13 points against Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament. He had 11 points at Nebraska, at Wisconsin and at Michigan. He has shot 52.8 percent from the field and made 9-of-22 3-point field goal attempts. He had six points and six rebounds at Iowa.

• Freshman Juwan Morgan had five points and five boards at Iowa and hit the go-ahead free throws with 3:16 to go. He had a career-high 12 points against Nebraska and also added 5 rebounds. He also had 7 points in the win over Northwestern. He has made a three-point field goal in four of the last five games. He had six points and four rebounds against Maryland.

• Senior walk-on Ryan Burton played 10 minutes against Rutgers and scored a career-high six points on a pair of 3-point field goals. He also hit a 3-pointer against Northwestern. Freshman walk-on Harrison Niego played seven minutes at home against Iowa and had a basket and took a charge. He has averaged 6.1 minutes in the last five games. Former manager Jackson Tharp is now on the 2015-16 roster. Tharp has been an undergraduate manager at IU since the 2012. He had an assist in his first game against Illinois.