Indiana University Athletics
IU Carries High Aspirations Into NCAAs
3/17/2016 1:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com
DES MOINES, Iowa - Indiana's players and staff take pride in winning the Big Ten Championship outright. They really do.
The program's 22nd conference championship is already noted on the league banner hanging at Assembly Hall. Nobody's going to take it down.
But there's a different kind of banner that garners more attention—one celebrating a national champion.
"If you ask someone who won the national championship in 2013 and who won the Big Ten in 2013, they're going to remember the national champion," fifth-year senior forward Max Bielfeldt said. "That's how it goes."
No. 5 Indiana's road to being remembered begins against No. 12 Chattanooga Thursday at 7:10 p.m. in Des Moines, Iowa. Four teams playing at Wells Fargo Arena—Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky—have combined for 20 national championships already.
But it's the Southern Conference champion Chattanooga Mocs (29-5) that stand in the way first. The Hoosiers (25-7) have gone out of their way to say they can't overlook the Mocs in the opening round at risk of an early exit.
"They've totally stayed immersed on who their next opponent is and have totally immersed on getting better," head coach Tom Crean said Wednesday.
Senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell said Chattanooga is longer than the majority of teams Indiana has played this season. They're also the 17th-most experienced program in the country, according to KenPom.com.
Chattanooga has a balanced scoring attack led by juniors Tre' McLean and Justin Tuoyo lead the way averaging 12.3 and 11.1 points per game, respectively. McLean was named First Team All-Southern Conference while Tuoyo earned the conference's Defensive Player of the Year nod for the second time in his career.
First-year head coach Matt McCall, a member of the Billy Donovan coaching tree, primarily uses and eight-man rotation that's comfortable causing havoc with a variety of presses. Chattanooga forces its opponents to turn the ball over on 20.3 percent of its possessions, ranking 54th in the country, and Indiana has continued to improve on limiting its own turnovers as the season progressed.
Sophomore guard Robert Johnson, who said he's feeling healthy after suffering a high ankle sprain that's held him out of his last four games, said the Hoosiers will need to make confident, smart passes in space to beat whatever presses are thrown at them.
"What it comes down to is executing," he said. "Our coaches gave us a couple of extra things to work on against the press. If we do those things, we should be good."
Ferrell, Indiana's primary ball handler, said he's ready to log some miles should the Mocs test IU's tempo.
"If they press, I've got my running shoes on," Ferrell said. "That's for sure."
Historically, there have been No 12 seeds that have upset No. 5 seeds, but none of those occured last year. Regardless, the Hoosiers have made it clear they're aware of the danger surrounding the first matchup. March isn't the time of year to start overlooking anything.
"If we don't play an outstanding game, there is no next game for us," Crean said. "It's not because of it being one-and-done or because of March Madness, it's because Chattanooga is good."
DES MOINES, Iowa - Indiana's players and staff take pride in winning the Big Ten Championship outright. They really do.
The program's 22nd conference championship is already noted on the league banner hanging at Assembly Hall. Nobody's going to take it down.
But there's a different kind of banner that garners more attention—one celebrating a national champion.
"If you ask someone who won the national championship in 2013 and who won the Big Ten in 2013, they're going to remember the national champion," fifth-year senior forward Max Bielfeldt said. "That's how it goes."
No. 5 Indiana's road to being remembered begins against No. 12 Chattanooga Thursday at 7:10 p.m. in Des Moines, Iowa. Four teams playing at Wells Fargo Arena—Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas and Kentucky—have combined for 20 national championships already.
But it's the Southern Conference champion Chattanooga Mocs (29-5) that stand in the way first. The Hoosiers (25-7) have gone out of their way to say they can't overlook the Mocs in the opening round at risk of an early exit.
"They've totally stayed immersed on who their next opponent is and have totally immersed on getting better," head coach Tom Crean said Wednesday.
Senior guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell said Chattanooga is longer than the majority of teams Indiana has played this season. They're also the 17th-most experienced program in the country, according to KenPom.com.
Chattanooga has a balanced scoring attack led by juniors Tre' McLean and Justin Tuoyo lead the way averaging 12.3 and 11.1 points per game, respectively. McLean was named First Team All-Southern Conference while Tuoyo earned the conference's Defensive Player of the Year nod for the second time in his career.
First-year head coach Matt McCall, a member of the Billy Donovan coaching tree, primarily uses and eight-man rotation that's comfortable causing havoc with a variety of presses. Chattanooga forces its opponents to turn the ball over on 20.3 percent of its possessions, ranking 54th in the country, and Indiana has continued to improve on limiting its own turnovers as the season progressed.
Sophomore guard Robert Johnson, who said he's feeling healthy after suffering a high ankle sprain that's held him out of his last four games, said the Hoosiers will need to make confident, smart passes in space to beat whatever presses are thrown at them.
"What it comes down to is executing," he said. "Our coaches gave us a couple of extra things to work on against the press. If we do those things, we should be good."
Ferrell, Indiana's primary ball handler, said he's ready to log some miles should the Mocs test IU's tempo.
"If they press, I've got my running shoes on," Ferrell said. "That's for sure."
Historically, there have been No 12 seeds that have upset No. 5 seeds, but none of those occured last year. Regardless, the Hoosiers have made it clear they're aware of the danger surrounding the first matchup. March isn't the time of year to start overlooking anything.
"If we don't play an outstanding game, there is no next game for us," Crean said. "It's not because of it being one-and-done or because of March Madness, it's because Chattanooga is good."
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