Indiana University
Louisiana Tech
NOTES: #iubb Continues Indiana Challenge by Hosting Louisiana Tech
11/23/2019 11:34:00 AM | Men's Basketball
OPENING TIP
Indiana University is in its 120th season of competition in men's basketball and will host Louisiana Tech on Monday in the third game of the Indiana Challenge. The Hoosiers are coming off a 79-54 win over Princeton in the second game of the challenge. IU earlier defeated Troy in the event, 100-64. A victory on Monday would give IU a 6-0 start for the first time since the 2012-13 season when they started the year 9-0. IU is 2-0 all-time against Louisiana Tech having defeated the Bulldogs, 84-63 in 1995 and 73-44 in 1996. Both games were in Assembly Hall.
GAME INFORMATION
Monday, Nov. 25 • 8:30 p.m.
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222)
TV: BTN (Kevin Kugler and Shon Morris) | Watch Online
Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, Joe Smith) | TuneIn
Series History: IU leads, 2-0
Last Meeting: at IU 73, LTU 44; 12/13/96
THE COACHES
Indiana Coach Archie Miller begins his third season of guiding the Cream and Crimson. Last year, the Hoosiers finished 19-16 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT. He is 179-94 in eight-plus years as a head coach, which includes six years at the University of Dayton. His Flyer teams made NCAA Tournament appearances in each of his last four seasons, including a trip to the Elite Eight in 2014. He is 40-31 at IU. Eric Konkol is in his 5th year of leading the Bulldogs and is 87-56 leading them to 3-20-win seasons in the last 4 years. Louisiana Tech defeated N. Alabama, 82-61 at home, Friday.
NEWS & NOTES
Junior Justin Smith is averaging a team-high 16.3 points and adds 5.0 rebounds and leads the team in steals with 10. He is averaging 18.0 points in the last 2 games and is shooting 77.8% from the field making 14 of 18 field goal attempts in that time. Junior Al Durham is second on the team averaging 14.6 points and is one of 20 players in the country to not miss a free throw yet (14/14). He is shooting 61.0% from the field and 50.0% from three-point range. Freshman Trayce Jackson-Davis is averaging 13.8 points and a team-high 8.4 rebounds. He leads the team shooting 76.7% from the floor. He has made 11 of 12 shots in the last two games and was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week on November 18.
ODDS AND TRENDS
The Hoosiers leading returning scorer, senior Devonte Green, made his season debut against Troy and contributed 6 points and 4 assists in 20 minutes. He followed that up with 16 points off the bench against Princeton and had 4 assists. He had been out for a month with a hamstring injury. IU's defense has been dominant in the second half of games limiting opponents to 34.1% shooting from the field and 22.9% accuracy from three-point range in the final 20 minutes. Nine of the 11 scholarship players for the Hoosiers have scored in double figures in at least one game this season.
The Hoosiers rank 5th in the country in field goal percentage shooting a Big Ten-best 54.0%. IU also is 5th in the nation in free throws made (129), 6th in scoring offense (90.0) and free throw attempts (147), 10th in scoring margin (27.0) and 18th in rebound margin (+11.8). The Hoosiers also are 2nd in the Big Ten in fewest turnovers per game (11.0).
