IU to Battle Defending ACC Champion Florida State in ACC/Big Ten Challenge

BLOOMINGTON, Ind – Another rematch is in store for the second time in three years for the IU men's basketball program. The Hoosiers will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. to face a rematch from last season with defending ACC Champion Florida State in the 22^nd edition of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The game will be played on Wednesday, December 9.

• IU is 5-0 all-time against FSU. The Hoosiers captured last year's meeting with the 17^th ranked Seminoles, 80-64, in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. This will be the teams first meeting on FSU's home court.

• Indiana will return seven of its top nine scorers, including four starters, and welcomes a top recruiting class under Coach Archie Miller as the Hoosiers begin their fourth year under his guidance. Last year, IU was on the brink of earning its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2016 before the COVID-19 pandemic halted post season play after one game. The Hoosiers finished the season with a 20-12 record.

• Sophomore preseason All-American forward Trayce Jackson-Davis is back after leading the team with 13.5 points and 8.4 rebounds. Senior guard Aljami Durham returns along with his 71 career starts. The Georgia native averaged 9.8 points. Senior center Joey Brunk averaged 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in 32 starts. Junior guard Rob Phinisee has made 45 career starts and averaged 7.3 points and led the team with 93 assists.

• Junior forward Race Thompson, sophomore wing Jerome Hunter and sophomore guard Armaan Franklin give IU a deep returning cast. Freshman guard Khristian Lander is the top recruit for a class that was one of the best in the Big Ten.

• The Seminoles return three starters – M.J. Walker, RaiQuan Gray and Malik Osborne – and welcome back 13 players who helped them win the ACC Championship in 2020. Walker is Florida State's leading returning scorer as he averaged a career-high 10.6 points per game. Freshman Scottie Barnes – one of the top freshman in the country – begins his Seminole career for the 2020-21. He has earned both preseason All-American Third Team and preseason All-ACC First Team honors by CBS Sports.

• Florida State's 26 wins in 2020 is the school record for wins in a regular season while their five losses were the fewest in a season since the 1969-70 season. Florida State finished the season with a school record 16 ACC wins and won the regular season ACC Championship for the first time in school history. The Seminoles' 16 wins is the most wins in an ACC season in Florida State history as they became just the sixth team in ACC history to win at least 16 ACC games in a single regular season. Florida State was ranked No. 4 nationally in the final Associated Press poll and No. 5 nationally in the final USA Today Coaches poll of the season.

• IU's first meeting versus the Seminoles came in December 1975 when the eventual undefeated national champions won, 83-59, in Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

• The Hoosiers also battled FSU in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 1991 and 1992. IU won in Louisville, 82-60, in 1991 and 85-74 in Albuquerque in 1992 on their way to the Final Four.

• IU is 8-11 in Challenge games. FSU is 9-12 and saw its three-game Challenge winning streak end last year in Bloomington.

• ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU will combine to televise all 14 games of the event, and all games will also be available to stream via the ESPN app.

IU to Battle Defending ACC Champion Florida State in ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Players Mentioned

Joey Brunk

Aljami Durham

Armaan Franklin

Jerome Hunter

Trayce Jackson-Davis

Khristian Lander

Rob Phinisee

Race Thompson

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