Indiana University
Northwestern
NOTES: IU Opens Big Ten Play Wednesday Night Against Northwestern
12/22/2020 1:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Indiana University is in its 121st season of competition in men's basketball and opens the doors of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for the 50th season. The Hoosiers will open the Big Ten season against Northwestern, who is coming off a 79-65 win over #4 Michigan State in Evanston in its Big Ten opener. IU and North Carolina will be the only Power 5 teams to play at least 5 of their 7 non-conference home games on an away or neutral court. IU is coming off a 68-60 win over Butler in Indianapolis at the Crossroads Classic. IU is rated 8th by KenPom in adjusted defense, 16th overall and 47th in strength of schedule, which is the highest rated in the Big Ten.
GAME INFORMATION
Wednesday, Dec. 23 • 8:30 p.m. ET
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall • Bloomington, Ind.
TV: BTN (Brandon Gaudin and Jess Settles)
Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, Joe Smith) | TuneIn
Series History: Indiana leads, 118-52
Last Meeting: at IU 66, NU 62; 1/8/20
THE COACHES
Indiana Coach Archie Miller is in his fourth season of guiding the Cream and Crimson and is 60-45 with the Hoosiers. He is 199-108 in nine+ 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 4-0 as the IU coach at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Northwestern's Chris Collins is in his 8th season and has a 113-118 record.
JACKSON-DAVIS STARTS SEASON STRONG
Sophomore forward Trayce Jackson-Davis was named All-Tournament at the Maui Invitational and Big Ten Player of the Week (Dec. 7) and is averaging 21.0 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting 53.8% from the field. His most dominant performance was a 25-point, 17-rebound effort at Florida State. He had a career-high 31 points in the win over Stanford in the 3rd place game at Maui. He is a Preseason All-Big Ten pick and has been named to several Preseason All-American teams and is on the watch lists for the Wooden, Naismith and Malone Awards. Last year, he was named third team All-Big Ten and was selected to the All-Freshman team. He had 12 double-doubles, the most since D.J. White had 20 in 2007-08. Davis, a Greenwood native and a graduate of Center Grove, was just one of four freshman nationally a year ago to lead his team in scoring, rebounds, FG percentage, FT made and FT attempted and blocked shots. The Hoosiers are 12-2 when he records a double-double. He is averaging 21.8 points and 8.4 rebounds in his last 5 games. He is the only Hoosier in the last 25 years to have 3 games of 25 points and 15 rebounds (at Minnesota, Nebraska). He leads the B1G in FTs made (49) and attempts (69). He had 21 points, 8 boards and a career-high 5 blocks against Butler.
ARMAAN'S HOT
Sophomore Armaan Franklin followed up his career-high 19-point performance against North Alabama with a 20-point effort against Butler. He hit 5 of 7 3-pointers and added 3 assists and two steals. In the last two games, he is averaging 19.5 points and 4 assists. He has hit 10 of 14 triples (71.4) in that time frame. He is the first IU player since James Blackmon to hit 5 or more 3's in consecutive games (1/18/17 vs. Penn State and 1/21/17 vs. Michigan State). He is shooting 46.2 from long distance.
QUICK HITS
IU returns seven of its top nine scorers, including four starters. 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.
