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IndyHutch

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Everything posted by IndyHutch

  1. I can’t really say I expected Indiana to beat Duke Wednesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The writing was on the wall. Defending national champs. A winning streak of 120 games against non-conference foes. A 6-0 record at home in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. A No. 7 national ranking against a team that had fallen out of the rankings last week. No, this one never felt right going in. At the same time, I didn’t expect this either. I didn’t expect Indiana to lay down. I didn’t expect the Hoosiers to roll over. I didn’t expect this Measuring Stick game to turn into an outcome that made you feel like the two programs were light years apart. The big question today is where does Indiana basketball go from here? With the exception of the Notre Dame game, the other four remaining non-conference opponents hardly will be foes to lose sleep over. And so very likely Indiana will head into Big Ten play with a record of 9-4 or maybe 10-3. But what does it all mean? Maybe, what does it all matter? The bottom line here is if Indiana doesn’t defend better than it has in the first eight games, this will be a team that will be firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble at best come mid-March. And that’s if the all the stars were to align just right. The reality is, take away the first 10 minutes Wednesday night, and Indiana was a work in progress at best. That one was hard to watch. I’ve read all the postings on Social Media in the last few hours after Indiana lost to Duke Wednesday night 94-74 and while people are absolutely losing their minds, it’s hard not to argue with a lot of the sentiment. This team has talent. A lot of talent. And yet, they simply don’t defend at the rate they need to defend. They don’t even defend at an average rate. You have to be passionate to play defense and it’s just not there. Every opponent Indiana plays, whether it’s Duke or Alcorn State, simply drives the ball to the basket one time after another against Indiana and no one gets in the way. SOMEBODY GET IN THE WAY. SOMEBODY MAKE A PLAY. SOMEBODY GET OUT ON A 3-POINT SHOOTER. SOMEBODY SHOW SOME PASSION. You can single out one or two players if you want but this is a team thing. These guys simply do not defend. And the reality is that simple fact makes it in turn very difficult to defend what is Indiana basketball right now. There is simply no defense for what we are witnessing first hand right now. But I still come back to where does IU basketball go from here? What is it going to take for this group of individuals to realize that they have to play defense differently than how they are playing it right now? Maui certainly didn’t serve as the wakeup call that many thought it would. Will Duke do it? I really don’t know. I can’t understand why it takes anything to motivate you to play better on the defensive end. This should be a pride thing. This should be an IU basketball thing. But right now there’s a major disconnect. And the reality is, with the schedule that IU has left to play before the Big Ten opener at Rutgers on Dec. 30, there is going to be no way to know if Indiana is indeed able to improve heading into conference play. And that single point is a very frustrating one.
  2. I didn't expect Indiana to beat Duke Wednesday night. But I didn't expect the Hoosiers to roll over and play dead either. Here is my take following a disappointing effort in a 94-74 loss to No. 7 Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. I can’t really say I expected Indiana to beat Duke Wednesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.   The writing was on the wall. Defending national champs. A winning streak of 120 games against non-conference foes. A 6-0 record at home in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. A No. 7 national ranking against a team that had fallen out of the rankings last week.   No, this one never felt right going in.   At the same time, I didn’t expect this either.   I didn’t expect Indiana to lay down. I didn’t expect the Hoosiers to roll over. I didn’t expect this Measuring Stick game to turn into an outcome that made you feel like the two programs were light years apart.   The big question today is where does Indiana basketball go from here? With the exception of the Notre Dame game, the other four remaining non-conference opponents hardly will be foes to lose sleep over. And so very likely Indiana will head into Big Ten play with a record of 9-4 or maybe 10-3.   But what does it all mean? Maybe, what does it all matter?   The bottom line here is if Indiana doesn’t defend better than it has in the first eight games, this will be a team that will be firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble at best come mid-March. And that’s if the all the stars were to align just right. The reality is, take away the first 10 minutes Wednesday night, and Indiana was a work in progress at best.   That one was hard to watch. I’ve read all the postings on Social Media in the last few hours after Indiana lost to Duke Wednesday night 94-74 and while people are absolutely losing their minds, it’s hard not to argue with a lot of the sentiment.   This team has talent. A lot of talent. And yet, they simply don’t defend at the rate they need to defend. They don’t even defend at an average rate. You have to be passionate to play defense and it’s just not there. Every opponent Indiana plays, whether it’s Duke or Alcorn State, simply drives the ball to the basket one time after another against Indiana and no one gets in the way.   SOMEBODY GET IN THE WAY. SOMEBODY MAKE A PLAY. SOMEBODY GET OUT ON A 3-POINT SHOOTER. SOMEBODY SHOW SOME PASSION.   You can single out one or two players if you want but this is a team thing. These guys simply do not defend. And the reality is that simple fact makes it in turn very difficult to defend what is Indiana basketball right now.   There is simply no defense for what we are witnessing first hand right now.   But I still come back to where does IU basketball go from here? What is it going to take for this group of individuals to realize that they have to play defense differently than how they are playing it right now?   Maui certainly didn’t serve as the wakeup call that many thought it would.   Will Duke do it? I really don’t know. I can’t understand why it takes anything to motivate you to play better on the defensive end. This should be a pride thing. This should be an IU basketball thing.   But right now there’s a major disconnect. And the reality is, with the schedule that IU has left to play before the Big Ten opener at Rutgers on Dec. 30, there is going to be no way to know if Indiana is indeed able to improve heading into conference play.   And that single point is a very frustrating one. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/analysis-where-does-indiana-basketball-go-from-r279]Click here to view the article[/url]
  3. True show of hands please. How many people were really confident that Indiana would go into Iowa City Tuesday night and knock off the No. 16 Iowa Hawkeyes and win the outright Big Ten championship? C’mon, tell the truth. How many of you really expected that to happen? I’ll be honest. I didn’t really see it coming. I thought Indiana would win the outright Big Ten title this week but I expected the Hoosiers to do it at Assembly Hall against Maryland on Sunday where IU is 16-0 this season. I expected it to happen at what would be a Hoosier Lovefest on Yogi’s Senior Night. What I didn’t expect was the final outcome Tuesday night. Indiana 81, Iowa 78. The Hoosiers are outright Big Ten champs for the second time in four seasons. In the previous 19 seasons, Indiana had shared the Big Ten title once and that was in 2002 when IU went 11-5 and shared it with several teams in Mike Davis’s second season in Bloomington. With 14 wins IU has now equaled the most wins by an IU team in close to forever. The 2013 team won 14 games. So did 2008, Kelvin Sampson’s final group before he was shown the door and team was hit with NCAA sanctions. The 1992 Hoosiers with Calbert Cheaney and company also won 14 games. And IU has one game to play to reach that 15-win Big Ten plateau. The last time IU won 15 or more Big Ten games was 1993, the year Alan Henderson tore his ACL in practice before the Purdue game at a time when IU was 13-0. That year, the Hoosiers were 17-1 in the Big Ten. But to say that I’m a little surprised that Indiana is sitting here today at 14-3 in the Big Ten and outright champs with one emotional game to be played on Sunday would be a huge understatement. Tuesday night just seemed like the Perfect Storm set up in Iowa’s favor. Iowa was reeling and in a must-win situation in order to get its season back turned around. The Hawkeyes were playing at home where the crowd at Carver-Hawkeye would certainly be able to will Iowa to a crucial home victory, right? It was Senior Night, an emotional night to send off four of its own including guys like Jarrod Uthoff, Anthony Clemons, Adam Woodbury and Mike Gesell, who by himself seems as if he’s been at Iowa about 10 seasons. It seems like Jess Settles all over again. It was a national television audience and Iowa had a chance at revenge against an Indiana team that started Iowa on this bad streak it had been on over the past three weeks when the Hoosiers won on Feb. 11 at Assembly Hall. This was expected to be the perfect payback for an Iowa team that needed to win to boost its national ranking, its potential seeds in both the Big Ten and upcoming NCAA Tournaments and get back on track toward at least sharing a conference title for the first time since 1979. And it was playing an IU team that was essentially a man down with Robert Johnson missing his second game after injuring his ankle against Purdue. Often times a team can rally around the loss of player for that next game (in this case a road tilt last week at Illinois) but to have to make up for the loss of a starting guard for two games in a row was a tall order. And the first time the two teams had played Johnson had scored 11 points and knocked down three 3-pointers. He had been a solid contributor. No, it just seemed like the deck was stacked against Indiana. When asked by my friends for a pregame prediction I said I thought Iowa would cover the 5-point spread and win by around 8. It just didn’t seem like a good matchup for the Hoosiers. But take out the broom. Indiana swept Iowa. The Hoosiers will go down as the only Big Ten team that this group of Iowa seniors did not have a home victory against in their careers. Indiana did it Tuesday night by defying all the odds. The Hoosiers really shot the ball well on the road for about 35 minutes including hitting one timely long range bomb after another. IU did it despite an almost overwhelming foul differential. I’d be interested in what non-IU fans watching that game as a unbiased observer felt about the foul disparity. To me it didn’t seem like IU got a fair shake and I’ll admit it’s nice to say that after a victory so it doesn’t like sour grapes. There were a couple of plays late that made absolutely no sense including Colin Hartman’s fifth foul and that drive to the basket by Yogi where he gets slapped on the arm but there’s no call. In many ways, it felt like the officials kind of got caught up in the wave of emotion inside of Carver-Hawkeye. Again, it’s nice to be able to make those observations and not sound like sour grapes because the Hoosiers lost. And they did almost lose but found a way to overcome a couple of critical errors in the closing seconds. It didn’t hurt that Iowa missed 12 of its final 13 shots including the 3 at the buzzer to tie. I still can’t believe that Yogi missed both of those free throws late (or that Thomas Bryant got the offensive rebound after the second miss). And I just expected more out of Max Bielfeldt than that lazy pass he through in the direction of Nick Zeisloft with IU protecting a 3-point lead with 6 seconds remaining. Still, truly there were many more positives than negatives for Indiana in this one. Now, Indiana will hold its collective breath until we find out the severity of Juwan Morgan’s shoulder injury. One thing positive on that front was the mention in the postgame that this was a recurring injury for Morgan. So at least it is something he has dealt with in the past. But man, the way he has played of late Indiana really needs him in the lineup at the very least in the Big Ten Tournament and beyond. I still am curious though how many of you really saw that one coming Tuesday night? I’d like to see that show of hands for those who were really confident (not just wishful or hopeful but confident) that IU would come out of Carver-Hawkeye with the outright Big Ten title.
  4. I'm sure there were a lot of IU fans that were wishful or hopeful that Indiana could knock of Iowa on Senior Night before a national television audience in Carver-Hawkeye, but I can't believe a lot were super confident. All I can say is this IU team continues to impress me in ways I never expected. Here is my take on IU's 81-78 win Tuesday night. True show of hands please. How many people were really confident that Indiana would go into Iowa City Tuesday night and knock off the No. 16 Iowa Hawkeyes and win the outright Big Ten championship?   C’mon, tell the truth. How many of you really expected that to happen?   I’ll be honest. I didn’t really see it coming. I thought Indiana would win the outright Big Ten title this week but I expected the Hoosiers to do it at Assembly Hall against Maryland on Sunday where IU is 16-0 this season. I expected it to happen at what would be a Hoosier Lovefest on Yogi’s Senior Night. What I didn’t expect was the final outcome Tuesday night.   Indiana 81, Iowa 78.   The Hoosiers are outright Big Ten champs for the second time in four seasons. In the previous 19 seasons, Indiana had shared the Big Ten title once and that was in 2002 when IU went 11-5 and shared it with several teams in Mike Davis’s second season in Bloomington.   With 14 wins IU has now equaled the most wins by an IU team in close to forever. The 2013 team won 14 games. So did 2008, Kelvin Sampson’s final group before he was shown the door and team was hit with NCAA sanctions. The 1992 Hoosiers with Calbert Cheaney and company also won 14 games.   And IU has one game to play to reach that 15-win Big Ten plateau. The last time IU won 15 or more Big Ten games was 1993, the year Alan Henderson tore his ACL in practice before the Purdue game at a time when IU was 13-0. That year, the Hoosiers were 17-1 in the Big Ten.   But to say that I’m a little surprised that Indiana is sitting here today at 14-3 in the Big Ten and outright champs with one emotional game to be played on Sunday would be a huge understatement.   Tuesday night just seemed like the Perfect Storm set up in Iowa’s favor. Iowa was reeling and in a must-win situation in order to get its season back turned around. The Hawkeyes were playing at home where the crowd at Carver-Hawkeye would certainly be able to will Iowa to a crucial home victory, right?   It was Senior Night, an emotional night to send off four of its own including guys like Jarrod Uthoff, Anthony Clemons, Adam Woodbury and Mike Gesell, who by himself seems as if he’s been at Iowa about 10 seasons. It seems like Jess Settles all over again.   It was a national television audience and Iowa had a chance at revenge against an Indiana team that started Iowa on this bad streak it had been on over the past three weeks when the Hoosiers won on Feb. 11 at Assembly Hall.   This was expected to be the perfect payback for an Iowa team that needed to win to boost its national ranking, its potential seeds in both the Big Ten and upcoming NCAA Tournaments and get back on track toward at least sharing a conference title for the first time since 1979.   And it was playing an IU team that was essentially a man down with Robert Johnson missing his second game after injuring his ankle against Purdue. Often times a team can rally around the loss of player for that next game (in this case a road tilt last week at Illinois) but to have to make up for the loss of a starting guard for two games in a row was a tall order. And the first time the two teams had played Johnson had scored 11 points and knocked down three 3-pointers. He had been a solid contributor.   No, it just seemed like the deck was stacked against Indiana. When asked by my friends for a pregame prediction I said I thought Iowa would cover the 5-point spread and win by around 8. It just didn’t seem like a good matchup for the Hoosiers.   But take out the broom. Indiana swept Iowa. The Hoosiers will go down as the only Big Ten team that this group of Iowa seniors did not have a home victory against in their careers.   Indiana did it Tuesday night by defying all the odds. The Hoosiers really shot the ball well on the road for about 35 minutes including hitting one timely long range bomb after another. IU did it despite an almost overwhelming foul differential. I’d be interested in what non-IU fans watching that game as a unbiased observer felt about the foul disparity. To me it didn’t seem like IU got a fair shake and I’ll admit it’s nice to say that after a victory so it doesn’t like sour grapes. There were a couple of plays late that made absolutely no sense including Colin Hartman’s fifth foul and that drive to the basket by Yogi where he gets slapped on the arm but there’s no call. In many ways, it felt like the officials kind of got caught up in the wave of emotion inside of Carver-Hawkeye.   Again, it’s nice to be able to make those observations and not sound like sour grapes because the Hoosiers lost. And they did almost lose but found a way to overcome a couple of critical errors in the closing seconds. It didn’t hurt that Iowa missed 12 of its final 13 shots including the 3 at the buzzer to tie.   I still can’t believe that Yogi missed both of those free throws late (or that Thomas Bryant got the offensive rebound after the second miss). And I just expected more out of Max Bielfeldt than that lazy pass he through in the direction of Nick Zeisloft with IU protecting a 3-point lead with 6 seconds remaining.   Still, truly there were many more positives than negatives for Indiana in this one.   Now, Indiana will hold its collective breath until we find out the severity of Juwan Morgan’s shoulder injury. One thing positive on that front was the mention in the postgame that this was a recurring injury for Morgan. So at least it is something he has dealt with in the past. But man, the way he has played of late Indiana really needs him in the lineup at the very least in the Big Ten Tournament and beyond.   I still am curious though how many of you really saw that one coming Tuesday night? I’d like to see that show of hands for those who were really confident (not just wishful or hopeful but confident) that IU would come out of Carver-Hawkeye with the outright Big Ten title. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis-how-many-people-really-expected-iu-to-r315]Click here to view the article[/url]
  5. I don't think it's a product of being positive or being negative, I just didn't expect Iowa to continue on its 3-week train wreck portion of the season. But the Hawkeyes did just that. I wonder if Iowa wins another game THIS SEASON!
  6. This is a big perception week for Indiana basketball. The Hoosiers have already locked up a share of their 22nd Big Ten championship in history. IU and Purdue are now tied for the most Big Ten titles all time at 22. Indiana is moving up in the polls and is now ranked No. 12 in the nation, just on the outside of the top 10. Indiana has won three in a row and has a full two-game lead over the pack in conference play with two games to go. In many ways, Indiana is like a program screaming out to poll voters and the NCAA Selection Committee members, “Hey, look at me!” What happens this week, however, could go a long way toward determining what IU’s ultimate seed in the NCAA Tournament will be. The Hoosiers are at Iowa on Tuesday and home against Maryland on Senior Night on Sunday. In today’s Associated Press top 25 poll, the Hoosiers have moved ahead of both the Hawkeyes (No. 16) and the Terrapins (No. 14). But in the latest Bracketology offering by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, Indiana remains a No. 5 seed while Iowa is a 4 and Maryland is a 3. Bottom line: Indiana’s resume still needs a bump or two. Beating either Iowa or Maryland, or both, this week could definitely provide that bump. At the same time, a loss to either or both, could be damaging as well. Prior to this week, I didn’t have a real problem with the No. 5 seed. When I would justify it, I would point out that Indiana was ranked No. 18 in the nation and if you looked at it from a ranking standpoint then the top 16 ranked teams should probably be considered for top 4 seeds. A ranking between 17 and 20 would be about a No. 5 seed. But now at No. 12 I have a more difficult time with the No. 5 seed. Especially if Indiana ends up winning the Big Ten title outright this week and is the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament it just seems to me that the Hoosiers would deserve a top 4 seed. One thing working in Indiana’s favor this week is that with games left just against Iowa and Maryland, it isn’t possible for the Hoosiers to have a bad loss on their resume at least heading into the Big Ten Tournament. Beating Iowa on the road, despite the fact that the Hawkeyes have struggled of late and have lost four of the last five, is still not going to be an easy task. One thing that probably helps the Hoosiers in that one is that Iowa played Sunday on the road and now plays again 48 hours later. Indiana hasn’t played since Thursday. Still, the reality is that Iowa has a lot to play for, too. This one is in the must-win category for the Hawkeyes compared to it being an important perception game for the Hoosiers. But if Iowa lost again, it could easily slip into the middle of the pack range for the Big Ten Tournament and beyond. Which means Indiana will be playing a desperate Iowa team on Tuesday night. The Maryland game on Sunday will be incredibly important for both teams. For the Terrapins it would be a huge road win against the Big Ten’s only unbeaten team at home in Indiana. For the Hoosiers, regardless of how they do on Tuesday at Iowa, it will be big because of attempting to maintain that perfect record at home and the fact that it will be the final home game for a player like Yogi Ferrell. It will just be an emotional day. The one thing we can all agree on is that this week is a huge perception week for Indiana basketball. Find a way to win two games and Indiana will have won 15 Big Ten games for the first time since 1991. That would be a huge accomplishment considering where this team looked to be headed after that 20-point loss at Duke in early December that dropped it to 5-3 on the season. Winning at least a share of the Big Ten title this season is already a huge accomplishment. But that performance could be amped up measurably by winning either one or two games this week. Even at 14-4, standing alone as the top team outright in the Big Ten would be big for the Hoosiers. One thing is certain: There is a great deal of anticipation from Hoosier Nation heading into Tuesday night’s game. The stars have seemed aligned in recent weeks for Indiana basketball. Will that continue this week?
  7. Indiana basketball has locked up at least a share of its 22nd Big Ten basketball championship. The Hoosiers are ranked No. 12 in the nation this week but remain a No. 5 seed in the latest Bracketology. With games against Iowa and Maryland to wrap up the regular season, this will be a huge week in terms of perception. This is a big perception week for Indiana basketball.   The Hoosiers have already locked up a share of their 22nd Big Ten championship in history. IU and Purdue are now tied for the most Big Ten titles all time at 22.   Indiana is moving up in the polls and is now ranked No. 12 in the nation, just on the outside of the top 10. Indiana has won three in a row and has a full two-game lead over the pack in conference play with two games to go.   In many ways, Indiana is like a program screaming out to poll voters and the NCAA Selection Committee members, “Hey, look at me!”   What happens this week, however, could go a long way toward determining what IU’s ultimate seed in the NCAA Tournament will be. The Hoosiers are at Iowa on Tuesday and home against Maryland on Senior Night on Sunday.   In today’s Associated Press top 25 poll, the Hoosiers have moved ahead of both the Hawkeyes (No. 16) and the Terrapins (No. 14).   But in the latest Bracketology offering by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, Indiana remains a No. 5 seed while Iowa is a 4 and Maryland is a 3.   Bottom line: Indiana’s resume still needs a bump or two. Beating either Iowa or Maryland, or both, this week could definitely provide that bump.   At the same time, a loss to either or both, could be damaging as well.   Prior to this week, I didn’t have a real problem with the No. 5 seed. When I would justify it, I would point out that Indiana was ranked No. 18 in the nation and if you looked at it from a ranking standpoint then the top 16 ranked teams should probably be considered for top 4 seeds. A ranking between 17 and 20 would be about a No. 5 seed.   But now at No. 12 I have a more difficult time with the No. 5 seed. Especially if Indiana ends up winning the Big Ten title outright this week and is the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament it just seems to me that the Hoosiers would deserve a top 4 seed.   One thing working in Indiana’s favor this week is that with games left just against Iowa and Maryland, it isn’t possible for the Hoosiers to have a bad loss on their resume at least heading into the Big Ten Tournament. Beating Iowa on the road, despite the fact that the Hawkeyes have struggled of late and have lost four of the last five, is still not going to be an easy task. One thing that probably helps the Hoosiers in that one is that Iowa played Sunday on the road and now plays again 48 hours later. Indiana hasn’t played since Thursday.   Still, the reality is that Iowa has a lot to play for, too. This one is in the must-win category for the Hawkeyes compared to it being an important perception game for the Hoosiers. But if Iowa lost again, it could easily slip into the middle of the pack range for the Big Ten Tournament and beyond.   Which means Indiana will be playing a desperate Iowa team on Tuesday night.   The Maryland game on Sunday will be incredibly important for both teams. For the Terrapins it would be a huge road win against the Big Ten’s only unbeaten team at home in Indiana. For the Hoosiers, regardless of how they do on Tuesday at Iowa, it will be big because of attempting to maintain that perfect record at home and the fact that it will be the final home game for a player like Yogi Ferrell. It will just be an emotional day.   The one thing we can all agree on is that this week is a huge perception week for Indiana basketball. Find a way to win two games and Indiana will have won 15 Big Ten games for the first time since 1991.   That would be a huge accomplishment considering where this team looked to be headed after that 20-point loss at Duke in early December that dropped it to 5-3 on the season.   Winning at least a share of the Big Ten title this season is already a huge accomplishment. But that performance could be amped up measurably by winning either one or two games this week. Even at 14-4, standing alone as the top team outright in the Big Ten would be big for the Hoosiers.   One thing is certain: There is a great deal of anticipation from Hoosier Nation heading into Tuesday night’s game.   The stars have seemed aligned in recent weeks for Indiana basketball. Will that continue this week? [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis-iowa-and-maryland-provide-big-percept-r314]Click here to view the article[/url]
  8. As wacky as the Big Ten has been in recent weeks with the top teams getting upset just about every night, you have to figure the rest of the conference was thinking it might just happen again Thursday night at halftime of the Indiana-Illinois game. The Illini, a train wreck of a team the last several weeks, led Indiana by one and Illini leading scorer Malcom Hill had not scored a point. The Hoosiers, one of the top scoring teams in the nation, had been limited to 27 first-half points. Fans in Iowa and Maryland in particular were hoping that their recent misfortunes might get a shot in the arm delivered by Illinois in Champaign. But the second half was all Indiana. The hot-shooting Hoosiers really got in going in the second half. IU hit 15 of 26 shots in the second half, 57.7 percent and 10 of 17 3-pointers to defeat Illinois going away 74-47. IU outscored Illinois 47-19 in the second half. Yogi Ferrell had 27 points on 11 of 18 shooting. He also had five rebounds and five assists. He hit 5 of 10 3-pointers. Nick Zeisloft, starting in place of the injured Robert Johnson, had 14 points including four 3-pointers. Thomas Bryant, who scored the first seven points of the second half, finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. So here is what it all means: With two games two play in the conference season, Indiana has a one game lead in the loss column over both Iowa and Maryland at 11-4. The Hoosiers still play both the Hawkeyes and the Terrapins. If Indiana wins one of its final two games, the Hoosiers could finish no worse than tied for the second Big Ten title under Tom Crean. Iowa has a tough final three games. The Hawkeyes play at Ohio State on Sunday, home against Indiana on Tuesday and then at Michigan on Saturday, March 5. Maryland has two really tough road games, both in the state of Indiana ahead. The Terrapins are at Purdue on Saturday and will have to beat the Boilermakers in Mackey where Purdue is 15-1 this season. In the final conference game of the year, Maryland must travel to play Indiana on Senior Night in Assembly Hall where the Hoosiers are 16-0 this season. So all Maryland has to do is find a way to come up with two wins against two teams that are 31-1 at home this season. If both Iowa and Maryland were to lose this weekend, Indiana would clinch at least a share of the B1G title and then need just one win to win the conference outright. The Hoosiers are now 23-6 overall and are currently considered a No. 5 seed by ESPN's Joe Lunardi. One would think if Indiana was able to earn a split next week and finish 14-4 the Hoosiers would have a good shot at getting a top 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Win both of those games, and you could make a pretty argument for a No. 3 seed. Indiana has five days off before it will play an Iowa team on national television next Tuesday. This will be an Iowa team playing on two days rest. A big key for Indiana will be if Robert Johnson will have a chance to come back and play or if they give him extended rest and hope to get him back for Maryland on March 6. The other possibility is that the Hoosiers just play it safe and hold him out until the Big Ten Tournament or the NCAA Tournament. A lot depends on the severity of the injury and it is all complete speculation at this point. So Indiana needs at least one more victory in its final two games to add to the Big Ten championship banner in Assembly Hall. Whatever the case, it's going to be a fun final week or two of the Big Ten race.
  9. Indiana shook off a inconsistent first half and raced to a 74-47 victory over Illinois Thursday night in Champaign. The Hoosiers are closing in on their second B1G title under Tom Crean. As wacky as the Big Ten has been in recent weeks with the top teams getting upset just about every night, you have to figure the rest of the conference was thinking it might just happen again Thursday night at halftime of the Indiana-Illinois game.   The Illini, a train wreck of a team the last several weeks, led Indiana by one and Illini leading scorer Malcom Hill had not scored a point. The Hoosiers, one of the top scoring teams in the nation, had been limited to 27 first-half points.   Fans in Iowa and Maryland in particular were hoping that their recent misfortunes might get a shot in the arm delivered by Illinois in Champaign.   But the second half was all Indiana.   The hot-shooting Hoosiers really got in going in the second half. IU hit 15 of 26 shots in the second half, 57.7 percent and 10 of 17 3-pointers to defeat Illinois going away 74-47. IU outscored Illinois 47-19 in the second half.   Yogi Ferrell had 27 points on 11 of 18 shooting. He also had five rebounds and five assists. He hit 5 of 10 3-pointers.   Nick Zeisloft, starting in place of the injured Robert Johnson, had 14 points including four 3-pointers. Thomas Bryant, who scored the first seven points of the second half, finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.   So here is what it all means: With two games two play in the conference season, Indiana has a one game lead in the loss column over both Iowa and Maryland at 11-4. The Hoosiers still play both the Hawkeyes and the Terrapins. If Indiana wins one of its final two games, the Hoosiers could finish no worse than tied for the second Big Ten title under Tom Crean.   Iowa has a tough final three games. The Hawkeyes play at Ohio State on Sunday, home against Indiana on Tuesday and then at Michigan on Saturday, March 5.   Maryland has two really tough road games, both in the state of Indiana ahead. The Terrapins are at Purdue on Saturday and will have to beat the Boilermakers in Mackey where Purdue is 15-1 this season. In the final conference game of the year, Maryland must travel to play Indiana on Senior Night in Assembly Hall where the Hoosiers are 16-0 this season.   So all Maryland has to do is find a way to come up with two wins against two teams that are 31-1 at home this season.   If both Iowa and Maryland were to lose this weekend, Indiana would clinch at least a share of the B1G title and then need just one win to win the conference outright.   The Hoosiers are now 23-6 overall and are currently considered a No. 5 seed by ESPN's Joe Lunardi. One would think if Indiana was able to earn a split next week and finish 14-4 the Hoosiers would have a good shot at getting a top 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Win both of those games, and you could make a pretty argument for a No. 3 seed.   Indiana has five days off before it will play an Iowa team on national television next Tuesday. This will be an Iowa team playing on two days rest.   A big key for Indiana will be if Robert Johnson will have a chance to come back and play or if they give him extended rest and hope to get him back for Maryland on March 6. The other possibility is that the Hoosiers just play it safe and hold him out until the Big Ten Tournament or the NCAA Tournament. A lot depends on the severity of the injury and it is all complete speculation at this point.   So Indiana needs at least one more victory in its final two games to add to the Big Ten championship banner in Assembly Hall. Whatever the case, it's going to be a fun final week or two of the Big Ten race. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis-one-step-closer-to-a-b1g-title-r313]Click here to view the article[/url]
  10. I wanted to let all of my Btownbanners.com friends know about an alumni chapter tour I have coming up in a few weeks that will take me to South Carolina and Florida for a week. I have six IU alumni events set up in six days. At these events, I’ll speak about Indiana football and basketball in some cases, or do an IU Basketball Trivia night in others. At all of them there will be a chance for a Q&A to talk IU football or basketball. At the end of the event, I sign and sell one of my six books I’ve written on IU topics including the two latest books, Missing Banners and So You Think You Know Indiana University Basketball. Missing Banners, which I co-wrote with my buddy Tom Brew, looks at all the year that Indiana looked like they had a team that could have won a national championship but fell short. We specifically look at 1975, 1980, 1993/94, 2002 and 2013. So You Think You Know Indiana University Basketball is an IU basketball trivia book with 450 questions. My other IU basketball books include Hoosiers Through and Through, which looks at the best IU players of all time who are from the state of Indiana, and Rising From the Ashes, written the year after the Wat Shot brought IU basketball back to relevance again. With all of my books, if you attend one of these events and mention that you’re a Btownbanners subscriber, I’ll give you an extra price break. It would be great to put a face with some of the names that I see on the site. If you need any more details about any of the events, just drop me a note at Terry_Hutchens@yahoo.com and I’ll give you all the specific details. I can take all forms of payment: Cash, Check, Credit Card, or even the barter system if you have something I really want. :thankyou: I do a lot of these events closer to home. I’ve been to a few different stops around the state of Indiana in the last month or two and I’ve also been to Winston-Salem, N.C., Nashville, Tenn. and Chicago, too. Here is the schedule of my South Carolina/Florida trip that is coming up later this month. Thursday, Feb. 18: Hilton Head, S.C., 5:30 p.m. at Callahan’s. General IU talk. Friday, Feb. 19: Boynton Beach, Fla., Bru’s Room Sports Bar, 6:30. IU Trivia night. Saturday, Feb. 20: Orlando, Fla., World of Beer, IU Trivia night beginning an hour before tip of IU-Purdue, followed by IU-Purdue Game Watch. Sunday, Feb. 21: Naples, Fla. Keynote speaker at IU Brunch Series event, 12-2 p.m. at Olde Cypress Country Club. Monday, Feb. 22: Clearwater, Fla., General IU talk event at a sports bar TBA. Tuesday, Feb. 23: Sarasota, Fla., Laurel Oaks Country Club, 6:30 p.m., General IU talk and featured speaker is Ron Fifer, who was student manager on the ’53 national championship team. Again, if you need more information you can comment on this thread or I’ll give you more specific info if you email me at Terry_Hutchens@yahoo.com and ask about a specific event.
  11. I'll be doing six events in six days beginning Feb. 18 if you're in the South Carolina/Florida area and you want to talk some IU hoops or pick up a copy of any of my IU books. I wanted to let all of my Btownbanners.com friends know about an alumni chapter tour I have coming up in a few weeks that will take me to South Carolina and Florida for a week.   I have six IU alumni events set up in six days. At these events, I’ll speak about Indiana football and basketball in some cases, or do an IU Basketball Trivia night in others. At all of them there will be a chance for a Q&A to talk IU football or basketball.   At the end of the event, I sign and sell one of my six books I’ve written on IU topics including the two latest books, Missing Banners and So You Think You Know Indiana University Basketball. Missing Banners, which I co-wrote with my buddy Tom Brew, looks at all the year that Indiana looked like they had a team that could have won a national championship but fell short. We specifically look at 1975, 1980, 1993/94, 2002 and 2013. So You Think You Know Indiana University Basketball is an IU basketball trivia book with 450 questions.   My other IU basketball books include Hoosiers Through and Through, which looks at the best IU players of all time who are from the state of Indiana, and Rising From the Ashes, written the year after the Wat Shot brought IU basketball back to relevance again.   With all of my books, if you attend one of these events and mention that you’re a Btownbanners subscriber, I’ll give you an extra price break. It would be great to put a face with some of the names that I see on the site. If you need any more details about any of the events, just drop me a note at Terry_Hutchens@yahoo.com and I’ll give you all the specific details.   I can take all forms of payment: Cash, Check, Credit Card, or even the barter system if you have something I really want.   I do a lot of these events closer to home. I’ve been to a few different stops around the state of Indiana in the last month or two and I’ve also been to Winston-Salem, N.C., Nashville, Tenn. and Chicago, too.   Here is the schedule of my South Carolina/Florida trip that is coming up later this month.   Thursday, Feb. 18: Hilton Head, S.C., 5:30 p.m. at Callahan’s. General IU talk.   Friday, Feb. 19: Boynton Beach, Fla., Bru’s Room Sports Bar, 6:30. IU Trivia night.   Saturday, Feb. 20: Orlando, Fla., World of Beer, IU Trivia night beginning an hour before tip of IU-Purdue, followed by IU-Purdue Game Watch.   Sunday, Feb. 21: Naples, Fla. Keynote speaker at IU Brunch Series event, 12-2 p.m. at Olde Cypress Country Club.   Monday, Feb. 22: Clearwater, Fla., General IU talk event at a sports bar TBA.   Tuesday, Feb. 23: Sarasota, Fla., Laurel Oaks Country Club, 6:30 p.m., General IU talk and featured speaker is Ron Fifer, who was student manager on the ’53 national championship team.   Again, if you need more information you can comment on this thread or I’ll give you more specific info if you email me at Terry_Hutchens@yahoo.com and ask about a specific event. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/announcing-my-upcoming-south-carolinaflorida-a-r307]Click here to view the article[/url]
  12. So just how important was Penn State’s victory over Iowa on Wednesday night? From an Indiana perspective, it means that Indiana could win three of its final four games and still end up as the No. 1 seed overall in the Big Ten Tournament. In fact, Indiana could even lose to Purdue on Saturday at Assembly Hall and still end up as the No. 1 seed overall in the Big Ten Tournament. I’ll explain that in detail in a moment. But the point is this: Iowa’s road loss to Penn State was huge in the overall landscape of the Big Ten title chase. And the great thing for Indiana Basketball heading into the final four games of the conference season is that IU clearly controls its own destiny. And I think we can all agree on one thing in that regard. You want to be in a position coming down the stretch of the conference race, where you control your own destiny. As we sit here today, Indiana is tied with Iowa atop the Big Ten standings with 11-3 records. Maryland is a half game back, but tied in the loss column at 10-3. The Terrapins face Minnesota Thursday night and will likely join the three-way logjam atop the conference standings. We all know that if Indiana wins its final four conference games the Hoosiers would be the outright Big Ten champions. That’s because they play both Maryland and Iowa, which means those two teams would have at least five losses. So win your last four and you’ll capture IU’s first outright Big Ten title since Cody and Victor took home the crown when they beat Michigan on the final day of the regular season in 2013. But consider this scenario, too. If Indiana wins three of its final four games, it will be the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and be no worse than in a three-way tie for the conference title as long as two of those three wins are against Maryland and Iowa. NOTE: Now in fairness to Wisconsin, I need to include that if the Badgers somehow won their final six games of the Big Ten season they be in a first place tie as well. The problem there is that Wisconsin still plays at Michigan State (tonight), at Iowa and at Purdue. It also plays Michigan at home. So while there's a mathematical chance, it's a longshot at best. Indiana closes with home games against Purdue (Saturday) and Maryland (the final Sunday of the Big Ten season). In between are road games at Illinois and Iowa. But if IU wins three games and two of those victories are over Maryland and Iowa, then IU would finish 14-4 in the Big Ten. The best Maryland or Iowa could finish in that scenario would also be 14-4. And Indiana would have the tiebreaker based on the fact it swept the other two teams in the tie. IU would have a 3-0 record against those two teams and thus, would be the No. 1 seed in the conference tourney. Now, I’m not saying it’s OK to lose to Purdue on Saturday because we all know how important that game is to both schools far beyond just the game on the floor. It’s important to fans, alumni, former players, everybody involved in the rivalry. But I am saying that if that were to occur it wouldn’t mean that much as long as IU was able to win its other three games. I’m also not suggesting that beating Maryland, Iowa and Illinois is going to be any easy task. Far from it. What I am saying though is that the scenario exists for Indiana to control its own destiny as long as it finds a way to get at least three wins in the final four games and beat both Iowa and Maryland. Now all the Hoosiers have to do it go out and do it. Easier said than done. NOTE: Just wanted to remind anyone in South Carolina or Florida that I’m beginning a six event in six days alumni chapter tour on Thursday Feb. 18 in Hilton Head. I’ll be at Hilton Head Thursday and then will be at five other locations in South Florida over the next five days. Here is the complete schedule: Thursday, Feb. 18 – Hilton Head Chapter at Callahan’s. Meet at 5:30 p.m. and the program goes from 6-7:30 p.m. Callahan’s is on New Orleans Road. Friday, Feb. 19 – South Florida Chapter at Bru’s Room Sports Bar, Boynton Beach, Fla. Program runs from 6:30-9:30 p.m. and will be an IU Basketball Trivia Night. Dinner is also part of the program. Saturday, Feb. 20 – Orlando Chapter at Wide World of Beer in Orlando. IU Basketball Trivia Night beginning at 7:15 p.m. followed by a Game Watch for IU-Purdue at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21 – Southwest Florida IUAA Chapter in Naples, Fla. Keynote speaker at Brunch Series event, 12-2 p.m at Olde Cypress Country Club. As of Wednesday, they have RSVP’s from nearly 100 IU alumni. Monday, Feb. 22 – Clearwater, Fla. Having an informal meeting at the Brown Boxer bar at north beach from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23 – Florida Suncoast Chapter. Celebrate Indiana Day with Florida Suncoast IUAA at Laurel Oaks Country Club in Sarasota. Program is expected to begin around 6:30 p.m. If you’re around any of those places and you want to stop by, please do.
  13. Indiana controls its own destiny in the Big Ten men's basketball race with four games to go. But it's not just a scenario where Indiana has to win its final four games. Winning three could still get the Hoosiers the top spot in the conference. Here's my take. So just how important was Penn State’s victory over Iowa on Wednesday night?   From an Indiana perspective, it means that Indiana could win three of its final four games and still end up as the No. 1 seed overall in the Big Ten Tournament.   In fact, Indiana could even lose to Purdue on Saturday at Assembly Hall and still end up as the No. 1 seed overall in the Big Ten Tournament. I’ll explain that in detail in a moment.   But the point is this: Iowa’s road loss to Penn State was huge in the overall landscape of the Big Ten title chase.   And the great thing for Indiana Basketball heading into the final four games of the conference season is that IU clearly controls its own destiny. And I think we can all agree on one thing in that regard. You want to be in a position coming down the stretch of the conference race, where you control your own destiny.   As we sit here today, Indiana is tied with Iowa atop the Big Ten standings with 11-3 records. Maryland is a half game back, but tied in the loss column at 10-3. The Terrapins face Minnesota Thursday night and will likely join the three-way logjam atop the conference standings.   We all know that if Indiana wins its final four conference games the Hoosiers would be the outright Big Ten champions. That’s because they play both Maryland and Iowa, which means those two teams would have at least five losses.   So win your last four and you’ll capture IU’s first outright Big Ten title since Cody and Victor took home the crown when they beat Michigan on the final day of the regular season in 2013.   But consider this scenario, too. If Indiana wins three of its final four games, it will be the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and be no worse than in a three-way tie for the conference title as long as two of those three wins are against Maryland and Iowa.   NOTE: Now in fairness to Wisconsin, I need to include that if the Badgers somehow won their final six games of the Big Ten season they be in a first place tie as well. The problem there is that Wisconsin still plays at Michigan State (tonight), at Iowa and at Purdue. It also plays Michigan at home. So while there's a mathematical chance, it's a longshot at best.   Indiana closes with home games against Purdue (Saturday) and Maryland (the final Sunday of the Big Ten season). In between are road games at Illinois and Iowa.   But if IU wins three games and two of those victories are over Maryland and Iowa, then IU would finish 14-4 in the Big Ten. The best Maryland or Iowa could finish in that scenario would also be 14-4.   And Indiana would have the tiebreaker based on the fact it swept the other two teams in the tie. IU would have a 3-0 record against those two teams and thus, would be the No. 1 seed in the conference tourney.   Now, I’m not saying it’s OK to lose to Purdue on Saturday because we all know how important that game is to both schools far beyond just the game on the floor. It’s important to fans, alumni, former players, everybody involved in the rivalry.   But I am saying that if that were to occur it wouldn’t mean that much as long as IU was able to win its other three games. I’m also not suggesting that beating Maryland, Iowa and Illinois is going to be any easy task. Far from it.   What I am saying though is that the scenario exists for Indiana to control its own destiny as long as it finds a way to get at least three wins in the final four games and beat both Iowa and Maryland.   Now all the Hoosiers have to do it go out and do it. Easier said than done.   NOTE: Just wanted to remind anyone in South Carolina or Florida that I’m beginning a six event in six days alumni chapter tour on Thursday Feb. 18 in Hilton Head. I’ll be at Hilton Head Thursday and then will be at five other locations in South Florida over the next five days.   Here is the complete schedule:   Thursday, Feb. 18 – Hilton Head Chapter at Callahan’s. Meet at 5:30 p.m. and the program goes from 6-7:30 p.m. Callahan’s is on New Orleans Road.   Friday, Feb. 19 – South Florida Chapter at Bru’s Room Sports Bar, Boynton Beach, Fla. Program runs from 6:30-9:30 p.m. and will be an IU Basketball Trivia Night. Dinner is also part of the program.   Saturday, Feb. 20 – Orlando Chapter at Wide World of Beer in Orlando. IU Basketball Trivia Night beginning at 7:15 p.m. followed by a Game Watch for IU-Purdue at 8:30 p.m.   Sunday, Feb. 21 – Southwest Florida IUAA Chapter in Naples, Fla. Keynote speaker at Brunch Series event, 12-2 p.m at Olde Cypress Country Club. As of Wednesday, they have RSVP’s from nearly 100 IU alumni.   Monday, Feb. 22 – Clearwater, Fla. Having an informal meeting at the Brown Boxer bar at north beach from 7-9 p.m.   Tuesday, Feb. 23 – Florida Suncoast Chapter. Celebrate Indiana Day with Florida Suncoast IUAA at Laurel Oaks Country Club in Sarasota. Program is expected to begin around 6:30 p.m.   If you’re around any of those places and you want to stop by, please do. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis-iu-could-lose-to-purdue-and-still-be-r312]Click here to view the article[/url]
  14.   I'm not arguing with you but what are the ways you would suggest that Crean could use him better and in ways he could be more effective? Rather than a lot of people him or them, I'd be interested in your suggestions.
  15.   I'm not sure about limited minutes. He has had double-digit minutes in every Big Ten game. He was limited in the non-conference that's for sure, but I think most freshmen coming off the bench would be happy with double-digit conference minutes. He played 17 minutes today.
  16.   I know it's not just one game and I've been guilty of screaming at the television set on road games or thinking things while sitting in Assembly Hall, too. It just seemed like people were a little over the top after and during this one. I'll put it this way, I don't think IU is 20-6 right now if you didn't have Troy Williams. My guess is the Hoosiers would have another two or three losses.
  17. I really believed that Indiana would beat Iowa Thursday night. I said so last Saturday night after IU had looked awful in a 68-63 loss against Penn State. But this was the kind of game that you just knew that Indiana would be playing at a different level. A top 5 ranked opponent, a nationally televised game on ESPN with Purdue Person Vitale in the house, and a packed and raucous Assembly Hall willing the Hoosiers to a win. The result: Indiana 85, No. 4 Iowa 78. Now I’m not sure what I thought the script would end up being but that’s where I was most impressed with Indiana Thursday night. It wasn’t just so much that the Hoosiers won the game but it was how they won the game. This was a total team victory. Ten Indiana players saw the floor and all 10 scored. Juwan Morgan made one bucket but it was a crucial offensive rebound put back with 3:08 to play that put IU on topo 77-68. Harrison Niego made one basket but it was a huge 17-foot baseline jumper with 9:20 to play that cut the Iowa lead to 60-58 at the time. O.G. Anunoby made one shot but it was a first half layup that put IU up by 12. Nick Zeisloft gave the Hoosiers a lift from deep, hitting a trio of 3-pointers. Max Bielfeldt was good around the basket, and with Thomas Bryant in a game-long foul trouble, was needed to the tune of 25 minutes against Iowa. Bielfeldt responded with 10 points. Add it all up, and the IU bench scored 28 points and pulled down nine rebounds. That was 28 more points than Iowa scored off the bench. Iowa’s starters accounted for all 78 of its points. This wasn’t a vintage Yogi Ferrell performance. Ferrell was 2 for 12 from the field and 2 for 9 from beyond the arc. At one point, he missed nine consecutive shots. Bryant was limited to 14 minutes because of foul trouble. Robert Johnson scored 13 points in the first 25 minutes but then didn’t score again. Collin Hartman played really hard on both ends of the floor and finished with seven points in 28 minutes. Troy Williams had enough good Troy moments to negate some Bad Troy moments. He finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. But what stands out about this performance is simply that Indiana won this one as a team. On this night, the better TEAM truly did win. I have no idea how this team will fare Sunday at Michigan State. I’m guessing it will be a very difficult game to win. But what the Hoosiers showed me Thursday night is that this is a team that is going to contend for a Big Ten title right until the very end. And I thought that was the most encouraging part of a big win over a top 5 opponent.
  18. Indiana's bench outscored Iowa's bench 28-0 Thursday night. Even on a night when IU's starters didn't have their best performance, Indiana's depth came through in an 85-78 win over Iowa. Here's my take. I really believed that Indiana would beat Iowa Thursday night.   I said so last Saturday night after IU had looked awful in a 68-63 loss against Penn State.   But this was the kind of game that you just knew that Indiana would be playing at a different level. A top 5 ranked opponent, a nationally televised game on ESPN with Purdue Person Vitale in the house, and a packed and raucous Assembly Hall willing the Hoosiers to a win.   The result: Indiana 85, No. 4 Iowa 78.   Now I’m not sure what I thought the script would end up being but that’s where I was most impressed with Indiana Thursday night. It wasn’t just so much that the Hoosiers won the game but it was how they won the game.   This was a total team victory.   Ten Indiana players saw the floor and all 10 scored.   Juwan Morgan made one bucket but it was a crucial offensive rebound put back with 3:08 to play that put IU on topo 77-68.   Harrison Niego made one basket but it was a huge 17-foot baseline jumper with 9:20 to play that cut the Iowa lead to 60-58 at the time.   O.G. Anunoby made one shot but it was a first half layup that put IU up by 12.   Nick Zeisloft gave the Hoosiers a lift from deep, hitting a trio of 3-pointers.   Max Bielfeldt was good around the basket, and with Thomas Bryant in a game-long foul trouble, was needed to the tune of 25 minutes against Iowa. Bielfeldt responded with 10 points.   Add it all up, and the IU bench scored 28 points and pulled down nine rebounds. That was 28 more points than Iowa scored off the bench. Iowa’s starters accounted for all 78 of its points.   This wasn’t a vintage Yogi Ferrell performance. Ferrell was 2 for 12 from the field and 2 for 9 from beyond the arc. At one point, he missed nine consecutive shots.   Bryant was limited to 14 minutes because of foul trouble. Robert Johnson scored 13 points in the first 25 minutes but then didn’t score again.   Collin Hartman played really hard on both ends of the floor and finished with seven points in 28 minutes.   Troy Williams had enough good Troy moments to negate some Bad Troy moments. He finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.   But what stands out about this performance is simply that Indiana won this one as a team. On this night, the better TEAM truly did win.   I have no idea how this team will fare Sunday at Michigan State. I’m guessing it will be a very difficult game to win. But what the Hoosiers showed me Thursday night is that this is a team that is going to contend for a Big Ten title right until the very end.   And I thought that was the most encouraging part of a big win over a top 5 opponent. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis-the-better-team-won-85-78-thursday-night-r309]Click here to view the article[/url]
  19. I'm working on a new book project and it would be great to get feedback from many of you. The book is supposed to be something along the line of an Indiana University Basketball Bucket List.   It can encompass a lot of different areas but I'm trying to think of things or places or anything in that vein that says Indiana basketball to you. Maybe it's your favorite place to watch IU Basketball. If that's in Bloomington, great. But if it's wherever you call home, that's great, too. I want some variety there.   What are your favorite IU basketball traditions, and do you have any traditions of your own when it comes to IU basketball?   Do you know of any people that have rooms or mancaves that are dedicated to IU basketball?   It doesn't have to be a top 10 Bucket List of something like that but ... it could be.   I'm very likely going to come at this from a variety of angles. But if I could several of you to weigh in on this that would be great, too. I need to have this done in the next few months so the sooner you can weigh in, the better.   Thanks in advance....Terry Hutchens
  20. I’ve seen a few references in the last couple of days about Indiana’s big week coming up that includes Iowa on Thursday at Assembly Hall and Michigan State Sunday in the Breslin Center in East Lansing. And yes, it does have the potential to be a big week. But anyone that is just automatically chalking up this Saturday night’s game at Penn State as a ‘W’ in the win column just doesn’t know Big Ten basketball. Should Indiana beat Penn State? Absolutely. Will Indiana beat Penn State? Most likely. But I think many of us have witnessed a disturbing trend at times with this Indiana basketball team in playing to its level of competition. And the Hoosiers simply cannot afford to do that Saturday night in Happy Valley. One of the things I’ve liked about this particular Indiana basketball team of late is that it doesn’t seem to be looking ahead. The loss to Wisconsin looks better all the time when you see that the Badgers are currently on a five-game winning streak. You can’t be ashamed of losing in the Kohl Center. It’s just a difficult place for a lot of teams to play – and especially IU for some reason. Still, the 9-1 start and a tie atop the Big Ten standings is a great beginning to the conference season. But there are still eight games to go and in order for those last few games of the regular season against Iowa and Maryland to have the significance that Hoosier fans are hoping they will, Indiana needs to take care of business against teams like Penn State on the road. This needs to be a business trip for the Hoosiers. IU needs to pack its lunch pail, go out and take care of business against the Nittany Lions, head back to Bloomington and then have a few days to prepare for the Hawkeyes. The problem for me is that I’ve covered Indiana basketball so long that I just know of the dangers of looking ahead. The good news is that I’m 100 percent confident that Tom Crean and his staff view this the same way. There’s no way they’ll allow this IU team to look past Penn State. Now the Hoosiers just have to execute and knock down a few more shots than they have in the recent past. One thing working in IU’s favor, too, is the fact that Indiana has had a pretty impressive track record against the Nittany Lions in history. Indiana is 35-10 all-time against Penn State and IU has won in its last four trips to State College. But I can’t help but remember as recently as the 2012-13 season when the Hoosiers would eventually win the Big Ten title outright on the last day of the regular season with a win at Michigan. That year, the Hoosiers started Big Ten play 8-1. The eighth win was an 81-73 victory over No. 1 Michigan on a day when IU was on College Game Day. IU was No. 3 in the nation before winning that game and moved up to No. 1 the following week. The next game up was a road game at Illinois, a game that IU was expected to win. And that was the game with the debacle on the inbounds play in the closing seconds that led to an Illini uncontested layup at the buzzer and a 74-72 Illinois win. I’m not saying that Indiana was looking past the Illini to a date on Sunday against No. 10 Ohio State, but the point is you can’t look past any team in the Big Ten. So IU needs to buckle down and take care of business on Saturday. If the Hoosiers can get past Penn State and improve to 10-1 in conference play, we’ll have plenty of time next week to talk about that Thursday night matchup with the Hawkeyes in Assembly Hall when you can bet the Hall will be rocking.
  21. Indiana's game with Iowa next Thursday at Assembly Hall has the potential to be a big one. But IU has to take care of business against Penn State first. I’ve seen a few references in the last couple of days about Indiana’s big week coming up that includes Iowa on Thursday at Assembly Hall and Michigan State Sunday in the Breslin Center in East Lansing.   And yes, it does have the potential to be a big week. But anyone that is just automatically chalking up this Saturday night’s game at Penn State as a ‘W’ in the win column just doesn’t know Big Ten basketball.   Should Indiana beat Penn State? Absolutely. Will Indiana beat Penn State? Most likely. But I think many of us have witnessed a disturbing trend at times with this Indiana basketball team in playing to its level of competition. And the Hoosiers simply cannot afford to do that Saturday night in Happy Valley.   One of the things I’ve liked about this particular Indiana basketball team of late is that it doesn’t seem to be looking ahead. The loss to Wisconsin looks better all the time when you see that the Badgers are currently on a five-game winning streak. You can’t be ashamed of losing in the Kohl Center. It’s just a difficult place for a lot of teams to play – and especially IU for some reason.   Still, the 9-1 start and a tie atop the Big Ten standings is a great beginning to the conference season. But there are still eight games to go and in order for those last few games of the regular season against Iowa and Maryland to have the significance that Hoosier fans are hoping they will, Indiana needs to take care of business against teams like Penn State on the road.   This needs to be a business trip for the Hoosiers. IU needs to pack its lunch pail, go out and take care of business against the Nittany Lions, head back to Bloomington and then have a few days to prepare for the Hawkeyes.   The problem for me is that I’ve covered Indiana basketball so long that I just know of the dangers of looking ahead. The good news is that I’m 100 percent confident that Tom Crean and his staff view this the same way. There’s no way they’ll allow this IU team to look past Penn State.   Now the Hoosiers just have to execute and knock down a few more shots than they have in the recent past.   One thing working in IU’s favor, too, is the fact that Indiana has had a pretty impressive track record against the Nittany Lions in history. Indiana is 35-10 all-time against Penn State and IU has won in its last four trips to State College.   But I can’t help but remember as recently as the 2012-13 season when the Hoosiers would eventually win the Big Ten title outright on the last day of the regular season with a win at Michigan. That year, the Hoosiers started Big Ten play 8-1. The eighth win was an 81-73 victory over No. 1 Michigan on a day when IU was on College Game Day. IU was No. 3 in the nation before winning that game and moved up to No. 1 the following week.   The next game up was a road game at Illinois, a game that IU was expected to win. And that was the game with the debacle on the inbounds play in the closing seconds that led to an Illini uncontested layup at the buzzer and a 74-72 Illinois win.   I’m not saying that Indiana was looking past the Illini to a date on Sunday against No. 10 Ohio State, but the point is you can’t look past any team in the Big Ten. So IU needs to buckle down and take care of business on Saturday.   If the Hoosiers can get past Penn State and improve to 10-1 in conference play, we’ll have plenty of time next week to talk about that Thursday night matchup with the Hawkeyes in Assembly Hall when you can bet the Hall will be rocking. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/analysis-attention-iu-fans-dont-look-ahe-r306]Click here to view the article[/url]
  22.   Cool. Make sure you make the Btownbanners connection with me that night.
  23. Indiana’s luck in tight games against inferior opponents finally ran out Saturday night at Penn State. And the game I was most worried about heading into the big matchup against Iowa next week materialized. Penn State 68, Indiana 63. This is a bad loss. It won’t get better as time goes on. When seeding is done for Selection Sunday this one will come up. But it’s still just one loss. I saw that one of my colleagues on Twitter wrote that Indiana had lost its chance at winning the Big Ten title. That’s a little premature isn’t it. Beat Iowa on Thursday and you’re at the very least back into a tie for first place. When you consider you have two games left with Iowa and one with Maryland, it’s difficult to say your shot at winning a Big Ten title is over. You have all of your goals and dreams ahead of you. You just have to win big games. And mark it down right here: Indiana will beat Iowa on Thursday. I don’t care about Penn State. Indiana plays better against better opponents and the Hoosiers are unbeaten at Assembly Hall. It will be a bright lights game and my guess is that Indiana will come out and take it to the Hawkeyes. I’m not nearly as confident with Sunday’s game at Michigan State. But if Indiana can come out of next week with a split I think you have to be happy with that considering the opponents. Saturday night was a bad game for the Hoosiers. And as bad as the Hoosiers played Penn State was letting IU hang around in much the same fashion as the Hoosiers were treating their hosts. Eventually you let Penn State hang around too long and the Nittany Lions were able to score the upset. I’m not ready to write off the Big Ten title based on one dismal performance but the reality is that Indiana needs to bounce back in a big way against Iowa. Do that, knock off a top 10 ranked team, and you’ll at the very least be back into a share of first place in the Big Ten. On the other hand if this turns out to be the beginning of a three-game skid, then there will be a lot of interesting discussion on this board a week from Sunday night. We’ll see.
  24. As bad as the loss to Penn State was Saturday night, the reality is that if IU beats Iowa on Thursday it will still be no worse than tied for first in the conference after 12 games. Indiana’s luck in tight games against inferior opponents finally ran out Saturday night at Penn State.   And the game I was most worried about heading into the big matchup against Iowa next week materialized.   Penn State 68, Indiana 63.   This is a bad loss. It won’t get better as time goes on. When seeding is done for Selection Sunday this one will come up.   But it’s still just one loss. I saw that one of my colleagues on Twitter wrote that Indiana had lost its chance at winning the Big Ten title.   That’s a little premature isn’t it. Beat Iowa on Thursday and you’re at the very least back into a tie for first place. When you consider you have two games left with Iowa and one with Maryland, it’s difficult to say your shot at winning a Big Ten title is over. You have all of your goals and dreams ahead of you. You just have to win big games.   And mark it down right here: Indiana will beat Iowa on Thursday.   I don’t care about Penn State. Indiana plays better against better opponents and the Hoosiers are unbeaten at Assembly Hall. It will be a bright lights game and my guess is that Indiana will come out and take it to the Hawkeyes.   I’m not nearly as confident with Sunday’s game at Michigan State. But if Indiana can come out of next week with a split I think you have to be happy with that considering the opponents.   Saturday night was a bad game for the Hoosiers. And as bad as the Hoosiers played Penn State was letting IU hang around in much the same fashion as the Hoosiers were treating their hosts. Eventually you let Penn State hang around too long and the Nittany Lions were able to score the upset.   I’m not ready to write off the Big Ten title based on one dismal performance but the reality is that Indiana needs to bounce back in a big way against Iowa.   Do that, knock off a top 10 ranked team, and you’ll at the very least be back into a share of first place in the Big Ten.   On the other hand if this turns out to be the beginning of a three-game skid, then there will be a lot of interesting discussion on this board a week from Sunday night.   We’ll see. [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/basketball/analysis/analysis-it-was-a-bad-loss-but-goals-are-still-r308]Click here to view the article[/url]
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