Indiana (my home state now) has been fairly consistent. They have played an easy, then tough schedule, and have showed some cracks. Their best win? Nothing stands out. They beat UNC in Bloomington after that once proud program had been exposed. They've twice lost by double digits once to ranked Arizona last Saturday in a neutral court game and once on the road at Piscataway NJ to Rutgers, aka the state university of New Jersey.
They feature an All-American candidate in Trayce Jackson Davis, another decent big in Race Thompson another in the long line of potential Gophers who left Minnesota. They have a decent guard who I also laugh every time he shoots. Kind of reminds me of DeJuans ugly shot, but quite a bit worse. I laughed with glee when he was called on to beat Wisconsin at the end of the game and shot uglyly again. Maybe he'll humor us tomorrow by attempting some of his ugly shots.
Mike Woodson is still trying to win over Indiana fans. It's a tough sell. They're kind of look Nebraska football fans who think they're still relevant nationally. Indiana had one of those get hot streaks in 2002 and played in the NC game, a game we would have played against them had we beat Maryland. Kelvin Sampson was the Hoosier coach. Kelvin was really the last decent coach they've had. Indiana fans are impatient as 2002 was the last final four or even Elite 8. Three sweet 16's a decade ago were signs of hope but Tom Crean could never push them past that level.
The Assembly Hall is a sort of odd looking place. It's kind of like a college football arena with almost zero end zone seats but sideline seats that rise up high into the Bloomington sky. Seeing pictures of it I've been amazed at how high up it rises and have wondered how well you can see from way up there. The back row of the lower deck, which is huge on both sides really looks far away.
This would be a nice win to get for us. Not a must win or anything, but a ranked win on the road is a test that I'm thinking we'll deal them their third double digit loss.
A few pics lumpy style will follow as I can get to them.
