Bryson Tucker and Oumar Ballo spark Indiana University Men’s Basketball to a Solid Big Ten Opening Win over Minnesota The Indiana Hoosiers played one of their better games of the season with 82-67 over the Minnesota Golden Gophers Monday Night in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Indiana is 8-2 on the season and 1-0 in the Big Ten and will hit the road for their first true road game of the season Friday Night when they travel to Lincoln, Nebraska to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Hoosiers are 7-0 at home and 1-2 when they played on a neutral court at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. Minnesota drops to 6-5 and 0-2 in the Big Ten after a 90-72 home loss to Michigan State. The Hoosiers are 110-69 all-time against Minnesota and the Hoosiers have won the last nine meetings and the last nine matchups in Bloomington.
Oumar Ballo led Indiana with 18 points and had his way inside against the Golden Gophers who could not contain the seven-footer. Freshman Bryson Tucker added 16 points off the bench and was the spark that got the Hoosiers going to put the Golden Gophers away. Malik Reneau added 15 points, Mackenize Mgbako added 13 and Kannan Carlyle added 11 points after he missed the last three games with a lower body injury. Myles Rice and Luke Goode scored 2 points apiece and Trey Galloway scored a point as the Hoosiers only played 8 players as a sign of tightening up their rotation. The Hoosiers finished the game 29-50 from the field for 58%, 3-11 from three-point range for 27% and 17-28 from the free throw line for 60%. Indiana pulled down 29 rebounds, 20 assists, 6 steals, 2 blocks and committed 12 turnovers.
Dawson Garcia led Minnesota with 22 points and Mike Mitchell Jr. added 10 points. Minnesota finished the game 25-51 from the field for 49%, 2-10 from three-point range for 20% and 11-13 from the free throw line for 84%. The Golden Gophers pulled down 20 rebounds, dished out 11 assists, 9 steals 6 blocks and committed 12 turnovers. Garcia was sparking Minnesota finishing the game 9-14 from the field and 4-4 from the free throw line and missed both his three-point attempts. The 6-11 Senior came in averaging 19 points and had a battle inside with Ballo all game long. Dawson Garcia got the scoring started with a long jumper as the Hoosiers scored the next six points to make 6-2. Minnesota followed with a 6-0 of their own to take the lead 8-6. Minnesota led 12-10 with 15:42 left in the first half as the Golden Gophers had a five-point lead 12-7 which was the largest lead early on. Indiana took the lead with a 4-0 run to make it 14-12. Minnesota followed with a 4-0 run to lead 16-14 with 14:07 left in the first half. The game went back and forth with Minnesota leading 22-20 with 11:25 as there were 4 lead changes and 4 ties in that span.
Bryson Tucker tied the game at 22-22 as the Freshman scored 8 points helping the Hoosiers outscored the Gophers 10-1 and a 30-23 lead with 7:29 left in the first half. Oumar Ballo scored 6 straight points to give the Hoosiers a 13-point lead 36-23. Both teams scored 8 points apiece to close out the first half as the Hoosiers went into the locker room up 44-31 at the break. The Hoosiers had 3 players in double figures at half with Ballo and Tucker scoring 11 points apiece and Malik Reneau adding 10. In the second half outscored the Gophers 6-2 to lead by 17 points with 15:48 left the game 50-33. Femi Odukale had 2 dunks, and the second one put the Gophers down 14 points 59-45 with 11:31 left in the second half. Indiana increased the lead to 21 after Kannan Carlyle completed a three-point play to give the Hoosiers their largest lead of the game. Minnesota got within 13 points 68-55 with 7:27 left but the Hoosiers scored 18 points down the stretch and held the Golden Gophers to 12 points.
Indiana Head Coach Mike Woodson said after the game Carlyle fully practiced for the first time on Sunday since his injury and Carlyle said he “feels good” and he is fine coming off the bench and know that is job is to play defense and help on offense and he is going to whatever takes to help this team. “I want to win games” Kannan Carlyle said after the game. The big question is how to the Hoosiers handle their first true road game of the season at a place like Nebraska that has given them fits over the years. Indiana has not shown its full potential but a 15-point double-digit win against Minnesota to start the Big Ten season is a good start.
#3 Indiana University Swimming Sweeps the University of Cincinnati in Final Fall Meet No. 3/3 Indiana swimming and diving defeated Cincinnati handily in its final dual meet of the fall semester Friday inside the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. Indiana won 171-123 on the Women’s side and 184.5-107.5 on the Men’s Side. Hoosiers posted the top marks in all, but one event and eleven Hoosiers earned victories in multiple events.
The IU women swept their events. Junior and Bloomington South Graduate Kristina Pagele won a meet-high four victories – two individuals, two relay – despite swimming outside her normal events. Typically, a freestyle sprinter, Paegle won the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.13) and 100-yard butterfly (53.58) and helped the Hoosiers win the relays. Senior Anna Peplowski also won two individual events outside her routine, capturing the 50 free (22.31) and 200 IM (1:57.07). Freshman Mary Cespedes swept the breaststroke events, posting NCAA B cut times in each.
Sophomore Ella Roselli and senior Skyler Liu led the IU women’s divers on the springboards. Hoosier divers made up the top four finishers in all four competitions, combining men’s and women’s events. Senior Quinn Henninger swept the men’s events and posted a 470.48 score on the 3-meter board, 14 points shy of a personal best. Henninger’s list included a forward 2 ½ somersault, two twists pike, which he executed for 81.60 points, and a reverse 3 ½ somersault tuck that earned him 91.88 points.
Seniors Luke Barr and Finn Brooks shined in the pool for the men, each winning multiple individual events. Brooks was just shy of two NCAA A cuts but established a personal best in the 100-yard breaststroke (51.13) while also winning the 100 fly (45.15). Barr won the 50 free (20.11) and 200 free (1:33.62), just out-touching Tomer Frankel (1:33.71) in the latter. Indiana swimmers and divers will participate in the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m) and USA Diving Winter National Championships next week before returning to collegiate competition in January.
No. 28 Indiana University Wrestling Falls to No. 11 Illinois in Big Ten Takedown in Indianapolis No. 28 Indiana Wrestling fell short against No. 11 Illinois on Friday night, losing, 34-3, at the inaugural Big Ten Takedown dual in the Indiana Convention Center. With the loss, Indiana drops to 4-1 on the season and 0-1 in the Big Ten. The Big Ten Takedown took place in the middle of the Fan Fest for the Big Ten Championship football game in which Oregon beat Penn State 45-37 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
No. 23 Jacob Moran (125) used a first period takedown against Caelan Riley to work his way to a 5-2 decision to put Indiana up 3-0. Ryan Garvick (157) nearly scored on a few shots against No. 27 Jason Kraisser but could not maintain enough control to earn a takedown in a narrow, 2-0, decision. No. 21 DJ Washington (184) and No. 12 Edmond Ruth were in a tight bout, but Ruth scored on a second period takedown to win a close 4-2 decision. No. 28 Gabe Sollars (197) and No. 13 Zac Braunagel (197) were neck-and-neck through the bout with Sollars leading 8-7 in the last 30 seconds, Braunagel scored on a late takedown to take the lead again. Sollars had the riding time point but it wasn’t enough as he lost in a 10-9 decision. It was Indiana’s first time wrestling in Indianapolis since 2010. With the win, Moran’s season record improved to 8-1. This was the first ever Big Ten Takedown dual. It was the first Big Ten match of the entire conference’s schedule this season. There will not be another Big Ten match for any teams again until January 2025.
Purdue University Hires Barry Odom to be its next Head Football Coach The Purdue Boilermakers are giving UNLV coach Barry Odom a second chance to lead a Power Four program. Athletic director Mike Bobinski announced Sunday that he hired the 48-year-old Odom to replace Ryan Walters, who was fired last week after compiling a 5-19 record in two seasons in West Lafayette, Indiana. “As both a leader and person, coach Odom personifies the qualities our football program and university value,” Bobinski said in a statement. “During our interactions with coach Odom, it became clear that he possesses the belief, tenacity and competitive drive necessary to return Purdue football to the standard of excellence we all expect. Odom went 19-8 in two seasons with UNLV after going 25-25 in his previous head coaching stint at Missouri from 2016-19.
With the Rebels, though, Odom’s wide-open offense reached back-to-back Mountain West Conference championship games. They lost each time to Boise State. This season, Odom’s team was 14th in the FBS in scoring offense (36.2 points per game) as it posted UNLV’s best record (10-3) in 40 years. That should excite fans at a school dubbed the “Cradle of Quarterbacks” after a historically bad season. Purdue struggled to an 1-11 mark, endured the two worst losses in school history and scored just 15.8 points per game — the second-lowest average of any Power Four school. “Their trust will be rewarded with a football program that will reflect the personality and excellence Purdue is widely known for — character, intensity and a no-excuses winning attitude,” Odom said. “I can assure you it will be built to last.” Odom has lots of experience, most of it coming at Missouri, his alma mater.
The former college linebacker served as a graduate assistant for the Tigers in 2003, recruiting coordinator in 2004 and 2005, director of football operations from 2006-08 and safeties coach from 2009-11. After spending three seasons as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Memphis and one more in the same capacity at Missouri in 2015, the Tigers promoted Odom to head coach in 2016. In an odd twist, Walters served as either co-defensive coordinator or defensive coordinator for all four seasons of Odom’s tenure at Missouri. Odom spent the next three seasons as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at Arkansas before he was hired in 2023 by UNLV.
Taylor University Men’s Basketball Unable to Slow Grace in Crossroads League Defeat After hanging with the defending Crossroads League champs for the first 33 minutes, Taylor was unable to stop Grace in the final seven minutes in a hard-fought 88-76 loss inside Odle Arena. A fast-paced first half began with both teams trading buckets, with six lead changes in the first five minutes and Taylor knotted with Grace (8-3, 3-1 CL) at 13. The Lancers scored the next five points, and TU got it within a possession four times until another run by Grace pushed the lead to 30-24 with just under five minutes remaining. The Trojans went on an 8-2 run to tie it at 32, capped by a triple from Kaden Fuhrmann, before a bucket by the Lancers gave them a slim two-point lead at halftime.
The squads began the second stanza in similar fashion to the first, with both getting hot on offense, although Grace slowly extended the lead to 52-45 at the 12:33 mark. Levin Smith came off the bench and had a terrific run of play to lead TU on an 11-6 run to trim the deficit to two. The freshman seven-footer provided a pair of assists and hit a shot from beyond the arc until foul trouble forced him off the floor. Taylor (8-3, 2-2 CL) continued to work and got within a point after a pair of free throws from Izaiah Day with 7:33 left in the game. Grace’s offense took over from that point, making its final six shots from the field and converting on 10 of 13 attempts from the charity stripe to put the game out of reach. Anton Webb continues to put up big numbers for the Trojans, leading the squad with 17 points and eight rebounds. The senior standout added three takeaways, a block, and a steal despite playing just 23 minutes. Fuhrmann and Nate Paarlberg joined Webb in double figures with 16 and 14, respectively. Taylor takes a break from Crossroads League play and heads on the road to face Holy Cross (4-5) on Wednesday, December 11, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 pm.
Oregon wins the Big Ten Football Championship over Penn State at Lucas Oil Stadium Dillon Gabriel threw four touchdown passes and No. 1 Oregon outlasted No. 3 Penn State 45-37 on Saturday night in the Big Ten championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis giving the Ducks a first-round bye and the top seed in the College Football Playoff. The Ducks (13-0, No. 1 CFP) are the only unbeaten team in FBS — barely. They nearly blew a 15-point lead in the final four minutes, ending the Nittany Lions’ last gasp with Nikko Reed’s interception of Drew Allar’s pass with 1:54 left on a wild, wacky championship weekend. Jordan James ran for two scores to help Oregon win its first league title since 2020 in the Pac-12, this one coming in its first year in the Big Ten. Tez Johnson was selected the game’s MVP after catching 11 passes for 181 yards one score. “These guys can take it all the way if they continue to work and I can guarantee you they continue to work,” Ducks coach Dan Lanning said.
Penn State (11-2, No. 3 CFP) made the first 12-team playoff field despite having its four-game winning streak snapped after failing to convert a 2-point conversion early in the fourth quarter — leaving it down 38-30. Oregon capped the ensuing a 75-yard drive with James’ 12-yard TD run to make it 45-30 with 7:28 to go. But Allar responded with a nifty 14-yard TD pass to Harrison Wallace III with 3:41 to play and Penn State forced a punt, giving Allar one more chance to tie it. Gabriel finished 22 of 32 with 283 yards, hooking up with Kenyon Sadiq twice in the first half when the teams combined for a championship-game record 55 points. The previous mark, 52, came in 2012. Sadiq had only two catches in the game — hurdling a defender on the way to his first score. James rushed 20 times for 87. Allar was 20 of 39 with 236 yards with three TDs and two interceptions. Kaytron Allen had 14 carries for 124 yards and one score, and Nicolas Singleton carried 10 times for 101 yards and caught a TD pass. Tyler Warren had seven receptions for 64 yards. Both teams allowed their highest point totals this season.