Alijah Arenas leads USC Past Indiana University Men’s Basketball In just his fifth college basketball game USC Freshman Elijah Arenas scored career high 29 Points as the Trojans beat the Indiana Hoosiers 81-75 Tuesday Night at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California. Arenas who game into the game scoring 30 points in his previous four games shot 9-23 from the field, 3-9 from three-point range and 8-9 from the free throw line. USC is 17-6 overall and 6-6 in the Big Ten and will travel East to face Penn State on Sunday. Kam Woods scored 18 points along with 12 points from Erza Azuar as Chad Baker-Mazara who averages 19 points a game was limited to seven first half points as he left the game with an injury and did not return. USC finished the game 25-54 for 46%, 6-17 form three-point range for 35% and 25-31 from the free throw line for 81%. The Trojans pulled down 40 rebounds, dished out 14 assists, 8 blocks, 5 steals and 15 turnovers.
Lamar Wilkerson led Indiana with 33 points and was the only Hoosier in Double Figures. Wilkerson was 11-20 from the field, 5-12 from three-point range and 6-6 from the free throw line. All nine Hoosiers that played scored as Tayton Conerway returned after missing the last two games with an ankle injury. Conerway came off the bench and played 10 minutes scoring 7 points. Sam Alexis and Reed Bailey had 8 points each. Nick Dorn who has been the hot hand for the Hoosiers in the last four games scored 6 points. Tucker DeVries had 5 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Conor Enright had 8 assists and 3 points. Trent Sisley had 3 points, and Jasai Miles had 2 points as the Hoosiers are 15-8 on the season and 6-6 in the Big Ten and will Host Wisconsin at Noon on Saturday. The Hoosiers finished 26-63 for 41% from the field, 10-35 from three-point range for 29% and 13-16 from the free throw line for 81%. The Hoosiers pulled down 25 rebounds, dished out 21 assists, 8 steals, 4 blocks and 10 turnovers.
USC led at halftime 36-30 and outscored Indiana 46-45 in the second half. USC led by 14 points with 11:42 left in the second half at 55-41 after a Kam Woods three pointer. The Hoosiers responded with 14-5 run to get back into the game. The game came down to the wire as Tayton Conerway made 1-2 free throws to the Hoosiers within six points at 75-69. IU got the offensive rebound as Tucker DeVries was fouled and made both free throws to make it 75-71. Woods turned the ball over on the next possession as Conerway scores on the layup and miss the free throw with 31 seconds left to make it 75-73 Trojans. Jordan Marsh made two free throws to give USC a four-point lead with 24 seconds left. Conerway drive to the rim but was denied by Ryan Cornish who came up with the block from behind. Arenas sealed the win with 2 free throws with 14 seconds to go. Indiana was looking for the 2-game road sweep their three-game winning streak comes to a close. The series is now tied up 3-3 as this was second time the programs have meet since USC joined the Big Ten in 2024 with the teams protecting their home court. Indiana returns home for the next two games with Wisconsin and Oregon on deck as their 8 games left in the Regular Season before the Big Ten Tournament at the United Center in Chicago in Mid-March.
Indiana University Women’s Basketball looks to Carry Momentum Forward at Wisconsin Fresh off their first Big Ten Conference win of the season the Indiana Hoosiers look for their second straight win this evening when they battle the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center in Madison at 7:30 PM with the game streaming on Big Ten Network Plus. The Hoosiers beat the Northwestern Wildcats 89-75 Sunday Afternoon in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall to get their first Conference win of the season ending a nine-game losing streak. The Hoosiers are 12-11 overall and 1-10 in the Big Ten and sit one game back of that 15th and final spot for the Big Ten Tournament as the top 15 in the Big Ten Standings make the Conference Tournament in March while the bottom three stay home.
Indiana trailed 3-2 in the early stages of the first quarter Sunday and went on a 28-0 run to end the first quarter 30-3 scoring the most points in a first quarter this season. The Hoosiers scored the opening basket of the second quarter to lead 32-3 before the Wildcats scored to break a 10-minute scoring drought. Indiana led 55-26 at halftime and Northwestern used a full court press in the second half and cut the lead to 10 points in the fourth quarter but the Hoosiers held on. Northwestern outscored Indiana 49-34 in the second half but the first quarter deficit was too much for the Wildcats to overcome. Shay Ciezki led the Hoosiers with 33 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Ciezki has scored in double figures in all 23 games this season and the final 9 games of the 2024-25 season. Ciezki has scored 30 or more points six times this season and leads the Hoosiers with 23.6 points and 1.4 steals per game.
Lenee Beaumont averages 14 points and team leading 3 assists per game. Beaumont scored 24 points, pulled down 6 rebounds and dished out 4 assists against Northwestern. Beaumont came out in the first quarter Sunday showed her aggressiveness and Indiana Head Coach Teri Moren said after the game that Beaumont has to come out and play aggressive to give the Hoosiers the spark they need and her aggressiveness makes the team better. Edessa Noyan leads the Hoosiers with 4.9 rebounds and 0.4 blocks per game. Indiana averages 71.2 points 12.1 rebounds and 15.6 turnovers per game. Indiana shoots 47% from the field, 78% from the free throw line and 38% from three-point range.
Wisconsin is 13-9 overall and 5-6 in the Big Ten. The Badgers have lost their last two games 88-53 at Minnesota and 81-58 at Ohio State. The Badgers are 10-1 at home and their only loss came on January 8, to Purdue 75-67. Destiny Howell leads Wisconsin in scoring at 14.6 per game. Kyrah Daniels averages 12.8 points per game. Gift Uchenna Okeke averages 7.5 points along with a team leading 6.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game. Ronnie Porter leads the Badgers with 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals while averaging 6.4 points per game. The Badgers average 69.8 points, 14.3 assists and 17.1 turnovers per game Wisconsin shoots 42% from the field, 35% from three-point range and 76 percent from the free throw line. The Badgers have a 15-player roster that represents Wisconsin, Michigan, Massachusetts, Colorado, New York, Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Croatia, Spain, Serbia and Nigeria. The Badgers have 5 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 4 Sophomores and 2 Freshman on this year’s squad.
Head Coach Robin Pingeton is in her first season at Wisconsin and her 32nd season overall. Pingeton is 597-384 overall. Pingeton coached at her Alma Mater St Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa from 1992-2000, Illinois State from 2003-10 and Missouri 2003-25 and has made 20 postseason tournament appearances. The 57-year-old is from Atkins, Iowa and remains the all-time leading scorer at St Ambrose scoring 2,502 points from 1986-90 and was an all American in both Basketball and Softball she was Robin Becker. Pingeton was a graduate assistant at Drake from 1990-92 and assistant coach at Iowa State from 2000-02 and associate Head Coach for the Cyclones from 2002-03. Indiana leads the All-time series 54-23 and has won 11 straight in the series. The Hoosiers are 18-19 all time in Madison and have won the last five meetings. Wisconsin beat Indiana 76-63 on December 31, 2015, for last win in the series.
Former Indiana University Men’s Basketball Player Pat Knight Resigns as Marian University Men’s Basketball Head Coach Pat Knight is out as Marian University’s head basketball coach. Knight told the Indianapolis Media on Monday night, “I quit because they wanted me to fire a staff member.” Knight added that he disagreed with that directive, and therefore, chose to resign. Knight is the son of legendary Indiana basketball head coach Bob Knight and was hired as the Knights’ head coach in May 2024. Knight was ejected from Saturday’s game at Goshen College, which earned him a suspension from the upcoming contest against Mount Vernon Nazarene on Wednesday.
Marian Athletics released the following statement on the incident: “Pat is suspended from this Wednesday’s home game against Mount Vernon Nazarene stemming from his ejection this Saturday in the team’s loss against Goshen. A university statement addressing Coach Knight will be issued in the coming days.”
Knight was in the middle of his second season with Marian. The Knights are 5-17 after losing Saturday by 1 to Goshen. In his first season, Knight led Marian to an 11-17 record. His father Bob Knight died Nov. 1, 2023, in Bloomington. Bob was the head coach of the Army Black Knights from 1965-1971, the Indiana Hoosiers from 1971-2000, and the Texas Tech Red Raiders from 2001-2008. He won three national championships at IU: 1976, 1981 and 1987. Overall, he he won 902 NCAA Division I men’s basketball games.
Taylor Trojans Women’s Cross Country Collect Prestigious Honor as the USTFCCCA Names them the NAIA Cross Country National Scholar Team of the Year. The USTFCCCA released its Scholar Awards for the Cross-Country season in the fall with the Taylor women named the 2025 NAIA Women’s Cross Country-National Scholar Team of the Year. The team honor comes on the heels of a cumulative 3.67 GPA as a team and winning the NAIA National Championships in November. Taylor has captured the award once before, in 2022.
In addition to the prestigious team award, Jaynie Halterman repeated as the NAIA Women’s Cross Country National Scholar Athlete of the Year. The sophomore sensation collected her second NAIA Individual National Championship during the fall and set the new program record with an outstanding time of 20:04.7 earlier in the season. Halterman has excelled in the classroom with a 4.0 GPA throughout her philosophy and intercultural studies courseload. Joining Halterman as USTFCCCA All-Academic Athletes were Noel Bass, Bekah Firestone, Emersyn Funk, and Malarie Pinwar for an outstanding five total Trojans. To be eligible for the individual all-academic distinction, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and have qualified for the most recent national championship meet. Meanwhile, all-academic teams were held to a standard of a combined 3.0 GPA or better.
Taylor University Men’s Cross Country Team Along with Four Individuals Named All-Academic by USTFCCCA The USTFCCCA announced its All-Academic award winners, with the Taylor men’s cross country earning the distinction along with four student-athletes. No. 5 Taylor collected the honor with a cumulative team GPA of 3.58 after finishing the season with a fifth-place finish at the NAIA National Championships. Four individuals earned the award with Jordan Burden, Ryan Hanak, Jared Stayte, and Joel Mumaw each being recognized for the second-consecutive season. To be eligible for the individual all-academic distinction, student-athletes must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 and have qualified for the most recent national championship meet. Meanwhile, all-academic teams were held to a standard of a combined 3.0 GPA or better.
Houston Rockets edge the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse Alperen Sengun matched his season high with 39 points, and Jabari Smith Jr. added 19 to help the short-handed Houston Rockets overcome the absence of All-Star forward Kevin Durant to beat the Indiana Pacers 118-114 on Monday. Durant sat out, coach Ime Udoka said, after spraining his left ankle when he stepped on a fan’s foot. The Rockets already were missing center Steven Adams, who is expected to miss the rest of this season following surgery on his injured left ankle, so Sengun did the heavy lifting. He made 13 of 25 from the field and 13 of 18 from the free-throw line including 8 of 12 during the fourth quarter. Houston won its third straight, got its fifth victory in six games and captured its third straight on the road. All-Star forward Pascal Siakam finished with 27 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 25 to lead the Pacers, who charged back from a 12-point deficit in the third quarter to take the lead. But they didn’t have quite enough to extend their winning streak to a season-best three straight.
Initially, the healthier Pacers took advantage of Houston’s missing pieces. They controlled most of the first half before allowing Houston to charge back with a 17-4 spurt late. And when replay review waved off what appeared to be Siakam’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer, Indiana was staring at a 63-56 halftime deficit. Houston continued pulling away early in the second half, using a 12-5 run to build a 75-63 lead. Indiana answered with nine straight points then retook the lead, 81-79, lead on a nifty pass from Jarace Walker to Siakam on a fast break with 2:27 left in the third quarter. It remained essentially a one or two possession game until Sengun’s free throws fueled Houston’s late 12-2 run to make it 109-101 with 4:59 to go.