Today’s Local Sports Headlines are brought to us by . . .
Indiana Men’s Basketball Plays Norte Dame in Final Crossroads Classic
Indiana Men’s Basketball is back in action tomorrow at 2:30 PM when they take on Norte Dame in the crossroads classic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Purdue and Butler will face off at Noon in the first game of the doubleheader with both games being televised on FOX. This is the 11th and final Crossroads Classic that has been held every year at the Home of the Indiana Pacers since the event started in 2011. Indiana and Purdue alternates playing Butler and Norte Dame every year since the Hoosiers and Boilermakers play each other in the Big Ten every year and do not meet in the classic and thus Norte Dame and Butler do not meet either. The Hoosiers are 7-3 all time in the event and have won 4 straight since 2017. Butler is 6-4, Norte Dame is 4-6 and Purdue 3-7 all time in the Crossroads Classic.
Indiana Leads the all-time series with the Fighting Irish 51-22 and are 4-1 against the Irish in the Classic. Indiana beat Norte Dame 62-60 on December 21, 2019 in Indianapolis. Norte Dame beat Indiana 79-72 on December 13, 2014 for its only win against the Hoosiers in this event. Norte Dame is 4-4 on the year and 0-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Dane Goodwin leads the team in scoring at 14.3 points a game followed by Blake Wesley at 13 points and Paul Atkinson Jr. at 11 Points per game. Norte Dame is averaging 68.1 points per game and giving up 66.1. The Irish beat 10th ranked Kentucky 66-62 in South Bend on December 11. Mike Brey is the Irish head coach is in his 22nd season he is 452-252 record in South Bend and 551-304 record in 27 seasons as head coach. Brey coached at Delaware from 1995-2000 and he has taken his teams to 14 NCAA Tournament’s and 6 Postseason NIT Tournaments.
Indiana is 8-2 and 1-1 in the Big 10. The Hoosiers are led by Trayce Jackson-Davis at 19.3 points per game and team high 34 blocks. Race Thompson averages 10.6 points and team high 8.7 rebounds per game along with a team high 13 steals. Xavier Johnson averages 10.3 points and team high 43 assists. Jordan Geronimo is coming off his first career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds against Merrimack on December 12. The Hoosiers average 78.3 points and give up 62.3 per game.
Indiana Head coach Mike Woodson returns to his hometown of Indianapolis as the first-year head coach of the Hoosiers. Woodson played for Bob Knight at IU from 1976-1980 and the programs 5th all time leading scorer with 2,061 Points. Woodson played at Broad Ripple High School and defense has been his calling card as IU leads the Big Ten and is third nationally in defensive field goal percentage (34.9%). In the league, IU is third in Big Ten in scoring (78.3), third in defense (62.3), fourth in 3FG defense (28.6), second in blocked shots (6.1), second in rebound margin (+10.3), and first in defensive rebounds per game (32.1).
Indiana Women’s Basketball Host Western Michigan Sunday Afternoon
Indiana Women’s Basketball is back in action Sunday afternoon when they host the Western Michigan Broncos inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall at 1 PM. The 10th ranked Hoosiers are coming off an 86-66 road win at number 20 Ohio State. Mackenzie Holmes scored a career high 30 points, became the 30th players in Indiana Women’s Basketball history to score 1,000 career points and was named the Big Ten Player of the Week. Holmes is the team’s leading scorer at 18.5 points and rebounder at 6.7 per game along with a team leading 20 block shots.
All five Indiana starters average in double figures. Grace Berger averages 14.3 Points and a team high 47 assists, Ali Patberg average’s 12.1 while Aleska Gulbe and Nicole Cardano-Hillary each average 11.1 points per game. The Points drop off with Kiandra Browne at 2.8 points, Chloe Moore-McNeil at 2.5, Kaitlin Peterson at 1.4 and Grace Waggoner at 0.4 points per game off the bench. Indiana is averaging 73.7 points and giving up 58.1 per game. Cardnao-Hillary leads the team in steals with 17 followed by Berger at 13 and Gulbe at 11 steals on the season.
Indiana is 8-2 and 2-0 in the Big Ten and the Hoosiers have not allowed a team to score more than 69 points in a game. Stanford beat the Hoosiers 69-66 on Thanksgiving Day in the Bahamas. The Hoosiers are 9-4 all time against Western Michigan. Indiana has won the last three in the series with the last meeting on December 4, 1993 with Indiana winning 95-68. Western Michigan last beat Indiana 67-64 in Bloomington on January 11th, 1980.
Western Michigan is 6-2 on the season and have won there last 5 games. Lauren Ross leads the team in scoring at 20.8 points per game. Taylor Williams averages 13.3 points followed by Reilly Jacobson at 12 .8 points. The Broncos average 72.8 and give up 59.5 on defense. Shane Clipfell is the head coach at Western Michigan since 2012 and he has won over three hundred games in his coaching career in College, Junior College, and High School. Western Michigan is located in Kalamazoo Michigan and competes in the Mid-American Conference.
Bloomington North beats Bloomington South 49-38 in City Girls Basketball Showdown
Bloomington North beat Bloomington South 49-38 in the annual city girls’ basketball showdown at Bloomington North Thursday Night. Mia Robbenolt led the cougars with a double-double over 21 points and 10 rebounds along with 2 steals and 2 blocks. Mallory Barrow chipped in 8 points. Bloomington North was 13-39 from the field, 3-17 from three-point range, 20-29 from the free throw line, 33 rebounds, and 13 turnovers. Bloomington South was led by Abbie Lucas with 10 points and 8 rebounds, Carlie Pedersen scored 9 points. The Panthers were 11-43 from the field 3-15 from there point range, 11-13 from the free throw line, 30 rebounds, and 14 turnovers.
Bloomington North is 7-5 on the season with a 3-game winning streak and will play New Castle on Saturday afternoon 1:30 PM the Hoosier Gym in Knightstown. Bloomington South is 1-10 and lost 5 in a row and will travel to Castle Saturday afternoon at 12:30pm. Bloomington North beats Bloomington South for the first time since 2017, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Indianapolis Colts Host New England Patriots in Saturday Night Showdown
The Indianapolis Colts will host the New England Patriots in a Saturday Night primetime matchup at 8:15 PM on the NFL Network inside Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts are coming off a bye week and are 7-6 and have put themselves in the playoff picture.
Carson Wentz has thrown for 2,948 yards with 22 touchdown passes and 5 interceptions. Jonathan Taylor has been the leagues top running back with 1,348 yards and 16 touchdowns. Michael Pittman Jr is the team’s leading receiver with 882 yards and 5 touchdowns. The Colts started the season 0-3 and have won four of the last five including a 31-0 win at Houston December 5.
New England is 9-4 on the season and ride a 7-game winning streak coming into tomorrow nights game. The Patriots beat the Bills 14-10 in which they only threw a total 3 passes for the entire game. Rookie Mac Jones has thrown for 2,869 yards with 16 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Jones was the 15th overall pick out of Alabama in 2021 NFL Draft. Damien Harris is the team’s leading rusher at 754 yards and 9 touchdowns. Kendrick Bourne is the team’s leading receiver with 623 yards and 5 touchdowns.
For more local news . . .
Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson here