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Indiana Men’s Basketball takes on archrival Purdue
Indiana Men’s Basketball faces 4th ranked Purdue tonight at 7pm inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall with the game televised on Fox Sports 1. The Hoosiers are 13-4 and 4-3 in the Big Ten after a 78-71 win at Nebraska Monday Night. Trayce Jackson-Davis is coming off his 30th career double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds at Nebraska. He has had eight double-doubles this season and 30 in his career with IU posting a 23-7 record in those games. Jackson-Davis now has scored 1,271 points as a Hoosier, rating 31st all-time in IU lore. He has averaged 20.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and shot 63.5% in the last four games. He is the fifth active leading scorer in the country and is first in free throw attempts (507) and second in free throws made (337) since 2019-20. He has shot more free throws than any other player in the Big Ten this season (110). His 289 attempts in conference games are the most by any player since 2019-20. Jackson-Davis is averaging 19.5 points (5th in B1G), 9.1 rebounds (3rd), shooting 60.7% from the floor (3rd), and contributing 50 blocked shots (1st). He has notched four straight double-doubles for the first time in his career
Race Thompson is ninth in the Big Ten averaging 7.5 rebounds. He has averaged 12.2 points over the last 11 games. Parker Stewart is shooting 46.7% from 3-point range after making 2-of-3 from long distance at Nebraska. That’s the 3rd best percentage of Big Ten players who have made 35 or more triples this season. Jordan Geronimo and Trey Galloway made all seven of their field goals combined at Nebraska. Geronimo was 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line and finished with 10 points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes. His 40-minute average of 14.3 rebounds is the fifth highest in the league. Galloway made 3-of-3 shots from the floor and finished with nine points. For The Hoosiers this game is the biggest for Rob Phinese who is a Lafayette native playing for McCutheon High School about 10 minutes from the Purdue Campus and has never won against his hometown school.
IU is first in the Big Ten and second in country in field goal percentage defense (36.5%). The Hoosiers also lead the league in scoring defense (62.7). In conference play, IU leads in scoring defense (63.6) and field goal percentage defense (39.3%). IU shot 50.9% (81-of-159) from the field against Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. Indiana Head Coach Mike Woodson played for IU from 1976-1980 and is the fifth all-time leading scorer in program history with 2,061 Points and there is no question that he will have the Hoosiers ready to go this evening.
Purdue is 15-2 and 4-2 in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers beat Illinois 96-88 in 2 overtimes Monday Afternoon in Champaign. The Boilermakers are led by Jaden Ivey who averages 16.4 points per game and fly to the basket and knock down the three-point shot. 7-4 Zach Edey averages 15.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and will be a matchup issue for the Hoosiers who plan to use 7-0 Center Michael Durr help defend when Edey is in the game. Trevion Williams averages 13.4 points and 8.5 rebounds. Sasha Stefanovic averages 11.8 points and he is the leading three-point shooter knocking down 45 from beyond the arc. Purdue is coached by Matt Painter in his 17th season. Like Coach Woodson, Coach Painter is coaching his alma mater. He played for Gene Keady from 1989-1993 before he took over for Keady in 2005 when he retired. Painter is 370-186 at Purdue and 395-191 overall in 18 seasons. Painter coached at Southern Illinois for the 2003-04 season and was 25-5 leading the Salukis to the NCAA Tournament. At Purdue he has led the Boilermakers to 12 NCAA Tournaments and 1 CBI Tournament. Purdue leads the all-time series 124-89 and Purdue has won 9 straight in this series and 12 of the last 13. Indiana has not won in this series since February 20, 2016 77-73 in Bloomington.
Four Indiana Swimmers and Divers Earn Big Ten Awards
For the second time this season four Indiana student-athletes earned Big Ten weekly awards following IU’s dual meet versus No. 11/15 Louisville, the conference office announced Wednesday. Swimmer of the week Brendan Burns, diver of the week Carson Tyler and freshman of the week Rafael Miroslaw combined to sweep the men’s awards after they helped the Hoosiers dominate Louisville, 205-95. Senior diver Kristen Hayden added to the tally, winning Big Ten Women’s Diver of the Week laurels. Between its men’s and women’s teams, eight Indiana student-athletes have collected 14 such awards over five weeks of eligibility this season.
Men’s Swimmer of the Week: Brendan Burns
Junior Brendan Burns continued his fantastic campaign with his fourth conference award of the season and fifth of his career. Burns won and posted NCAA B cut times in all three individual races he swum and helped his relay group to a third-place finish in the 200 Medley Relay. The Berwyn, Pennsylvania, native, won both the 200 and 100-Yard Butterfly via significant times. His 1:40.72 in the 200 ranks No. 2 nationally and No. 1 in the Big Ten, and his 45.49 in the 100 comes in at No. 8 nationally and No. 2 in the conference. Burns also won the 200 Backstroke, finishing two seconds ahead of the competition with a 1:41.18.
Men’s Diver of the Week: Carson Tyler
Freshman Carson Tyler won both diving events Friday to capture his third conference award and second diver of the week selection. In the 1-meter dive, Tyler posted a season-best 411.83 to win the event by over 46 points. He followed it up with a 387.60 in the 3M to edge out Louisville’s Daniel Pinto (379.58) and fellow Hoosier freshman Quinn Henninger (378.38).
Both scores came as NCAA Zone Qualifying marks. Tyler has tallied such scores in all 10 events he has competed in this season.
Men’s Freshman of the Week: Rafael Miroslaw
Freshman Rafael Misroslaw collected his first-career Big Ten weekly award by dominating in the freestyle events. Like Burns, Miroslaw won three of his four races, then finished fourth in the 50-Yard Freestyle with a 20.00. The Hamburg, Germany, native started his day with a triumph in the 200 Freestyle, touching the wall in 1:33.39. He followed that performance with a win the 100 Free in 43.10. To close the evening Miroslaw posted a 42.54 split as the anchor in IU’s 400 Freestyle Relay victory.
Women’s Diver of the Week: Kristen Hayden
Senior Kristen Hayden earned her second-career Big Ten Diver of the Week award, first since 2018 and first since becoming a Hoosier. The Hillsborough, New Jersey, native won both diving events Friday. Hayden set a career-best mark in the 1-meter dive, scoring a 319.50, the third-highest mark by an IU female diver this season. Hayden also won the 3-meter dive by almost 20 points with a 362.10. Both scores were NCAA Zone Qualifying marks.
Indiana Women’s Soccer announces 2022 Spring schedule
Coming off a successful fall season, the Indiana women’s soccer team is back and looking ahead to a spring of training and competition. They have announced their spring schedule, which will consist of five matches. The schedule starts on February 26 when they travel to Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana, to take on Butler.
On March 5, the Hoosiers will travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats. Indiana will host one of two matches at Bill Armstrong Stadium on March 27 against Tennessee. On April 10 the Hoosiers will host Butler. The schedule will conclude on April 16 when they travel to Illinois.
In the 2021 season the Hoosiers posted a record of 9-5-4. They recorded their best overall record, most wins and highest RPI since 2013.
2022 Indiana Women’s Soccer Spring Schedule
2/26/22 vs. Butler (Grand Park) 6:00pm
3/5/22 at Cincinnati 5:30pm
3/27/22 vs. Tennessee 12:00pm
4/10/22 vs. Butler 1:00pm
4/16/22 at Illinois 4:00pm
Indiana Fever waive rookie Kysre Gonderzick
The Indiana Fever announced the team has waived rookie guard Kysre Gondrezick. She was the 4th overall pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft. Gondrezick played in 19 games for the Fever. She averaged 9.1 minutes, 1.9 points, 1.0 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.4 steals per game. Gondrezick is from Benton Harbor Michigan and was named 2016 Michigan Miss Basketball at Benton Harbor High School.
The 5-9 Point guard played at Michigan for one season from 2016-2017 before playing her final three season at West Virginia from 2018-21 after sitting out the 2017-18 season due to NCAA transfer rules. She scored 1,503 points in 92 career games. The Indiana Fever were 6-26 last season and will have the second overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft in April.
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