Local Sports Headlines: January 28, 2022

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Indiana Men’s Basketball Travels to Maryland
Indiana Men’s Basketball will be back in action tomorrow at 2:30pm when they take on Maryland at the Xfinity Center in College Park with the game televised on FOX.  The Hoosiers beat Penn State 74-57 Wednesday Night to improve to 15-5 overall and 6-4 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers jumped to a 12-0 lead and 41-17 halftime lead before Penn State outscored the Hoosiers 42-28 in the 2nd half. Indiana shot lights out for the game. The Hoosiers shot 51 percent from the field, 76 percent from three-point range hitting 10-13 and 80 percent from the free throw line. Rob Phinisee went down in the first half with apparent ankle injury and did not return. It is unclear his status for the game tomorrow.

Maryland is 11-9 and 3-6 in the Big Ten. Eric Ayala leads the team in scoring with 16.3 points per game. Fatts Russell averages is at 13.1 points per game and Donta Scott is at 12.5. Maryland won at Rutgers 68-60 Tuesday night. Danny Manning is the interim head coach replacing Mark Turgeon who resigned earlier in the season. Manning led the University of Kansas to the 1988 National Championship as a player and he and Turgeon were teammates for three seasons from 1984-87. Turgeon was an assistant coach for Larry Brown for the 1987-88 Season.

Four Indiana Football Players Selected for NFLPA Collegiate Bowl
Four Indiana Football Hoosiers will play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena California and will be televised on the NFL Network. Tight End Peyton Hendershot, Running Back Stephen Carr, Offensive Tackle Caleb Jones and Defensive Back Raheem Layne be part of the American vs National Team Format. For Carr it is return to his home state where is from Gardena California and played at USC before he transferred to Indiana for his final season. Former Cincinnati Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis will coach the National Team and Former Tennessee Titans Coach Jeff Fisher will coach the American Team.  The National Team Leads the Series 8-1 with the only American Team coming in 2019 and there was no 2020 game due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Bloomington North Hosts Wrestling Sectional
11 Teams will compete at the Bloomington North Wrestling Sectional beginning at 8 am tomorrow morning.  Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Edgewood, Indian Creek, Northview, Owen Valley, Paoli, Sullivan, Terre Haute North, Terre Haute South and West Vigo are the teams going after the Sectional Title. The top 4 individuals in each weight class will advance to the regional which will be held across town at Bloomington South on February 5th and will have teams from the Southridge Sectional competing in the Bloomington South Regional.

Chicago Bears Hire Indianapolis Colts Defensive Coordinator Matt Eberflus as Head Coach
The Chicago Bears have hired Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus as their head coach, the team announced Thursday night. Eberflus, 51, also was considered a candidate for the Jacksonville Jaguars head-coaching vacancy. He will join new general manager Ryan Poles in taking over a Bears team that went 6-11 in 2021 under Matt Nagy and has missed the playoffs in nine of the past 11 seasons.

Chicago also interviewed Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and former Colts and Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell for the job. Eberflus has spent the past four seasons as the Colts’ defensive coordinator under coach Frank Reich. His defenses finished in the top 10 in scoring three times, including being tied for ninth in 2021 at 21.5 points per game. Eberflus inherits a Bears team that ranked sixth in the NFL in total defense in 2021 but struggled offensively and endured instability at quarterback, where Andy Dalton alternated as the starter with rookie Justin Fields.  

The first big question for Eberflus in Chicago will be selecting an offensive coordinator, because a big part of the job for the new coach and GM will be solidifying the quarterback position that has haunted the founding NFL franchise for decades. Now Eberflus is the second coordinator to leave Indianapolis in two seasons. Last year, the Philadelphia Eagels  filled their head-coaching vacancy with Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni, who took a handful of Colts assistants with him.

For more local news . . .
Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson here