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Indiana Men’s Basketball travels to Michigan State
Indiana Men’s Basketball will be in action tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm when they take on the Michigan State Spartans in the Breslin Center in East Lansing. Indiana lost at Northwestern 59-51 Tuesday night. The Hoosiers had 5 players suspended for that game for a violation of team rules according to Head Coach Mike Woodson. Woodson announced Thursday afternoon that starting Guards Xavier Johnson and Parker Stewart, and backups Tamar Bates, Michael Durr and Khristian Lander have been reinstated, and will be available to play tomorrow. “It’s important that all team rules are followed, and a curfew applies to everyone in our program for a reason,” Woodson said in Press Release. “It will be my decision to determine what role each one will have moving forward.” This is the first time that breaking curfew has been mentioned as the reason for the suspensions. Internet rumors, as they are prone to do, ran rampant. Woodson’s statement Thursday clears all that up.
Indiana is 16-7 and 7-6 in the Big Ten and this a rough three game stretch with a home game against Wisconsin Tuesday and a road trip to Ohio State next Saturday. Trayce Jackson-Davis is averaging 17.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game along with a team leading 60 blocked shots. Race Thompson averages 11.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Thompson and Xavier Johnson are tied for the team lead in steals with 24. Johnson is averaging 10.1 points and is the team leader in assists with 100.
Michigan State is 17-6 overall and 8-4 in the Big Ten. The Spartans lost at home Tuesday Night to Wisconsin 70-62. Gabe Brown leads the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game. Malik Hall is averaging 10.1 points per game. Marcus Bingham Jr. averages 9.9 points and leads the team in rebounds at 6.5 per game along with a team high 55 blocks. Max Christie averages 9.9 points per game. A.J. Hoggard leads the team with 112 assists and Tyson Walker leads the team in steals with 29. Tom Izzo is 660-260 in his 27th season. Izzo won the 2000 National Championship and has been to 8 Final Four’s.
Indiana Women’s Basketball Hosts Michigan Stat
7th ranked Indiana Women’s Basketball hosts Michigan State Inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm with tickets costing $ 1 as part of the head to the hall promotion. The Hoosiers and the Spartans were to play on January, 19 but that was postponed due to COVID Protocols within the Hoosier program. Indiana is 17-3 overall and 9-1 in the Big Ten which puts them in 1st place after Michigan lost at Michigan State Thursday Night. The Hoosiers have won 3 in a row and 12 of the last 13 games. Indiana routed Illinois 93-61 on the road Wednesday Night. The Hoosiers have 5 players averaging double figures. Mackenzie Holmes still leads at 17.9 points per game despite being out with a knee injury. Grace Berger is at 15.2 points, Aleksa Gulbe at 12.5 Points, Ali Patberg at 12.3 points, and Nicole Cardano-Hillary at 11.5 Points.
Michigan State is 13-10 overall and 7-5 in the Big Ten. The Spartans beat instate rival Michigan 63-57 Thursday Night at Home to give Michigan their 2nd conference loss of the season. Nia Clouden led the way with 20 points and Purdue Transfer Tamara Farquhar added 11 points. Michigan State leads the all-time series 47-30. Michigan State beat Indiana 69-61 in the Quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis on March 11, 2021.
The Big Ten Conference has announced a pair of schedule changes for Indiana women’s basketball for its series against Iowa. The Hoosiers will now host the Hawkeyes on Saturday, February 19 at 4 pm on Big Ten Network Plus for Senior Day. The game was previously scheduled for Sunday, February 20. Tickets that were purchased for February 20th will be valid for the newly rescheduled date of February 19. In a previously postponed date due to health and safety protocols-January 23rd, the two teams will meet again on Monday, February 21 in Iowa City. That game at Carver Hawkeye Arena is set for 8pm on Big Ten Network.
Hoosier Justin Schoenfeld Wins Gold at Beijing Olympics
Lawrenceburg Indiana native Justin Schoenfeld won the gold medal in the Freestyle Skiing Mixed Aerials event at the Beijing Olympics Thursday. Schoenfeld along with his girlfriend Ashley Caldwell and Christopher Lillis had a total score of 338.34 to take home the Gold Medal. China won silver with a score of 324.22 and Canada won the Bronze with a score of 290.98. Schonenfeld is the first Hoosier ever to win a winter games gold medal. There are three Hoosiers competing in these Olympics. Nick Goepper from Lawrenceburg who is competing in Freestyle Skiing slopestyle and Jimmy Reed a Bobsledder who was born in Bloomington but grew up and now lives in Germany.
Schoenfeld and Nick Goepper, a two-time Olympic medalist, grew up skiing at Perfect North Slopes, about 30 miles west of Cincinnati in southern Indiana. Schoenefeld and Goepper both have medal chances later at the Beijing Olympics in aerials and slopestyle, respectively. Besides Goepper, the only other record of a native Hoosier winning a winter medal is Bloomington figure skater Jill Watson, who won a bronze in pairs at the 1988 Calgary Games. Doug Sharp, a former Purdue University pole vaulter from Bay City, Michigan won a bronze in bobsled at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
Three Indiana Natives Competing in the Super Bowl Sunday
When the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams meet for Super Bowl 56 Sunday Evening at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood California at 6:30 pm on NBC. Three Indiana natives will take the field. For the Cincinnati Bengals Safety Jesse Bates III graduated from Fort Wayne Snider in 2015 and Running Back Chris Evans from Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis graduated in 2016. For the Los Angeles Rams Wide Receiver Ben Skowronek who graduated from Homestead High School in Fort Wayne graduated in 2016.
Bates is in his 4th season from Wake Forest had 1 interception and 1 fumble in the regular season, Evans is his rookie season from Michigan had 77 rushing yards in the regular season and 151 receiving yards and a touchdown. In the Postseason Evans has rushed 2 times for 13 yards. Bates has a fumble recovery in the postseason. Skowronek is a rookie from Norte Dame who had 11 receptions for 123 yards in the regular season and has only been thrown to once in the Post Season.
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