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Indiana Men’s Basketball Faces Michigan to Open Big Ten Tournament
The Ninth Seed Indiana Hoosiers will face the Eighth Seed Michigan Wolverines in the Second Round of the Big Ten Tournament at 11:30 am this morning at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Hoosiers finished the regular season 18-12 and 9-11 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers come in losing two in row with a home loss to Rutgers and a road loss at archrival Purdue.
Trayce Jackson-Davis leads the team with 17.4 Points, 8.2 Rebounds, and team leading 72 Blocks. Race Thompson and Xavier Johnson each average 11.8 points per game. Johnson leads the team in steals with 34 and assists with 136. The Hoosiers average 71.4 points per game and give up 65.4 per game. Indiana has had issues with not being able to close out games after getting big leads early. Coach Mike Woodson has had his ups and downs with this team as they are fighting for their first NCAA Tournament Berth since 2016. This is a must win situation for the Hoosiers if they want to get on the right side of the bubble. Currently. the Hoosiers sit on the outside looking in as one of the first teams out, according to many bracket experts.
Michigan is 17-13 overall and finished 11-9 in the Big Ten. Head Coach Juwan Howard is back after five game suspension after an altercation in the February 20th game at Wisconsin as the Badgers beat Wolverines 77-63, After the game, Wisconsin Head Coach Greg Gard confronted Howard and the two exchanged words before Howard threw a punch towards Wisconsin assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft. Assistant Coach Phil Martelli who was the longtime Head Coach at St Joesph’s in Philadelphia, guided Michigan to a 3-2 record in Howard’s absence.
Michigan beat Indiana 80-62 on January 23rd, in Bloomington. The Winner of this game will face Top Seed Illinois on Friday at 11:30am in the quarterfinals.
Indiana Baseball Beats Purdue-Fort Wayne
The Indiana baseball program moved its winning streak to four games with a 11-2 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday (March 9) evening at Bart Kaufman Field. A second inning run for Indiana (6-6) got the scoring started and IU added two in the fourth and one in the fifth to build a 4-0 lead. Purdue Fort Wayne (0-12) got on the board with a single run in the sixth inning, but IU added three more in the bottom half of the inning and four more in the seventh inning to build an 11-1 lead. The two teams exchanged runs in the eighth inning to account for the final margin of 12-2.
The Hoosiers will play a three-game series this weekend against the Troy Trojans in Troy Alabama. Game 1 is Friday at 7pm, Game 2 is Saturday at 4pm, and the final game is Sunday at pm. All three games can be seen on ESPN Plus.
Indiana Diving Earns Five More Bids For NCAA Championships
Indiana men’s and women’s diving capped its run at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships with five qualifiers in the Platform dive on Wednesday inside Donald B. Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor Michigan. Over three days six Indiana divers, three men and three women, combined for 17 bids to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships later this month in Atlanta.
In Men’s Platform Freshman Carson Tyler set the tone with four dives scoring north of 70 points during the preliminary session. He followed with three straight dives scoring at least 70 points to kick off the final on his way to a second-place finish securely in qualifying territory. Fellow freshman Quinn Henninger (763.20) and senior Andrew Capobianco (753.70) placed fifth and sixth, respectively, well above the 11th place finish needed to qualify for the national meet.
In Women’s Platform Reigning NCAA Platform Champion and sophomore Tarrin Gilliland lived up to her billing Wednesday, finishing atop the leaderboard with a score of 632.25, over 40 points better than the runner-up. She capped the day with her highest-scoring dive, an inward 3 ½ somersault tuck from 10 meters that yielded 81.60 points. Senior Kristen Hayden finished just above the cutline in eighth, scoring 507 points. Hayden made up ground with her final five dives, moving up from her 13th place position following preliminary dives.
Indiana will head to Atlanta for the 2022 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, beginning next week inside McCauley Aquatic Center. The women will compete first from March 16-19 with the men following March 23-26.
Indianapolis Colts Trade Quarterback Carson Wentz to Washington Commanders
The Indianapolis Colts have traded Quarterback Carson Wentz to the Washington Commanders on Wednesday. The Colts will receive the Commanders’ third-round picks in 2022 and 2023, sources told Schefter. The 2023 third rounder can become a second-round selection if Wentz plays 70% of Washington’s snaps. The teams also swapped second-round picks in 2022, with the Colts moving up from #47 overall to #42.
Washington will pay the full $28 million due to Wentz for the 2022 season, which includes a $5 million roster bonus coming next week. Washington has started 32 quarterbacks since it last won the Super Bowl following the 1991 season, including eight in the past three years. Taylor Heinicke went 7-8 as Washington’s starter last season, throwing for 3,419 yards with 20 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions. Washington owns the NFL’s worst total QBR since the 2018 season and its 71 touchdown passes in that span also rank 32nd. That’s a big reason the team has gone 24-41 in that stretch.
Wentz spent one season as the Colts’ quarterback after Indianapolis gave the Philadelphia Eagles first- and third-round picks for him in February 2021. It was an attempt to find their next franchise quarterback following the retirement of Philip Rivers after the 2020 season. The No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft, Wentz threw 27 touchdown passes and tied his career low in interceptions with seven last season. His long-term status with the Colts came into question late in the season, however, as he struggled in the team’s final two games, when it had to win only one to make the playoffs and week 18 loss to Jacksonville eliminated the Colts from playoff contention.
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