#14 Indiana Men’s Basketball travels to #8 Kansas Indiana University continues its 123rd season of competition in men’s basketball with a blue-blood battle at No. 8/6 Kansas at 11 a.m. CT/noon ET on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2. The game will mark the fourth in the last five outings for the Hoosiers with an opponent ranked inside the KenPom top-40, with three of the games coming away from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Jayhawks, led by 20th-year head coach Bill Self, enter the game with a 9-1 record. KU won the 2022 NCAA Championship. Indiana and Kansas have played 14 times in men’s basketball with the Hoosiers earning victories on eight occasions. Indiana is 2-1 all time in Lawrence. IU took down KU to claim both the 1940 and 1953 NCAA Championship crowns. The Hoosiers won the program’s first title in ’40 by a score of 60-42 behind double-figure scoring efforts from Marv Huffman (12), Jay McCreary (12), and Paul Armstrong (10). The ’53 title came in a 69-68 win on the strength of a 30-point, 10-rebound outing from Don Schlundt. Charley Kraak added a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double, while Bob ‘Slick’ Leonard tallied 12 points. The last time the two sides met came in a 103-99 overtime thriller on Nov. 11, 2016, in Honolulu.
Sixth-year senior forward Race Thompson scored 16 points on a career-best 4-of-7 from the 3-point line in Indiana’s 89-75 loss to No. 10/9 Arizona in the Las Vegas Clash last Saturday. Fifth-year senior guard Xavier Johnson tallied 11 points and 11 assists for his fourth career double-double. Fifth-year senior forward Miller Kopp 14), sophomore guard Tamar Bates (13), and senior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (11) all reached double figures. Indiana ranks second among Big Ten Conference (34th nationally) offenses in scoring at 81.4 points per contest on a league-best (third nationally) 51.1% shooting from the floor. No other team in the conference is shooting over 50.0%. Ohio State, 56th nationally, has shot the ball at a 48.2% mark this season to rank second in the conference. Indiana is third in the Big Ten and 14th in the NCAA with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.54.
#4 Indiana Womens Basketball to host Morehead State Sunday afternoon
The 4th ranked Indiana Hoosiers (10-0) will attempt to stay hot and build on a 10-game win streak when they host the Morehead State Eagles (4-6) on Sunday, December 18, 2022 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The contest is at 2:00pm. Indiana defeated Penn State 67-58 on Thursday in the team’s last outing, with Sydney Parrish leading the effort by notching 18 points in the win.Morehead State lost to South Carolina Upstate 64-59 in the team’s last outing on Monday despite a team-high 19 points from Sophie Benharouga.
Indiana heads into the matchup tallying 84 points per game, 17.8 more than the 66.2 Morehead State allows per contest. The Hoosiers are 9-0 in games where they put up more than 66 points.The Hoosiers make 74.1 percent of their free throws as a team, the seventh-best mark in the Big Ten. Mackenzie Holmes hits three free throws per game to lead Indiana while knocking down 67 percent of her attempts at the line. Indiana’s leading scorer and rebounder is Holmes, who averages 20.6 points and 7.3 boards per game. The Hoosiers also get 12.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and two steals from Parrish and 11.8 points per game from Sara Scalia. Indiana’s three-point shooting attack is led by Yarden Garzon, who averages 2.2 made three-pointers per game while shooting 52 percent from downtown.
The Eagles average 53 points per game, 6.6 fewer than Indiana’s per-game average points allowed. Morehead State is 1-1 when it reaches the 60-point mark on the year. When they get to the free throw line, which they do 13 times a game, the Eagles shoot 56.7 percent, which is ninth in the OVC. Sandra Lin is Morehead State’s best shooter from the line, making 1.5 free throws a game while shooting 63 percent. Veronica Charles is Morehead State’s top scorer, tallying 12.8 points a contest, and leading rebounder with 5.1 rebounds per game. Benharouga averages 9.6 points for the Eagles, while Rhodes averages 6.1 points per game. Charles makes the most threes per game for Morehead State, shooting 25 percent from beyond the arc while hitting 1.8 three-pointers a contest.
Indiana University Field Hockey lands 11 players on academic All-Big Ten Team The Indiana Field Hockey team had 11 players named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team by the conference office last week. The team’s honorees include the following: Sofia Arrebola Garcia– Mathematics – Santander, Spain, Maggie Carter – Political Science/Economics – Shaker Heights, Ohio, Jemima Cookson – Psychology – Morpeth, Northumberland, England, Meghan Dillion – Biology – Phoenixville, Pa., Taylor Etling – Exercise Science – Saint Louis, Mo., Sydney Keld- Finance – Middletown, Del., Kayla Kiwak – Exercise Science – Harding, Pa., Meredith Lee – Marketing – Louisville, Ky., Arabella Loveridge– Game Design – Auckland, New Zealand, Kennedy Reardon- International Law & Institutions/Environmental and Sustainability Studies – Lafayette Hill, Pa. and Yip van Wonderen – Interior Design – Heemstede, Netherlands
Indianapolis Colts travel to Minnesota Vikings Saturday afternoon The Indianapolis Colts will take on the Minnesota Vikings Saturday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis at 1pm on the NFL Network. The Colts are 4-8-1 on the season while the Vikings are 10-3. The Colts have won six straight games against the Vikings and lead the all-time series 18-7-1 with the most recent loss was at the Metrodome in Minnesota in the 1997 regular-season finale when they finished 3-13. Colts DEs Yannick Ngakoue and Ifeadi Odenigbo were the two starters for the Vikings for the first six games of the 2020 season before Ngakoue was traded. Now Odenigbo backs up Ngakoue, who’s on his fifth team in 3½ years. Nate Burleson had a 91-yard punt return for a TD for the Vikings against the Colts in 2004. He’s the analyst for this game on the NFL Network broadcast.
The Colts are 1/3 under interim coach Jeff Saturday and have lost six of their past seven games. With 13 pass attempts, Colts QB Matt Ryan will pass Ben Roethlisberger (8,443) for fifth place on the NFL’s career list. Ryan leads the league with 18 turnovers. … Colts RB Jonathan Taylor needs 139 rushing yards for his second straight 1,000-yard season despite missing three games. He needs 34 rushing yards to pass Randy McMillan (3,876 yards) for ninth in franchise history. Colts WR Michael Pittman Jr. ranks sixth in the AFC with 76 receptions. The Colts defense has had 41 negative yardage running plays, second most in the NFL. The Colts also are tied for the second-fewest overall plays (141) of 10 or more yards allowed this season. … The Vikings can clinch the NFC North title with a win. … Since becoming the full-time starter for Washington in 2015, Vikings QB Kirk Cousins has 41 games of 300-plus passing yards to rank third in the league behind Tom Brady (47) and Ryan (46). … Cousins had a season-high 124.4 passer rating for the Vikings at Detroit and became just the fourth QB in the past three years to pass for 400-plus yards without an interception and lose the game. … The Vikings defense has allowed 400-plus yards for five straight games, the longest streak in team history. Vikings OLB Za’Darius Smith leads the NFL with 70 pressures and 49 hurries, according to Pro Football Focus calculations. Ryan Wright has 24 punts of 50-plus yards this season, a Vikings rookie record.
Drew Brees returning to Purdue University as assistant Football coach Drew Brees will return to Purdue to serve as an assistant coach during the Boilermakers’ upcoming bowl game against LSU, vice president and director of athletics Mike Bobinski announced Thursday. The program said Brees who led Purdue to their second-ever Rose Bowl in 2000 before going on to play 20 years in the NFL was hired as a countable assistant coach per NCAA guidelines, giving him the ability to work on the field with the players and participate in recruiting activities.
“For more than two decades, Drew Brees has shown the world what makes the Boilermakers special,” said Bobinski. “He was an elite football player, but most of all, Drew is an extraordinary leader. Gaining his insights on the football field and in our coaching offices during this time of transition will be of great value to our student-athletes and staff. We’re grateful to Drew for his willingness to share his time and expertise in yet another show of support for the Boilermakers.”
Brees will help with the coaching transition as Ryan Walters replaces Jeff Brohm as head coach. “I am extremely excited to work with our team over the next few weeks as we prepare for the Citrus Bowl,” said Brees. “I see it not only as an opportunity to coach and mentor this group of young men but represent all the former Purdue players that care so much about our program. This is also preparation for the future of Purdue Football with new head coach Ryan Walters. I had a great conversation with Coach Walters last night, and love the energy, passion and detail he will bring to our program. The future is bright, and there is no better time to be a Boilermaker!” The Boilermakers take on No. 16 LSU on Jan 2. It is unclear if Brees plans to continue coaching with Purdue beyond its bowl game.
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