Local Sports Headlines: February 28, 2023

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Indiana University Men’s Basketball host Iowa Indiana University enters the final week of play in the 123rd season of competition in men’s basketball against Iowa tonight at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Tip is scheduled for 7pm and will be aired on ESPN2. Indiana defeated No. 5/5 Purdue by a score of 79-71 on Feb. 25 at Mackey Arena. The loss marked the second for the Boilers in West Lafayette this season and the first time the Hoosiers waltzed out of Mackey Arena with a road win since Jan. 30, 2013. Indiana is 20-9 overall and 11-7 in the Big Ten.

Freshman Guard Jalen Hood-Schifino totaled a career-best 35 points, including 23 in the first half, in the victory. He carved up the Purdue defense in the pick-and-roll and shot 14-of-24 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Senior Forward Trayce Jackson-Davis was held scoreless for the entire first half but bounced back to finish the night with 10 points, eight rebounds, and a game-high seven assists. Fifth-year Senior Forward Miller Kopp and Junior Guard Trey Galloway each chipped in 13 points. The tandem combined to shoot 6-of-11 from behind the arc. In the victory, head coach Mike Woodson earned his first career (player or coach) road victory over an Associated Press top-5 team in the country. He also snagged his first career (player or coach) win at Mackey Arena. Coupled with Indiana’s triumph over No. 1/1 Purdue (79-74) on Feb. 4, the Hoosiers completed the first multi-game sweep of the Boilers since the 2012-13 season. It also signified the first time IU defeated the same top-5 team twice in a single season since 1992-93, when they defeated Michigan twice.

Indiana leads the all-time series against Iowa, 106-81. The Hawkeyes have won the last three games of the series, including a 91-89 result at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Jan. 5. Jackson-Davis posted 30 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three blocked shots for the Hoosiers in the contest. In his last two contests against the Hawkeyes, TJD is averaging 30.5 points and 9.5 rebounds. Sixth-year Senior Race Thompson injured his knee in the loss and was limited to just 10 minutes of run. The Hawkeyes, led by 13th-year Head Coach Fran McCaffery, enter the game with an 18-11 record and a 10-8 mark in B1G play. Iowa trailed Michigan State by 13 points with 1:34 to play in their last game. The Hawkeyes stormed back to force overtime and eventually prevailed, 112-106, in the Big Ten’s highest-scoring game of the season.

Indiana University Women’s Basketball is the #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament The Big Ten Conference has announced the full bracket for the 30th Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament presented by TIAA that will take place Wednesday through Sunday at the Target Center in Minneapolis. All-session and single-session tickets for the 2023 Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament are on sale at the Target Center box office and online at AXS.com. In addition, several special ticket offers and activities are lined up for this year’s Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament. For more information on this year’s tournament ancillary events and promotions, visit the Big Ten Tournament Central page at bigten.org/WBBT. All 13 games of this year’s Big Ten Tournament will be televised live to a national audience, with the first round through semifinal games from Wednesday through Saturday broadcast on the Big Ten Network, as well as on the FOX Sports app. The Big Ten Tournament championship game on March 5 will tip off at 3pm and will be televised live on ESPN.

Indiana (26-2, 15-2 Big Ten) is the No. 1 seed for this year’s tournament after clinching their second Big Ten title and first since it shared the 1982-83 conference championship. The Hoosiers, who have been ranked No. 2 in both national polls for the past three weeks and earned the No. 2 national seed in both NCAA Committee top-16 seed reveals earlier this month, have earned one Big Ten Tournament title, that coming in 2002. Indiana was also the runner-up at last year’s tournament. Indiana will open Big Ten Tournament play on Friday with a quarterfinal contest at 10:30am live on Big Ten Network against the winner of the second-round game between No. 8 seed Nebraska and No. 9 seed Michigan State.

Defending Big Ten Tournament champion Iowa (23-6, 15-3) earned the No. 2 seed for this year’s tournament in dramatic fashion on Sunday, defeating Indiana, 86-85 on Caitlin Clark’s three-pointer at the horn before a sellout crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and a national television audience. The victory moved the Hawkeyes into a tie with Maryland for second place in the Big Ten standings, with Iowa earning the edge over the Terrapins based on a better winning percentage against the highest team in the standings (Indiana – Iowa was 1-1 against the Hoosiers this season, Maryland 0-1). Iowa has won four Big Ten Tournament titles and is currently ranked No. 6 in both major national polls, while also garnering the No. 9 national seed in the Feb. 23 NCAA Committee seed reveal. The Hawkeyes will tip off their postseason schedule at 5:30 p.m. (CT) Friday with a tournament quarterfinal game live on Big Ten Network against the winner of the second-round matchup between No. 7 seed Purdue and 10th-seeded Wisconsin.

Maryland (24-5, 15-3) earned the No. 3 seed for the Big Ten Tournament after tying for second place in the Big Ten standings. The Terrapins have risen to No. 7 in the AP poll and No. 8 in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association/USA Today poll, and they were the No. 6 national seed in last week’s NCAA Committee seed reveal. Maryland has won five Big Ten Tournament titles since joining the conference in 2015, with their most recent championship coming in 2021. The Terrapins will begin this year’s tournament Friday night against either No. 6 seed Illinois, No. 11 seed Rutgers or No. 14 seed Northwestern in the last quarterfinal live on Big Ten Network, 25 minutes following the completion of Iowa’s quarterfinal.

Rounding out the top four seeds is Ohio State (23-6, 12-6), which claimed the last of the tournament’s double-byes into the quarterfinal round. The Buckeyes, who began the season 19-0 and moved up to No. 2 in both major national polls, are currently No. 16 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the coaches’ poll, while collecting the No. 12 national seed in the latest NCAA Committee seed reveal. Ohio State, which also has five Big Ten Tournament championships (most recently in 2011), will open this year’s tournament slate Friday afternoon against No. 5 seed Michigan, No. 12 seed Minnesota or No. 13 seed Penn State in the quarterfinals, playing live on Big Ten Network 25 minutes after Indiana’s game has concluded.

Jalen Hood-Schifino named Big Ten Player and Freshman of the week Indiana freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino was named the Big Ten Player and Freshman of the Week, the league announced on Monday. Hood-Schifino is the first player to sweep the award since Kofi Cockburn (Illinois) on Nov. 25, 2019. The award marks the first career Player of the Week nod, while the Pittsburgh native has earned Freshman of the Week four times this season. Since the inception of the Freshman of the Week award ahead of the 2010-11 season, only Cody Zeller (7 times), Noah Vonleh (7), and Trayce Jackson-Davis (5) registered more honors at Indiana. Across the entire Big Ten Conference only Jared Sullinger (12 times, Ohio State), Bryce McGowens (8, Nebraska), Trey Burke (7, Michigan), Kofi Cockburn (7, Illinois), Hunter Dickinson (7), D’Angelo Russell (6, Ohio State), and Max Christie (5, Michigan State) have claimed the award more.

Hood-Schifino averaged 25.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steals in Indiana’s two road games last week. He became the first freshman in the last 25 seasons to score at least 35 points in a road victory over an Associated Press top-5 team when he tallied a career-best 35 points, seven rebounds, and two assists at No. 5/5 Purdue on Feb. 25. The Hoosiers won the game, 79-71. His 35 points also marked the second-most points scored by a Hoosier freshman on record. Jay Edwards holds the top spot after ripping off 36 points at Minnesota on March 10, 1988. The scoring output also marked the third most by a major conference freshman this season, trailing only 41-point and 36-point games from Alabama freshman Brandon Miller. JHS is the first Hoosier to record multiple 30-point games in his debut season since Eric Gordon accomplished the feat three times during the 2007-08 season.

Indiana University Baseball host Butler this afternoon at Bart Kaufman Field In a series that dates back to 1896, the Indiana baseball program will host Butler today at Bart Kaufman Field. First pitch is scheduled for 4pm between the Hoosiers and Bulldogs. With the Indiana men’s basketball program hosting Iowa tonight, those wishing to attend the baseball game can park for free in the RV/Auxiliary Lot located at the corner of SR 45/46 and Fee Lane.

Indiana and Butler will meet for the second straight season after IU grabbed a 9-1 victory at Victory Field last season behind a 15-strikeout game from the pitching staff.  Indiana placed four student-athletes on the All-Big Ten Freshman Team in 2022 and redshirt-junior Matthew Ellis was named third-team All-B1G by the conference coaches. Freshman Carter Mathison and Ellis each hit home runs on opening weekend to bring their career totals to 20 and 19, respectively, for the Cream and Crimson. Mathison has played in 66 career games and has 64 career RBIs over that span to go along with his 20 home runs. Senior Hunter Jessee carries a 23-game reached base streak into the week, which dates back to the 2022 season, and marks a career long for the left-handed hitter. Jessee posted his second career multi home run game versus Miami (Ohio) with a first inning home run to right field and a seventh inning shot to the opposite field. Indiana’s pitching staff posted a program record 600 strikeouts in 2022. That mark ranks No. 2 in Big Ten history, behind Iowa’s 602 punchouts in 2022, as well. Head coach Jeff Mercer became the eighth IU skipper to reach 100 victories in the cream and crimson with a series finale win at Auburn on February 19, 2023. 

Indiana and Butler will meet for the 126th time today, with the Hoosiers owning a 95-30 all-time edge in the series that dates back to 1896. IU won the first six games in the series and have met in each decade since the 1920s. The Hoosiers have won the only three neutral site meetings between the two programs, which were played in 1998 (Evansville), 2016 (Port Charlotte, Fla.) and 2022 (Indianapolis). Since 1970, the two teams have played in Bloomington 37 times and Indiana owns a 30-7 mark in those games. Of those games, 13 have been decided by two-or-fewer runs. Today will mark the second game played between Butler and Indiana played in February, with the earliest meeting coming on Feb. 27, 2019, a 9-3 victory for IU at Bart Kaufman Field. The latest meeting in a season came on May 30, 1938, a 5-4 Butler victory in Indianapolis.

Butler enters the week with a 2-5 record, winning two of four games over Fairleigh Dickinson in Lexington, South Carolina, to open the season, before dropping all three games at Campbell last weekend. Freshman Joey Urban leads the team with a .419 batting average, 13 hits – eight for extra bases – and 10 runs scored. Graduate student Jake DeFries paces the squad with three stolen bases and eight runs scored. He is one of three Bulldogs with a home run in 2023, as well. The Bulldogs are averaging 11.0 strikeouts per game and are batting .249 as a team. On the base paths, BU is 10-of-12 on stolen base attempts through seven games. The pitching staff has struck out 63 and walked 44 over the first 61 1/3 innings and have allowed 10.1 hits per game in seven contests. Relievers Lukas Galdoni and Jon Vore each lead the team with three appearances in the early season. Each have three strikeouts in 4 and 5 2/3 innings, respectively.

Big Ten Conference unveils pre-seed list for Upcoming Conference Wrestling Championships The Big Ten Conference announced the pre-seed list for the 2023 Big Ten Wrestling Championships taking place this weekend. The pre-seeds make the preliminary bracket setup for each weight class’ bracket for the Big Ten Championships. The seedings are not final at this time. There will be a Big Ten coaches meeting the day before the start of the Championships to discuss and finalize seeding. At this time, Indiana’s ten starters were seeded as followed for their weight class.

125: No. 13 Jacob Moran, 133: No. 11 Henry Porter, 141: No. 13 Cayden Rooks, 149: No. 7 Graham Rooks, 157: No. 10 Derek Gilcher,
165: No. 11 Nick South, 174: No. 6 DJ Washington, 184: No. 13 Clayton Fielden, 197: No. 10 Nick Willham and 285: No. 8 Jacob Bullock.

The seed list goes from No. 1-14 at each bracket. The Big Ten Championships will take place This Saturday and Sunday at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich.

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