#3 Iowa hands #14 Indiana University Women’s Basketball its first Big Ten loss, by 27 Points
The # 3 Iowa Hawkeyes sit all alone with a 6-0 conference record as they beat the Indiana Hoosiers 84-57 Saturday Night at Carver Hawkeye-Arena in Iowa City. Iowa is 17-1 on the season and now have a 14-game winning streak that dates back to Mid-November when the Hawkeyes only loss came to Kansas State 65-58 at home on November 16. Indiana falls to 14-2 overall and 5-1 in the Big Ten with Minnesota coming into Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers end a 13-game winning streak since a 97-64 loss at Stanford on November 12. Iowa has won five of the last meetings with Hoosiers dating back to 2022 and have a 5-3 record against Indiana since Cailtin Clark was a freshman in 2021-22 season. The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series with the Hoosiers 56-22.
Caitlin Clark finished the game with 30 points going 10-21 form the field, 6-16 from three-point range and 4-4 from the free throw line. Clark had 11 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 1 block and committed 6 turnovers. Clark sits at 3,274 points which is 9 points away from tying Britney Griner of Baylor for fourth on NCAA All-Time Scoring List at 3,283 points. Molly Davis finished with 18 points, Gabbie Marshall added 12 points and Guard Kate Martin posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Hannah Stuleke added 5 points and 4 rebounds along with nine points off the bench with 5 points coming from Sharon Goodman and 4 points from Sydney Affolter. Iowa finished the game 30-61 from the field for 49%, 15-36 from three-point range for 41% and 9-10 from the free throw line for 90%. Iowa pulled down 37 rebounds, dished out 9 assists, 5 steals, 3 blocks and committed 13 turnovers.
Mackenzie Holmes led Indiana with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Yarden Garzon and Sydney Parrish added 11 points apiece while Chloe-Moore McNeil added 9 points and Sara Scalia added 6 points along with 4 bench points from Lexus Bargesser. Indiana finished the game 23-54 for 42%, 5-20 from three-point range for 25%, and 6-11 from the free throw line for 54%. The Hoosiers pulled down 28 rebounds, dished out 12 assists, 8 steals, 4 blocks and committed 15 turnovers.
Indiana led the game 45 seconds in when Mackenize Holmes hit her first free throw to make 1-0. Molly Davis responded with a three pointer at the 8:38 mark to make it 3-1. Chloe Moore-McNeil hit a three pointer to give the Hoosiers a 4-3 lead with 8:23 left in the first quarter. Hannah Stuleke’s layup with 8:14 left gave Iowa a 5-4 lead as they never trailed for the rest of the game. Indiana was down 17-10 with 3:20 left in the first quarter when the Hoosiers made a 7-0 run to tie the game at 17-17 with 1;50 left in the opening period. Caitlin Clark made two free throws with 37 seconds remaining to put Iowa up to 19-17 going into the second quarter. Indiana tied the game at the 8:14 mark of the second quarter on a Moore-McNeil layup to make it 19-19. Clark hit a three to make it 22-19 with 7:11 left before halftime to give the Hawkeyes the lead for good as they outscored the Hoosiers 21-18 the rest of the quarter to led 43-37 going into the locker room.
Iowa outscored the Hoosiers 22-11 in the third quarter as they went into the final period up by 17 points at 65-48. Iowa closed out the final 10 minutes outscoring the Hoosiers 19-9 and dominated the second half putting up 41 points on the Hoosiers while allowing just 20 points from Indiana on the defensive end. Indiana traveled the day of the game due to bad weather that hit the state of Iowa the day before but the Hoosiers turnovers were the big story and once Clark got going and rest of Hawkeyes were hitting it was too much for Indiana to overcome.
“We were just turning the ball over too much (in the first half) but were still in the game” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said after the game. “And we give Caitlin that backdoor layup and all of sudden were down (eight points) and from there it got out of control” Moren added. “We weren’t very good; I’d love to be able to give you reasons why that was. We just looked out of sorts” Moren said. Moren said she will not use the excuse that not getting into Iowa City until the day of the game was the reason they lost. The Hawkeye fans showed out on a night where travel was not recommended throughout the state because of the blizzard like conditions. “It’s dangerous outside and our fans don’t care” Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said after the game. “They’re amazing” Bulder added.
Indiana University Men’s Basketball bounces back with a double digit win over Minnesota
The Indiana Hoosiers led start to finish in a 72-64 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers Friday Night in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers are 12-5 on the season and 4-2 in the Big Ten and host archrival Purdue Tuesday Night at 7pm. Minnesota ends a seven-game winning streak dropping to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers have won the last seven meetings against the Golden Gophers improving to 108-69 overall and have won eight straight in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Minnesota has not won in Bloomington since January 12, 2012, when they beat the Hoosiers 77-74. The last time Minnesota beat Indiana in the series was February 16, 2019, 84-63 in Minneapolis.
Mackenize Mgbako tied a career high with 19 points, Kel’el Ware posted his seventh double-double of the season with 17 points and 14 rebounds, Malik Reneau added 16 points and Trey Galloway chipped in 10 points. Gabe Cupps who got the start played 30 minutes pulling down 4 rebounds, an assist and committed a turnover. Xavier Johnson who was benched by Head Coach Mike Woodson after he was ejected in the second half Tuesday Night at Rutgers for flagrant two foul after he gave Rutgers Forward Antione Wolfolk a low blow. Johnson played 17 minutes scoring 2 points, a rebound, an assist, a steal and committed one turnover. Head Coach Mike Woodson did not want to say the reason that Johnson was bench when asked the question after the game. “In house stuff. I decided to go with Gabe. Gabe played well. I thought minutes that X gave us were positive minutes” Woodson said.
The Hoosiers finished 26-60 from the field for 43%, 6-14 from three-point range for 43% and 16-27 from the free throw line for 59%, Indiana had 40 rebounds, 17 assists, 6 steals, 2 blocks and committed 10 turnovers. The Hoosiers scored 38 points in the paint, 12 bench points and 16 points off turnovers. Even though the Hoosiers controlled the game they still had lapses when the struggled to score especially in the final three minutes and five seconds of the game not scoring a field goal.
Minnesota got a double-double from Pharrell Payne with 17 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for his first double-double of the season. Dawson Garica added 14 points and Joshua Ola-Joseph added 12 points. The Golden Gophers finished 23-59 from the field for 39%, 3-20 from three-point range for 15% and 13-24 from the free throw line for 54%. Minnesota pulled down 42 rebounds, 9 assists, 7 steals, 7 blocks and committed 14 turnovers. Minnesota scored 24 points off the bench, 36 points in the paint and 10 points off turnovers.
In the first half the Hoosiers jumped out a 7-0 lead with back-to-back three pointers from Trey Galloway and Mackenize Mgbako and a made free throw from the freshman. Joshua Ola-Joseph got Minnesota on the board at the 17:38 mark and the Hoosiers went on 4-0 run when Mgbako scored inside and Kel’el Ware hit both free throws to put the Hoosiers up 11-2 before Ola-Joseph hit two free throws to make 11-4 at the 16-minute mark. Ola Joseph scored the first six points for Minnesota. Indiana went on a 11-2 run to lead 22-8 at 12:44 mark when Xavier Johnson checked in for the first time. Anthony Walker scored and was fouled hit the free throw to make 25-8 before Pharrell Payne who scored 12 first half points as CJ Gunn scored on the fastbreak to give the Hoosiers their largest lead at 16 with 9:17 left leading 28-12. Minnesota cut the lead to five trailing 28-23 at 6:18 mark when Cam Christie drained a three pointer. Minnesota got no closer than 8 points the rest of the half as the Hoosiers went into the locker room leading 41-31 with 14 points from Mackenize Mgbako and 10 points along with 7 rebounds from Kel’el Ware.
In the second half Minnesota scored the first basket as Joshua Ola-Joseph scored on a fastbreak layup to cut the Hoosier lead to 8 points 41-33 at the 49 seconds into the second half. The Hoosiers increased the lead to 21 points on a three pointer by Trey Galloway to make it 56-35 with 15:08 left after Ola-Joseph scored for the Golden Gophers Malik Reneau scored at the 13:54 mark to put the Hoosiers up 21 for the second time at 58-37. Minnesota cut the lead to 11 points with 2:07 left to trail 69-58 but could get any closer despite the Hoosiers not hitting field goal for the last three minutes and five seconds off the ball game.
After a rough performance the Hoosiers responded with a solid win despite rough stretches in the second half where the Hoosiers were not taking care of the ball and getting outrebounded on the boards. Minnesota struggled on the defensive end most of the game and were unable get within reach of winning the game. Kel’el Ware said after the game that since coming home from Rutgers Tuesday Night practice has not been easy. “The last few days of practice have been hard. We were taking it to each other, and you saw a glimpse of that tonight. We’ve just got keep bringing that” Ware said. The Hoosiers will be going hard the next few days to get ready for Purdue in what will be a rowdy crowd as always when the archrival comes to town on Tuesday Night.
Indiana University Track and Field’s Kenisha Phillips Breaks 400 Meter school record at the Commodore Challenge
Indiana Track and Field wrapped up a successful weekend at the Commodore Challenge, highlighted by graduate sprinter Kenisha Phillips who broke a 22-year-old school record in the 400 meters with a personal-best time of 52.37. Phillips broke the 300-meter school record in her first meet with the Hoosiers on Dec. 8. Nothing is stopping her from rewriting the Indiana record books or achieving her goals. “My preparation for this meet was to get the school record,” Phillips said. “And I did. I was eyeing the school record before the meet [so I was] definitely going for it.”
Freshman Garrett Messer had a big day today after setting two personal bests in the shot put and the 60-meter hurdles. Messer threw a distance of 14.34m/47-0.75 and He ran an 8.54 in prelims for another personal record to advance to finals and finished with a time of 8.44. Jessica Mercier finished second in the pole vault after clearing a height of 4.17m/13-8.25. “I was on a new pole series, so my goal was to clear some bars,” Mercier said. She had no problem doing that after she set a personal best in the season home opener. She continues to give her best in every attempt. “I am happy with it whether it was good or bad. I am just proud of myself for getting on the poles today.” Triple Jumper Mahogany Jenkins finished third in the Triple Jump with a season-best mark of 12.59m/41-3.75. “It was a technically sound performance for me, even though the numbers didn’t show it,” Jenkins said. “[However], I still have work to put in.”
The women showed out in the 400 meters. In addition to Phillips, Ryann Parrish (58.83) and Amelia Dodds (59.11) achieved personal best times in the event. Mid-distance runner Nico Colchico set a new personal best in his first sub-1:50 in the 800 meters. He finished second with a time of 1:49.96. Parker Raymond also finished third in the event while teammates Jaylen Castillo placed sixth with a personal best time and Keelan Grant taking seventh. Distance runners Brayden Henkle and Garrett Hicks recorded big time personal records and two top-10 finishes in the 3k race. Henkle won the event with a time of 8:19.94 while Garrett Hicks placed fifth with a time of 8:24.31.
Indiana University Men’s Tennis sweeps Dayton and Toledo
Indiana Men’s Tennis showed no signs of slowing down in the second game of their Saturday double-header. Following Indiana’s 5-2 win earlier in the day over Dayton, the Hoosiers took care of business again in a 5-2 win over Toledo on Saturday afternoon at the IU Tennis Center. IU carried over its double’s success from the morning match into the afternoon. A win from Ilya Tiraspolsky and Michael Andre on No. 1 Doubles, alongside a win from Facundo Yunis and Carson Haskins on No. 3 Doubles, secured a Hoosier advantage heading into singles play. Michael Andre, Nikola Kolyachev, Sam Landau, and Deacon Thomas all picked off wins en route to a 5-2 victory. With a win over Toledo, Indiana is now 2-0 on the season. Indiana will face its first road test of the season against Memphis on Sunday, Jan. 21 with a 1pm. start.
Indiana Men’s Tennis opened their season on the right note, taking down Dayton in a 5-2 match on Saturday morning at the IU Tennis Center. The Hoosiers started the morning off hot, taking two wins in doubles play to secure a 1-0 lead. Sam Landau and Michael Andre’s win at No. 1 Doubles plus Luc Boulier and Facundo Yunis win at No. 3 Doubles was the boost IU needed to take the advantage heading into singles play. In singles play, Facundo Yunis, Michael Andre, Sam Landau and Illya Tiraspolsky won their respective matches to take a 5-2 lead and clinch the victory over Dayton.
#21 Indiana University Wrestling Drops Conference Opening Dual Meet to #14 Rutgers
#21 Indiana fell to No. 14 Rutgers on the road Friday night, 30-11, at #21 Rutgers in Jersey Mike’s Arena. With the loss, Indiana’s record drops to 3-1 and 0-1 in the conference. Rutgers won the first two matches by fall and tech fall, respectively, building an early 11-0 lead. #23 Dan Fongaro (141) and #14 Graham Rooks (149) each earned victories to cut into the deficit. Fongaro won by tech fall, 19-3 (6:41), over Max Hermes and Rooks won by decision, 8-2, over Michael Cetta. After those two wins, it was an 11-8 match. The Hoosiers and Scarlet Knights split the next two matches, including #22 Tyler Lillard (165) winning over Anthony White by decision, 4-1. That pushed the team score to 15-11 in Rutgers’ favor. Rutgers closed out the dual with winning the final four bouts. Fongaro’s win was his second by tech fall this season. Fongaro wrestled in his home state, hailing from Lincoln Park, N.J., a little under an hour away from Rutgers. While they didn’t wrestle against one another, Fongaro’s brother Joe, wrestles for the Scarlet Knights. Graham Rooks’ win improved his season record to 12-4. With the win, Lillard’s season record now stands at 14-4.
Indiana University’s General Admission Policy will be Suspended for the Men’s Basketball game with Purdue Tomorrow Night General Admission Line-Up procedures for Indiana men’s basketball’s game against Purdue tomorrow will be suspended and all seats will be assigned, according to a release from IU Athletics. With forecasts predicting temperatures below zero, IU Emergency Management officials recommended seating be assigned instead of taken on a first come first serve basis. For students with GA tickets, assignments will be given based on attendance at Indiana men’s basketball games in the 2023-24 season, class standing and years of ticket purchase. Students were able to view their updated seating arrangements on their online ticket account after Friday night’s game against Minnesota. The updated digital ticket will be delivered to accounts this morning.
Fans will be able to enter Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall through the main entrances beginning at 5 p.m. on the night of the game. IU officials have been instructed to ask students to leave the IU Athletics complex if they are lined up prior to doors opening. The Hoosiers’ rivalry clash with the Boilermakers is set to tip at 7pm and is slated to be a “White Out” theme.
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