Indiana University Men’s Basketball Hosts Penn State on Saturday Afternoon
The Indiana Hoosiers are back in action Saturday afternoon when they host the Penn State Nittany Lions at Noon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall with the game televised on Fox Sports 1. Indiana is 13-8 overall and 5-5 in the Big Ten as they come off an 74-68 win over the Hawkeyes Tuesday Night in Bloomington to give Indiana Head Coach Mike Woodson his first win against the Hawkeyes in five tries. Kel’el Ware scored 23 points and 10 rebounds but after missing the previous 2 games with an injury the seven-foot sophomore gave everything he had to play 35 minutes and help lead is team to victory. The Hoosiers have been bitten by the injury bug all season and Tuesday Night it got worse as starters Malik Reneau and Xavier Johnson both went down and did not return. Reneau played just three minutes before he landed awkwardly on the side of his right foot and he was on crutches when he returned at halftime. Xavier Johnson was going for a dunk with 2:12 remaining in the game and was fouled by Ladji Dembele and landed on his left arm and was helped to the locker room. There has been no update on their status for this game.
With two starters going down and third not at 100%, The Hoosiers showed a toughness and grit that has not always been shown throughout the season. The Hoosiers were down 66-64 when Johnson was hurt and outscored the Hawkeyes 10-4 the rest of the game. Freshman Gabe Cupps hit a big three pointer with 1:26 left to put the Hoosiers ahead for good. Senior Anthony Leal who was Indiana High School Mr. Basketball in 2020 from Bloomington South scored a career high 13 points and knocked down 3 three pointers. Leal not seen a lot of playing time throughout his career but his leadership and energy sparked the Hoosiers and head coach Mike Woodson is rewarding him with more playing time. Freshman Gabe Cupps is ready to start once again if Johnson is unavailable. Cupps played 11 minutes along with his big three pointer he had a rebound and 2 assists. Cupps has had six games this season where he has not committed a turnover. He has committed just 1 turnover in 9 games this season and 2 turnovers in six games this season which uncommon for a freshman point guard at the division 1 level because going from high school to college is a big adjustment and you expect the numbers to be higher.
Malik Reneau is averaging 16 points a game, Kel’el Ware is averaging 14.7 points along with a team leading 9.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. Freshman Mackenize Mgbako is averaging 10.9 points and scored in double-figures the last six games. Trey Galloway is averaging 10.4 points along with a team leading 3.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game. Indiana is averaging 73.6 points and committing 12 turnovers per game. The Hoosiers shoot 47% from the field, 33% from three-point range and 65% from the free throw line. Indiana has been getting off to better starts and led by as many as 17 in the first half against Iowa Tuesday Night before the Hawkeyes came all the back to take the lead late in the second half.
Penn State is 10-11 on the season and 4-6 in the Big Ten after a 61-46 win at Rutgers on Wednesday Night. The Nittany Lions were led in scoring by Ace Baldwin Jr. with 15 points and 14 points from D’Marco Dunn. Penn State led 26-24 in the first half and outscored the Scarlet Knights 35-22 in the second half. Penn State was without leading scorer Kanye Clary who averages 18.4 points per game and has been listed as day to day after suffering an injury in the second half in last Saturday’s loss at Minnesota. Baldwin Jr is the second leading scorer on the team averaging 13.2 points along with a team leading 5 assists and 2.9 steals per game. 6-11 Senior Qudus Wahab is averaging 9.8 points along with a team leading 8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Penn State is averaging 75 points and committing 11 turnovers per game. The Nittany Lions are shooting 43% from the field, 30% from three-point range and 74 % from the free throw line. Indiana leads the All-Time Series with Penn State 42-15 as the Nittany Lions have two game winning streak in the series beating the Hoosiers on January 11, 2023, 85-66 at Penn State and 77-73 on March 11, 2023, in the Semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago. Indiana beat Penn State on January 26, 2022, 74-57 in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Indiana University Football gets its first commitment for the 2025 Recuriting Class
Indiana and new head coach Curt Cignetti have their first commitment in the class of 2025. Orland Park, Ill. offensive lineman Matt Marek announced on Social Media Wednesday evening he has committed to IU. Marek was in Bloomington last weekend and received a scholarship offer on his visit. The 6-foot-4 and 280-pound Marek is not currently ranked by the national outlets. He also had offers from Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, Akron, Miami (Ohio), Toledo, Ball State, Toledo, Coastal Carolina and Bowling Green. Marek attends Carl Sandburg H.S., the same school that produced Indiana All-American offensive lineman Dan Feeney.
Indiana Fever Sign free agent Katie Lou Samuelson
The Indiana Fever announced Thursday Evening the team signed forward Katie Lou Samuelson to a multi-year contract. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft by the Chicago Sky last played in 2022 with the Los Angeles Sparks. In 2022, Samuelson averaged a career-high 9.7 points per game, to go along with 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in 32 games with 29 starting appearances. Samuelson is currently in her second season as the Director of Player Development for the Vanderbilt University women’s basketball program. “Samuelson has size, length and the skillset to immediately help our team at the small forward and power forward positions,” General Manager Lin Dunn said. “She is an elite 3-point shooter and has shown she can win at the highest level with USA Basketball and from her time at UConn.”
In four seasons played in the WNBA, Samuelson averaged 6.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per contest in 101 games played with 57 starting appearances. Samuelson was a two-time first-team All-America recipient and was the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons at the University of Connecticut. Samuelson was the 10th player in program history to record 2,000 points in a career and is fifth on the Huskies’ all-time scoring list. From 2015-19 with UConn, Samuelson helped the Huskies to a 145-5 record, including the 2016 national championship won at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. With USA Basketball, Samuelson won gold with the FIBA Americas U16 team in 2013. In 2019 she was a member of the USA FIBA AmeriCup team that won a gold medal, and she was named to the 3×3 Olympic qualifying team ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics but was unable to participate due to illness.
#2 Purdue Men’s Basketball holds off Northwestern in Overtime at Mackey Arena
Zach Edey spent 40 minutes wearing down the Northwestern defense. Then he took full advantage over the final five minutes Wednesday night. The reigning national player of the year scored Purdue’s first 10 points in overtime, finished with 30 points and 15 rebounds, and helped the second-ranked Boilermakers avoid yet another upset by leading them to 105-96 victory. “It’s kind of how we play,” Edey said. “We attack the rim, or we get rebounds, and we do all those things. We get teams into foul trouble, so over time they’re forced to go to some matchups they maybe don’t want against me and we’re able to exploit that.”
Edey had plenty of help. Lance Jones scored a season-high 26 and Braden Smith had 11 points and 16 assists matching the second-highest game total in school history. The Boilermakers (20-2, 9-2 Big Ten) won their sixth straight and became the first Division I team with 20 wins this season. Northwestern coach Chris Collins drew a technical foul and was ejected with 1.7 seconds left when he walked onto the court, yelling furiously at one referee with the ball still in play.
After being restrained by one of his players, Collins calmed down and congratulated Edey and Purdue coach Matt Painter on his way off the floor, then gestured to the booing crowd to get louder. The Boilermakers were given four technical free throws just before the final buzzer. “I’m not going to go into the officiating. We have great officiating,” Collins said, noting Purdue took 38 more free throws than the Wildcats. “I just don’t know if I’ve ever seen a box score like that.” Still, the Wildcats (15-6, 6-4) didn’t make it easy with a harassing defense that wouldn’t allow Purdue to pull away, and the Boilermakers helped by going 29 of 46 on free throws. Boo Buie and Ty Berry each had 25 points for Northwestern, which led 78-73 with 2:37 left in regulation and had a chance to win it on Buie’s 15-foot runner at the buzzer. But the ball bounced off the front of the rim, and then the 7-foot-4 Edey took over.
He opened overtime with a short hook shot, drew a foul on a dunk, made two free throws on Purdue’s next possession and added two more dunks to give Purdue a 91-87 lead. Northwestern could only get as close as two the rest of the way. Edey also had one block, falling two short of becoming the fourth Big Ten player with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 blocks. Buie moved into second on Northwestern’s career scoring list with his ninth straight 20-point game against a ranked opponent. He now has 1,936 points.
Indiana Fever sign Forward Damiris Dantas as Free Agency begins
The Indiana Fever announced on Thursday the team signed forward Damiris Dantas (pronounced duh-MEER-iss DAHN-tis) to a multi-year contract. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed during the first official day of offseason free agency in the WNBA. The No. 12 overall pick in the 2012 WNBA Draft last played in 2022 with the Minnesota Lynx. In 2022, Dantas averaged 5.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and played 17.4 minutes per contest in 15 games played. “Dantas gives us a WNBA veteran with experience in the post and her international experience in the Olympics will also benefit our team,” General Manager Lin Dunn said. “She will be a tremendous addition on both ends of the floor as well as in our locker room.”
In eight seasons played in the WNBA, Dantas averaged 7.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists per contest in 202 games played with 128 starting appearances. The 6-foot-3 forward was also a member of the Brazilian National Team in the 2016 and 2012 Summer Olympics. The 25th Indiana Fever regular season will tip off on the road at the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday, May 14 at 8pm. The 2024 home schedule at Gainbridge Fieldhouse will begin two days later on May 16 against the New York Liberty at 7pm.
Indiana University Men’s Tennis sweeps Ball State
Indiana Men’s Tennis defeated Ball State in a 4-0 sweep on Wednesday at the IU Tennis Center. Indiana took care of doubles easily, with Ilya Tiraspolsky and Michael Andre earning a win on No. 1 doubles, 6-1. Facundo Yunis and Luc Boulier would secure the advantage heading into singles play with a win on No. 3 doubles, 6-3. Indiana carried its strong play into singles with Yunis, Andre, and Nikola Koluachev winning at No. 2, 3, and 5 singles to clinch the 4-0 team victory. With the win, the Hoosiers improve their record to 3-2 on the season. Indiana will be back in action this afternoon, with a doubleheader against Bellarmine and Marquette at 1pm and 5pm.
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