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Game Info / How to Watch:
Who? #13 Indiana Hoosiers (5-1, #13 KenPom) vs. SIU Edwardsville Cougars (4-3, #295 KenPom)
When? Friday, December 2nd, 7 PM, ESPN3 / WatchESPN
Where? Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana
Vegas? lmao
Pomeroy? IU by 25, 99% chance of Indiana victory
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Tonight a pretty bad team is coming to Assembly Hall, but they're coached by former Marquette player Jon Harris, who played under Tom Crean for three seasons before serving as a graduate assistant.
This game isn't on television!
I wonder why?
HERE WOULD YOU LIKE SOME FACTORS?
| eFG% | TO% | OR% | FT Rate | |
| INDIANA (#11 Adj. Offense) | 57.5 (13th) | 23.4 (329th) | 39.7 (9th) | 41.3 (86th) |
| SIU EDWARDSVILLE (#262 Adj. Defense) | 51.2 (207th) | 17.9 (246th) | 29.5 (167th) | 35.5 (181st) |
| eFG% | TO% | OR% | FT Rate | |
| INDIANA (#36 Adj. Defense) | 43.2 (22nd) | 14.9 (330th) | 23.8 (30th) | 27.2 (39th) |
| SIU EDWARDSVILLE (#311 Adj. Offense) | 45.8 (294th) | 20.5 (231st) | 29.9 (176th) | 52.0 (7th) |
The Cougars are ... well- they're bad! Indiana has a few cupcakes in a row prior to the Crossroads Classic, an event that will likely feature three teams in KenPom's top-20 and one just outside of it (Notre Dame). The Cougars' Four Factor Profile is dismal outside a bizarre top-10 ranking when it comes to free throw rate. They don't play anyone taller than 6-8 but have two guys ranked in the top-40 for FTR anyway. Christian Ellis (78.8%) and Jalen Henry (81.2%) manage to get to the charity stripe at absurd rates but unfortunately, can't truly punish teams for putting them there (Ellis shoots 51.2%, Henry a bit better at 66.7%).
Now, this all comes with the caveat that they haven't played anyone ranked higher than 167th on KenPom, and they lost that game by 18 points. They did bounce IUPUI less than a week ago! So that's something ... kind of.
There's not much else to say, Indiana should never be playing a team of this caliber. They should bring Fort Wayne back in for the second leg of a home-and-home.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH FOR
- Beyond the Arc: SIU-E does a good job of hitting threes (39.3%, 39th) but doesn't take a lot of them in their offense (23.6% 3PA/FGA, 346th) while doing a great job of preventing opponent threes, both in preventing makes (32.0%, 106th) and even takes (29.7% 3PA/FGA, 29th). Again, they haven't really played anyone, but given how Indiana's deep offense is struggling (by recent standards) it'll be interesting to see how well they can do. By the by, Indiana is holding their opponents to 27.3% from beyond the arc, and is roughly average (176th) when it comes to 3PAs against them.
- Who replaces OG?: OG Anunoby is out "indefinitely" with an ankle sprain. Tom Crean referred to it as "high" in the press conference following the win over UNC but the term hasn't been used since. Those who watch enough sports know there's a big difference, with regard to average recovery time, between an ankle sprain and a "high" ankle sprain. Juwan Morgan, De'Ron Davis, and Freddie McSwain are all likely to see upticks in playing time will Anunoby sits.
- Track Tre Harris: I like when a guy lives up to his namesake. Tre(y) Harris is a 6-5 sophomore Harris hitting over 50% from beyond the arc. If SIU-E somehow pulls off the most embarrassing victory in Assembly Hall's history, it likely involves Harris hitting a bunch of threes. With Indiana's best perimeter defender on the shelf, it'll likely fall to Indiana's guards to keep him locked down.
REGRETTABLE TRASH TALK AND PREDICTION
Carbondale's campus is far nicer. Indiana by 33.