Author: Mike Schumann

Archie Miller said that Indiana “grinded out” a win.  We hope you are OK with that, because if Indiana is going to win many more Big Ten games this year, this Penn State game was the template.  It wasn’t pretty, but it was tough, smart, aggressive basketball.  It’s what we thought Archie Miller basketball looked like when he was hired.  Sure it can be prettier with a deeper and more talented roster.  Those days will come.  But after two straight substantially complete games, this Indiana team seems to finally be buying into what Miller is selling.  Indiana wins it, 74-70.…

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GAME NOTES:   The Penn State Nittany Lions (12-5, 2-2) visit the Indiana Hoosiers (9-7, 2-2) on Tuesday evening at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.  The tipoff is set for 6:30 ET.  The game will be broadcast on BTN with Dave Revsine and Stephen Bardo on the call. Pat Chambers is in his seventh year as the head coach at Penn State.  He has 99 career wins at PSU and is 2-9 against IU. Indiana leads the all-time series 37-11.  The last 6 meetings between these 2 programs have been instant classics.  Last year’s games, both won by IU, included a 3 OT…

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Conventional wisdom says that Indiana is supposed to comfortably handle Penn State in basketball, and for the most part they have since the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten back in the 92-93 season.  Since then Indiana owns a 35-11 series advantage, and 6 of those 11 Penn State wins came in connection with the IU 2008 program collapse and the seasons that followed. It may not be something that Indiana fans are too excited about, but the last six games going back to 2014 have been anything but comfortable.  In fact, they have all been last minute thrillers.  Penn…

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IU recruiting target Romeo Langford returned from a finger injury to play in two games over the weekend.  On Friday he scored 33 points in a 85-61 New Albany win over Jeffersonville.  On Saturday New Albany played in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.  Langford scored 35 in a 73-65 win over Silver Creek. The math for him to catch IU great Damon Bailey makes it highly unlikely that we’ll have a new IHSAA all-time scorer this year.  Langford would need New Albany to advance to the state championship game and he would have to average more than 40 points a…

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No De’Ron Davis and Collin Hartman?  No problem.  Why?  Because as we’ve seen with some of Indiana’s opponents, grit and determination can make up for a lot.  Sure, you cannot lose sight of the fact that Minnesota was also missing key players in Reggie Lynch and Amir Coffey.  In fact, Minnesota almost certainly lost more in Lynch and Coffey than IU lost in Davis and Hartman.  But IU still had Juwan Morgan and Robert Johnson.  And Minnesota still had Jordan Murphy and Nate Mason.  And the team that fought and scrapped harder won:  Indiana 75, Minnesota 71. Overall:  A-  Considering the circumstances…

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Friday was certainly an interesting day for both the Indiana and Minnesota men’s basketball programs.  It isn’t often that you see both teams lose their starting center the day before they are about to play each other.  Moreover, while the programs came into the season with different expectations, both are suffering from perceived inconsistent play and at times not living up to what their coaches, players and fans had hoped for. Aside from from the much more important reasons for the suspension itself, the loss of Lynch is no small loss for the Gophers from a basketball perspective.  The Minnesota…

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GAME NOTES:  The Indiana Hoosiers (8-7, 1-2) travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday afternoon for a 5:15 tipoff against the Minnesota Golden Gophers (13-3, 2-1) at Williams Arena.  Both team were dealt bad news on Friday and will be without key players in their frontcourts.  Indiana announced that center De’Ron Davis suffered an undisclosed lower leg injury and will be out indefinitely.  Minnesota announced that center Reggie Lynch has been suspended indefinitely. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 with Dave Flemming and Dan Dakich on the call. Indiana leads the all-time series 99-68.  Richard Pitino is in his fifth…

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