IU and Butler’s Crossroads Classic matchup is one of two contrasting styles.
IU brings a high-octane No. 5-ranked scoring offense averaging 87.5 points per game. The Hoosiers have spent the early parts of the season pushing the tempo offensively while sometimes struggling defensively, allowing 71.4 points per game, ranking No. 280 in the country.
Butler prefers to slow the game down and play in the half court. The Bulldogs are only allowing 55.5 points per game, the 13th best defensive scoring average in the nation. Offensively, Butler is scoring just 72.3 points per game which slots in at 106th in the nation.
Yet, despite these radically different playing styles, the No. 23 Bulldogs and Hoosiers both enter their 2:30 p.m. matchup at Bankers Life Fieldhouse standing at 8-2.
And sometimes, its games featuring contrasting styles that make for the most intriguing fights.
“They’re very solid. They’re very solid,” IU Coach Tom Crean said of Butler. “’Definitive’ is just another word for efficient. They know how they want to play ball screens, they know how they want to play the post. They play to their personnel strengths very well on both sides of the ball.”
Butler, despite being looked at as an underdog in the national spotlight in a pair of National Championship runner-up finishes, has had its way with Indiana in recent history.
The Bulldogs have beaten the Hoosiers four of the last five times the schools have met. In their most recent matchup, Butler knocked off IU 88-86 at the Crossroads Classic in 2012, but only juniors Yogi Ferrell and Hanner Mosquera-Perea were around for IU in that loss.
In terms of contrast, arguably the biggest gap between the two teams is found beyond the arc where IU’s offense and Butler’s defense rank among the best in the country.
IU sits No. 11 in the country connecting on 42.1 percent of its shots beyond the arc. Butler is only allowing opponents to shoot 25.6 percent, the No. 7 best mark in the country.
One of those measures will have to budge. And freshman guard James Blackmon Jr. wants to make sure it isn’t Indiana.
“They pack in the lane, too, so you can’t penetrate very well,” Blackmon said. “They have great perimeter defense, great guards that guard outside the line. We’ll find a way to work it out.”
Across the board, Butler is relatively strong in nearly every major statistical category without excelling too highly in anything in particular.
In terms of glaring weaknesses, there isn’t much that stands out whether it be offensively or defensively; apart from a lack of height which IU also struggles with.
But despite a lack of height—basketball statistics guru Ken Pomeroy ranks the Bulldogs’ effective height No. 206 in the country—Butler owns a 4.5 rebounding margin which ranks No. 90 in the nation.
Rebounding despite a lack of height is a challenge the Hoosiers themselves have faced this season. In watching film of how the Bulldogs have rebounded, both Blackmon Jr. and sophomore forward Collin Hartman both spoke highly of the ‘Dogs toughness on the boards.
“I’ve been watching a lot of film on them myself, and what I saw was they crash the glass really hard,” Blackmon Jr. said. “Even the guards do. One of the things we’re going to have to do is box out, and that’s what I’ve really paid attention to.”
As IU looks to add another marquee non-conference win to its résumé, Crean simplified the game saying rebounding will likely determine the winner.
It isn’t much off base with what he has been saying. Crean has preached throughout the early parts of the season that rebounding wins games.
Crean said moving forward, rebounding needs to become a strength for IU, much in the same way that it has for Butler.
The Hoosiers will get a chance to see that first hand on Saturday.
“We have to rebound the ball better,” Crean said. “No question about it, rebounding will be a huge factor in the game tomorrow. No matter who wins it, that number is probably going to have a lot to do with it.”
