POSTGAME: Gametime at Assembly Hall - Hoosiers win, 76-61.
IU expanded its lead in the second half to as much as 18 on the strength of solid shooting and, um, really nothing impressive from Michigan's supposedly talent-laden, experienced lineup. After IU pushed the pace a little bit, Michigan was able to find some easy baskets. The Wolverines closed the lead to nine with three minutes left, but the Hoosiers re-opened the game in the closing minutes and finished with a few consecutive baskets.
It was a weirdly officiated game; one referee (either Jim Burr, Glenn Maybourg, or Tim Hutchinson; not sure which one) was consistently late calling fouls ... but called plenty of them either way. Michigan shot 35 free throws and made 29 of them - wipe those away, and a solid IU win looks much more like a blowout.
The head coaches are about to take the podium for post game, so I'll be back in a few if/when there are any interesting tidbits that warrant an immediate mention. See you then.
-------------------------------------------------------------- HALFTIME: On the strength of an 11-0 opening run, IU has steadily owned the first half here at Assembly Hall. They lead at the half, 35-26.
IU hasn't had too much of a problem matching up with Michigan's athletic ability, a worry Sampson expressed yesterday at his press conference. Instead it's been the Wolverines struggling to stay close to IU's shooters, and the Hoosiers converted open opportunities into 8-14 from behind the three point line.
Also, IU has found some creative ways to get D.J. easy buckets via backcuts, fade cuts, and screen and rolls. It's nice to see him get some buckets without struggling mightily against Courtney Sims' length in the post.
An interesting dynamic in the Hall today: the Colts fans are definitely prominent. When some Bears fans made it up on the giant scoreboard screen, the boos were loud and rather frightening. That large contingent is not as much the case on campus, but with all the traveling fans from all the various parts of the state, Colts fans vastly outnumber Bears fans today.
That's all well and good; it will be hard for Colts fans to cheer so loudly when the Bears soundly trounce them Sunday.
Back after the game is over. -------------------------------------------------------------- Hoosiers. Wolverines. Saturday at noon. Can you feel the hangover?
I usually don't make predictions, but I'm going to go out on a limb and predict a late arriving student crowd today. Drink plenty of water, and we'll see you guys at halftime.
As Matt wrote in Friday's edition of the IDS, the Hoosiers are looking to rebound from a tough loss at Illinois, in which their offense took what Coach Sampson called a "hiccup" scoring only 43 points. Considering their season points average is 72.2 and IU is back home after a tough two-game road stretch, it's not hard to imagine the Hoosiers improving exponentially today.
Your projected starters are:
IU: F D.J. White F Lance Stemler/F Mike White G Roderick Wilmont G Armon Bassett G Earl Calloway
Michigan: C Courtney Sims F Lester Abram F Brent Petway G Dion Harris G Ron Coleman
See you at the half.
