UPDATE (12:35) - Evan Turner's mother, Iris James, texted Bob Baptist of The Columbus Dispatch: "Evan is playing." No official word yet from OSU.
When IU faces Ohio State at Value City Arena tonight at 8:30 p.m., the Hoosiers will be looking for their 100th all-time victory versus the Buckeyes. After a 2-0 sweep by OSU a year ago (77-53 and 93-81 wins by the Buckeyes in 2008-09), the all-time series has IU ahead 99-70.
Here are some other tidbits picked up about tonight's game and Ohio State:
- Ohio State is 4-2 versus the Hoosiers at Value City Arena
- The Buckeyes went 35-7 at home versus Big Ten foes the last five seasons, while the team is 80-2 at home versus unranked opponents under sixth year OSU coach Thad Matta
- Matta has a 5-5 lifetime coaching record versus the Hoosiers
- David Lighty, a junior due to a medical redshirt last season, is the only scholarship player left from the 2006-07 national runner-up team (Lighty was part of the same recruiting class as Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Daequan Cook and Othello Hunter - the "Thad Five")
- IU is one of five undefeated teams in Big Ten play (Michigan State is also 1-0, while Purdue, Wisconsin and Illinois are each 2-0); Ohio State, meanwhile, is 0-2 and one of four winless Big Ten teams in conference play
- In 55 career minutes versus IU, starting big man Dallas Lauderdale has yet to score a point (played 25 minutes in each of last year's games)... Lauderdale has recorded at least one blocked shot in every game this year and is averaging 3 per game
- With Evan Turner in the lineup, junior Jon Diebler hit 35-of-67 (52.2%) from beyond the arc, while senior Jeremie Simmons went 15-of-28 (53.6%)...Without Turner, Diebler has gone 13-of-36 (36.1%) and Simmons has shot 7-of-21 (33.3%)
- At IU last year, Simmons posted a career-high 17 points, while then-freshman William Buford scored a career-best 24 points.
- Buford and Lighty have stepeed up their scoring in Turner's absence, each averaging less than 12 points per game before, but in the six contests since posting 15.3 and 16.8 points per game, respectively
- The Buckeyes have just 10 scholarship players, five of which began their college basketball careers elsewhere
- Michigan's Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims are averaging a combined 36.5 points per game - on Dec. 31, IU held the duo to 25, while the Wolverines' one-two punch dropped a total of 52 versus the Buckeyes on Sunday
Projected starters:
Ohio State Yr. Ht. Pts. Rebs. Assists
G - P.J. Hill Sr. 6-1 5.1 1.7 1.8
G - William Buford So. 6-5 12.9 4.8 3.4
G - Jon Diebler Jr. 6-6 14.1 3.0 1.9
F - David Lighty Jr. 6-5 14.0 5.6 3.1
F - Dallas Lauderdale Jr. 6-8 7.8 5.1 0.4
Indiana Yr. Ht. Pts. Rebs. Assists
G - Jordan Hulls Fr. 6-0 4.8 2.2 1.9
G - Jeremiah Rivers Jr. 6-5 7.2 5.6 4.5
G - Verdell Jones So. 6-5 12.5 3.5 3.3
F - Christian Watford Fr. 6-9 12.9 5.8 0.6
F - Tom Pritchard So. 6-9 5.5 3.9 0.6
