IU Basketball

A new year, a new jersey

By Matt Dollinger · Thursday, Jan. 15,2009 11:51 p.m.

In three seasons, Eric Gordon has gone from a man among boys to a boy among men. “Look how fresh he is!” screamed one of Gordon’s NBA teammates. “He got his draft suit on!” The former Hoosier wasn’t wearing the cream blazer he donned on draft night when he was selected seventh overall by the Los Angeles Clippers, but he was unusually dressed up.A herd of local reporters waited to interview Gordon as he changed meticulously following his hometown pro debut. If “E.J.” had his choice, he’d likely prefer to keep to himself by his locker. Instead, he was moments away from answering questions about the game-winning shot he made in double-overtime to lift the Clippers over the Indiana Pacers.

Senior forward Amber Jackson attempts to get past Iowa's guards during the women's basketball game January 4, 2009.

Hoosiers welcome Badgers, former coach Bennett

By Brandon Smith · Wednesday, Jan. 14,2009 11:22 p.m.

When IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack looks across at the opposite bench in tonight’s game against Wisconsin, she is likely to get a glimpse of former Hoosiers coach Kathi Bennett.

Packer, Knight to analyze NCAA

By Associated Press · Wednesday, Jan. 14,2009 12:02 a.m.

LAS VEGAS – Former IU coach Bob Knight, the winningest coach in Division I history, and former CBS sportscaster Billy Packer plan to analyze the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in a series of one-hour television programs taped at a race and sports book on the Las Vegas Strip.

IU freshman forward Tom Pritchard dunks the ball in the second half. Pritchard led IU scoring against Ohio State with 16 points.

RUNNING THE FLOOR: IU must see through the losing

By Zachary Osterman · Tuesday, Jan. 13,2009 11:45 p.m.

Back in my tender high school years, I played football, the proud second-generation Riverwood Raider that I was. My sophomore year, we went completely winless, 0-10, only pulling one victory when it was discovered that an opponent plied the use of an ineligible substitute. It was a rough year to be sure, but we hired a new coach the next March, Harris Rainbow (seriously), a young, energetic soul with real vision for the program. Old coach Rainbow, all of 25, set about trying to instill a sense of pride and toughness into our listless program. He did a good job in the preseason.

Ohio: the home of 2 different Hoosiers

By Zachary Osterman · Tuesday, Jan. 13,2009 12 a.m.

Eric Arnett and Tom Pritchard probably could not be more different. Pritchard is the new face of IU basketball, a loyal, late-blooming commit who weathered the storm that was Kelvin Sampson and is now a likely Big Ten Freshman of the Year candidate. He’s a blossoming post presence Tom Crean may rely on for years to come. Arnett won’t even be on the basketball team another week. Brought on in the fall as an extra body in practice, Arnett makes his real living as a pitcher on the IU baseball team, and a rather accomplished one at that. Arnett could dress but not play this year for the Hoosiers, who didn’t want to count another scholarship against their limit. He’ll return to the baseball team following tonight’s game at Ohio State.

Women's basketball team escapes Happy Valley with 84-77 victory

Monday, Jan. 12,2009 12:41 a.m.

The women's basketball team recovered from a road loss against Minnesota with a road win at Penn State.

No celebration for Hoosiers in Champaign

By Zachary Osterman · Monday, Jan. 12,2009 12:38 a.m.

There will come a time this year when the IU men’s basketball team – overmatched and undersized – will take the floor in some Big Ten city and brave the odds to beat a better conference opponent. Champaign was not that city.

Illinois’ Demetri McCamey drives to the basket ahead of IU’s Broderick Lewis in the first half of Saturday’s game in Champaign, Ill. The Hoosiers fell to the Illini 76-45 for their sixth straight loss.

3s bury Hoosiers

By Tom Kirby · Monday, Jan. 12,2009 12:34 a.m.

Absolutely demolished, the IU men's basketball team was felled by the sharpshooting Fighting Illini.

IU freshman Daniel Moore (3) pancakes Illinois' Trent Meacham (1) as he dives for a loose ball in the second half of a 76-45 IU loss in Champaign, Ill. The defeat was the Hoosiers' sixth consecutive and eighth in their last nine games.

Hoosiers stumble at Illinois to 6th straight loss

By Matt Dollinger · Saturday, Jan. 10,2009 7:08 p.m.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Last year’s infamous chest bump pales in comparison to the in-game beat down the Fighting Illini laid on the Hoosiers Saturday.After holding their own but losing in their first two conference games, IU coach Tom Crean and his team got the kind of Big Ten welcome many had been bracing for all season.A 31-point thrashing marked the biggest loss by the Hoosiers in the rivalry’s 161-game series.IU’s orange rivals to the west opened the game on a 21-2 run and never relaxed their grip of the lead. The Illini led by 25 at the half and continued to humiliate the traditionally proud basketball school in the second half, brushing off the Hoosiers 76-45 and handing their longest losing streak – at six – since 2004.

Freshman guard Verdell Jones goes for a baket as Michigan's DeShawn Sims attempts a block Wednesday at Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers face Illinois on the road this Saturday.

Weber: ‘Indiana will suck’

By Tom Kirby · Friday, Jan. 9,2009 12 a.m.

Last time IU traveled to Champaign to take on Illinois, the game was one of the most highly anticipated matches of the year. Led by then-coach Kelvin Sampson and freshman star Eric Gordon, the Hoosiers played in front of a volatile Illini crowd. When IU won, it boosted its record to 19-3 while Illinois dropped to 2-9 in conference play. Just 11 months later, things have dramatically changed, but the bitterness across the border remains. Although Sampson has been exiled from college basketball and Gordon has moved on to the NBA, Illinois coach Bruce Weber continues to add fuel to the rivalry between IU and U of I.

Dusting off the chart:

By Matt Dollinger · Friday, Jan. 9,2009 12 a.m.

Wednesday’s overtime loss to Michigan left a bitter taste in the mouths of even the mildest of Hoosier fans. Imagine how Tom Crean felt.

IU's Daniel Moore, right, is fouled by Lipscomb's Jimmy Oden while driving to the basket during the second half of the Hoosiers' game Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008. IU lost to the visiting Bisons, 74-69.

Bisons stampede Hoosiers in final pre-conference tune-up

By Matt Dollinger · Sunday, Dec. 28,2008 9:43 p.m.

Before Sunday’s game, most Hoosier fans likely couldn’t tell you where Lipscomb even was. But the team’s 74-69 upset victory against IU might have put them on the map.

Certain of nothing: Hoosiers felled by Northeastern

By Zachary Osterman · Tuesday, Dec. 23,2008 3:17 a.m.

In their first five minutes, these new members of the IU men’s basketball team looked like their bygone brethren, putting the hatchet to a lesser opponent with Christmas 72 hours away. Any resemblance thereafter was purely coincidental.

Hoosiers fall to Northeastern 55-42

Monday, Dec. 22,2008 11:15 p.m.

Pulling away to a speedy 12-3 lead against the visiting Northeastern Huskies, the IU men’s basketball team looked like they used their nine-day layoff to full advantage.But then the Hoosiers became colder than the weather outside Assembly Hall.

LIVE BLOGGING: IU vs. Northeastern

Monday, Dec. 22,2008 6:37 p.m.

Join reporter Ryan Gregg and basketball columnist Zachary Osterman as they blog the Hoosiers' matchup with the Northeastern University Huskies live from Assembly Hall.BLOG: Basketblog

Junior guard Devan Dumes dives to get possession of the ball in the first half of the Hoosiers' game against Kentucky Saturday in Lexington, Ky. The Hoosiers fell to the Wildcats 72-54.

Hoosiers tossed out of Rupp by Wildcats, lose 72-54

Saturday, Dec. 13,2008 6:31 p.m.

LEXINGTON, KY — Kentucky started the game on a 22-4 run and never looked back, crushing the IU men's basketball team 72-54. As they have all season long, IU grappled with turnovers. In all, the Hoosiers turned the ball over 15 times in the first half and were unable to recover from the run Kentucky generated from the mistakes.IU never brought the Wildcats' lead within single digits after their initial run.The rout is IU's second in as many road games this season. The Hoosiers lost to then-No. 15 Wake Forest 83-58 on Dec. 3 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

RUNNING THE FLOOR: Regional showdown, possible throwdown

By Zachary Osterman · Thursday, Dec. 11,2008 11:37 p.m.

This one means a little bit more. Games like these always do. Players and coaches yarn on about how truthfully, every game is the same, none is taken more seriously than another, etc. But IU-Kentucky isn’t just a rivalry – it’s a tradition. Need proof? Turn CBS on at 4 p.m. Saturday and see if you don’t hear everything you need to hear from what Tom Crean called “one of the great atmospheres in the country.”Games like this are circled in red. Games like this are the reason Tom Crean left a successful, well-built program at Marquette for a team in tatters. Games like this define seasons – and often careers.

Freshman guard Malik Story brings the ball upcourt against Cornell Nov. 30, 2008 at Assembly Hall.

Different game, different Story

By Tom Kirby · Thursday, Dec. 11,2008 11:35 p.m.

On a team that IU coach Tom Crean calls “thin,” Malik Story has been a valuable commodity. Coming off the bench or starting, playing power forward or point guard – wherever Crean has been lacking, he’s turned to Story to fill the gap. No wonder Story has an open mind on what his role is for the Hoosiers. “(I do) whatever needs to be done,” he said. “Pass the ball, score the ball, whatever needs to be done.” While the whole season is a learning experience, perhaps no Hoosier has had to learn as much or adjust to as many different roles as Story. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound freshman came to Bloomington as a guard. He quickly learned he would need to fill the position of power forward, due to the lack of size on the squad.

RUNNING THE FLOOR: Brief return to normal

By Zachary Osterman · Thursday, Dec. 11,2008 12:13 a.m.

It had been months, but it really seemed more like years. This hall – as it’s purported – wasn’t close to capacity, but when those flags hit the parque surface, the floor rumbled like it hadn’t since that dead winter of nine months ago.

Senior forward Kyle Taber looks for the hoop Wednesday evening against TCU at Assmebly Hall. The Hoosiers will face Kentucky on the road this Saturday.

Men's basketball pulls it out in 2nd half

By Tom Kirby · Thursday, Dec. 11,2008 12:12 a.m.

Maybe it was freshman Malik Story’s buzzer-beating 3 to end the first half. Maybe it was learning from their last two games against highly ranked opponents. Whatever the reason, the Hoosiers uncharacteristically came out in the second half on fire, turning a four-point halftime lead into a second half laughter against TCU. “The first four minutes of the second half were really crucial in burying a team,” said freshman forward Tom Pritchard. “That’s what we had to do, and we did it.” In their four losses this season, the Hoosiers have been the ones buried and playing flat in the second half – they were outscored 167-109 in those games. But Wednesday night was a different story.