Indiana assistant coach Steve McClain, sophomore Will Sheehey and junior Christian Watford met with the media on Tuesday to preview tomorrow’s game at Michigan. Watch the press conference in high-definition quality in the embedded media player below:
Watch Michigan coach John Beilein preview tomorrow’s game over at UMHoops.
Tom Pritchard scored a season-high seven points and aided in the Hoosiers’ strong offensive rebounding effort by snagging three in Indiana’s 103-89 win against the Hawkeyes on Sunday inside Assembly Hall. He also drew two charges and recorded a steal in his 13 minutes of action.
A look at Pritchard’s offensive contributions in the latest edition of Film Session.
1) PICKIN’ & ROLLIN’ & SCORIN’ // STEALIN’ & FINISHIN’ ON THE BREAK
Pritchard sets a ball screen for Verdell Jones down in the left corner:
Pritchard rolls to the hole. Jones comes around his screen to the left wing with Zach McCabe hedging:
Jones whips a pass to Pritchard, who’s got a clear path to the rim:
In lieu of our usual “What to Expect” feature, we’ve switched things up today and have enlisted the expertise of Dylan Burkhardt for analysis of Wednesday’s opponent: Michigan. Burkhardt, who is a good friend of the site, is the founder and editor of UMHoops, a must-read for fans of Wolverine hoops. You can read our conversation with the UMHoops founder below:
The first game between these two teams came down to a few final possessions at the end and could have gone either way. Neither Trey Burke or Tim Hardaway Jr. shot the ball particularly well in that game, which I thought was a huge key for the Hoosiers grinding out the win. How have both guys been playing in the weeks since the first meeting and what does Michigan need out of each guy on Wednesday night?
Trey Burke’s role in the Michigan offense grows every game. He’s playing the point guard position as well as you could ask for from any freshman. He hits big shots, controls the game, finds his teammates and gets after it defensively. He hasn’t been immune to poor shooting games but his 4-for-15 performance at Indiana was one of his worst. Michigan needs Burke to play within the offense and make plays on the screen-and-roll. Depending on how Indiana defends him that could mean distributing the ball to Jordan Morgan down low, kicking to shooters on the wings or getting to the basket by himself and finishing at the cup.
Tim Hardaway Jr. continues to be an enigma this season. He’s shooting 22% on threes in Big Ten play but has the second most 3-point attempts in the Big Ten. This is the same player that almost single-handedly shot Michigan into the NCAA Tournament last season by connecting on 44% of his threes in conference games. He’s still scoring the ball and has improved attacking the basket, but he continues to shoot a lot of threes and not very effectively. It’s all about confidence for Hardaway, if he hits a couple early shots or picks up a few easy baskets then he’s more than capable of getting hot and changing the game with his scoring ability.
2015 guard Jalen Coleman and 2013 wing Collin Hartman both played pivotal roles in Cathedral’s run to the City Tournament Championship last week.
Coleman, who has an early offer from the Hoosiers, scored three points in Cathedral’s semifinal win over Arlington and 15 points in Cathedral’s championship win over Heritage Christian. Hartman, who committed to Indiana in November of 2010, scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the semifinals and had 10 points and seven rebounds in the championship game.
Inside the Hall was in attendance for both contests and we’ve compiled highlights of each player in the embedded media players below:
There’s finally some consistency in the power rankings. The top eight teams stayed in the same order as last week, and only Nebraska, Iowa and Northwestern moved at all.
As the conference’s top teams start to play each other, there should be more and more separation. Or it could just remain a jumbled mess. Who knows.
Without further ado, the sixth edition of Inside the Hall’s Big Ten power rankings.
12. Penn State (10-12, 2-7) (LAST WEEK: 12)…The Nittany Lions are in the midst of the most difficult stretch on their schedule, and they haven’t fared well. After falling at Indiana and at Ohio State, Penn State now faces games against Wisconsin, at Iowa, and at Michigan State.
11. Northwestern (12-8, 2-6) (LAST WEEK: 10)…The slide continued with a home loss to Purdue on Saturday. The Wildcats have lost three consecutive games since upsetting Michigan State.
10. Iowa (11-11, 3-6) (LAST WEEK: 9)…The Hawkeyes surprised everybody with road wins against Wisconsin and Minnesota to begin the conference season, but they’ve lost five of six and are sinking fast.
9. Nebraska (11-9, 3-6) (LAST WEEK: 11)…They’re not flashy, but the Cornhuskers keep getting better. Their win at Iowa last week may have turned the Hawkeyes’ season in the wrong direction.
8. Illinois (15-6, 4-4) (LAST WEEK: 8)…The Fighting Illini were 4-1 after an upset of Ohio State, but they’ve dropped three straight with a game against Michigan State still to come on Tuesday.
Podcast On The Brink returns this week with a pair of Michigan graduates, USA Today’s Nicole Auerbach and Herald-Times columnist Ryan Kartje, to discuss Indiana’s upcoming game against the Wolverines.
Among other topics, hosts Matt Dollinger and Greg Rosenstein also talk to Auerbach and Kartje about:
· Indiana’s offensive explosion its 103-89 win over Iowa
· Whether the Big Ten is the strongest conference in the country
· The lineup battle between Victor Oladipo and (bald) Will Sheehey
· How the Hoosiers will fare against Michigan the second time around
· Whether or not IU should try and run against the Wolverines
So tune in and let us know what you think about this week’s topics. As always feel free to drop us a note at podcastonthebrink@gmail.com
Listen in the embedded media player below, download the episode, subscribe via iTunes or subscribe to the RSS feed.
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