Fresh off a grind-it-out win over Notre Dame at Conseco Fieldhouse on Saturday, Indiana returns to Assembly Hall tonight for a meeting with the Howard Bison. The game will be shown on the Big Ten Network (Gus Johnson/Quinn Buckner) and broadcast on the IU radio network (Sirius 128/XM 190):
Before the Hoosiers hit the road in nine days for East Lansing, two games await in Assembly Hall to finish out the pre-conference schedule. And according to both the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) and KenPom.com, the opponents are the two weakest on the entire schedule.
Through Saturday’s games, Howard, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference ranks No. 333 in the RPI and No. 302 in the Pomeroy Ratings out of 345 Division I teams. The Bison (3-8) have not won a road game since Jan. 18, 2010 and are coming off a 21-point loss at Oregon State last Thursday.
A LOOK AT THE POMEROY NUMBERS
Howard is simply outmatched against an Indiana team that will be looking to get back on track following a subpar offensive performance in Conseco Fieldhouse. Only two teams in Division I are sending their opponents to the free throw line at a higher rate than the Bison and not many teams are turning it over with more frequency, either.
It’s tough to pinpoint a single area where Howard could give the Hoosiers trouble. Their profile is that bad despite losing some close games. This should be a solid opportunity for Tom Crean to work on putting in some new sets and also dip into the bench a little deeper to get some guys like Austin Etherington, Daniel Moore, Matt Roth, Remy Abell and Tom Pritchard some solid run once the game is in hand.
