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Hoosiers not up to the challenge at Wake

by Alex Bozich in Recaps | December 3rd, 2008

James Johnson scored 21 points and No. 15 Wake Forest shot 62 percent in route to a 83-55 win over Indiana Wednesday night in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

The Hoosiers (4-3) committed 20 or more turnovers for the fifth time this season and shot just 37 percent from the field and 54 percent from the foul line.

“I think 26 turnovers tells the story,” Tom Crean told reporters after the game.

Three other players besides Johnson scored in double figures for the Demon Deacons (7-0). L.D. Williams had 16, Indianapolis Pike product Jeff Teague had 14, all in the second half, and freshman sensation Al-Farouq Aminu chipped in 12.

Matt Roth was the lone bright spot for Indiana on offense. The freshman guard had 12 points on 4 of 5 shooting. Tom Pritchard struggled against the athletic frontcourt of Wake Forest and scored just four points in 29 minutes.

The win moved Wake Forest to 8-1 all-time in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and dropped Indiana to 3-5 in the event.

Indiana will return to action on Saturday against Gonzaga at Lucas Oil Stadium. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network at 1:30 EST.

Know Thy Opponent: Wake Forest Demon Deacons

by Alex Bozich in Media | December 2nd, 2008

Each year in college basketball, there is a group of young teams flying somewhat under the radar yet capable of a deep run in the tournament.

In 2006, a team in the aforementioned group was Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators. They were a fringe top-25 team coming into that season, refined their ridiculous pool of talent during SEC play and ended up cutting down the nets.

To call this year’s Wake Forest Demon Deacons a threat to win it all would be a bit premature at this point in the season, but the talent is certainly there for a serious run.

Led by another Indiana kid who got away in sophomore Jeff Teague from Indianapolis Pike and a pair of do-it-all forwards in sophomore James Johnson and freshman Al-Farouq Aminu, the Hoosiers are going to have their hands full Wednesday night in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Teague has opened the season on fire — 21.0 ppg in six Wake wins — while shooting a ridiculous 57 percent from 3-point range.

Johnson (15.0 ppg, 9.2 rpg) and Aminu (13.2 ppg, 9.5 rpg) are perhaps the most athletic front court duo anywhere in the country. They’ve been so good early on that head coach Dino Gaudio has two five-star freshmen in Tony Walker and Ty Woods that have yet to see major clock.

The result of this mismatch will not likely be pretty for our Hoosiers, but fans of good basketball will enjoy watching one of the up-and-coming teams in college basketball that just might make a run come March.

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