What to Expect: IU basketball vs. Bethune-Cookman

Bethune Cookman guard Jakobi Heady.

IU basketball concludes its five-game homestand on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Bethune-Cookman at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Wildcats, picked to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference in the preseason, are 2-5.

It will be the second-ever meeting between the two programs. IU won the first meeting 101-49 on Nov. 10, 2022, in Bloomington.

After a pair of subpar performances against Incarnate Word and Lindenwood, IU basketball returned to its early-season form in an 86-69 rout of Kansas State on Thursday in Bloomington.

The Hoosiers will look to build on that performance against Bethune-Cookman, coached by Reggie Theus, who played 15 seasons in the NBA.

The Wildcats gave Auburn a scare in a 95-90 overtime loss to begin the season, but have just one win against a Division I team in six tries this season. The schedule ramps up for the Hoosiers after Saturday’s game with its next four contests against Minnesota (road), Louisville (neutral), Penn State (home) and Kentucky (road).

MEET THE WILDCATS

Bethune-Cookman dropped both of its games earlier this week in the Sunshine Slam in Daytona Beach, falling 69-64 to Jacksonville on Monday and 61-54 to Stony Brook on Tuesday.

The Wildcats are led in scoring by 6-foot-6 wing Jakobi Heady, a native of Chicago, Illinois, who started his career at Wabash Valley College before transferring to Bethune-Cookman. Heady spent last season at Central Michigan before returning to Bethune-Cookman for his final season of eligibility.

Heady averages 14.7 points in a team-high 32.7 minutes per game while shooting 45.8 percent on 3s (24 attempts). He’s also a solid free-throw shooter at 79.2 percent.

Jakobi’s younger brother, Quentin, began his career at South Suburban Chicago Community College and played last season at Central Michigan before making the move to Bethune-Cookman. The younger Heady, also a 6-foot-6 wing, averages 12.4 points in 28.3 minutes per game but is more of a slasher than a shooter. He’s taken only seven 3s this season but is shooting 51.6 percent overall from the field.

Arterio Morris, who began his career at Texas, was dismissed by Kansas after he was accused of rape and spent last season at South Plains College before transferring to Bethune-Cookman. A five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American in the 2022 class, Morris has tremendous talent. Through seven games, the 6-foot-4 guard from Dallas is averaging 14 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. He’s shooting just 40.4 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from the free-throw line (27 attempts).

Daniel Rouzan, a 6-foot-8 forward, plays the five for the Wildcats and is averaging 11.7 points and 4.9 rebounds in 22.4 minutes per game. Rouzan is shooting 58.7 percent on 2s.

Jordan Johnson, a 6-foot-4 transfer from Southern, starts at the two and is a career 35.2 percent 3-point shooter over 65 games. Johnson made 72 3s last season at Southern and has attempted a team-high 32 triples this season.

Bethune-Cookman is primarily playing an eight-man rotation with guards Seneca Willoughby and Rickey Mitchell off the bench, along with forward Ariel Bland.

The 6-foot-3 Willoughby, a Philadelphia native, had 12 points and made four 3-pointers in the season opener at Auburn.

Mitchell, a 6-foot-4 junior, spent last season at City College of San Francisco after starting his career at San Jose State. He made 39.9 percent of his 3s last season at the JUCO level, but is just 4-for-17 from deep this season.

Bland is a fifth-year player who transferred from UC Santa Barbara. The 6-foot-7 forward averages 3.7 points and a team-high six rebounds in 20.7 minutes per game off the bench.

TEMPO-FREE PREVIEW

TFS preview for IU-Bethune Cookman.

Bethune-Cookman’s shot diet is heavy inside the 3-point line. Through their first six games against Division I opponents, the Wildcats are scoring 57.1 percent of their points on 2s, ranking 24th nationally through Wednesday’s games.

Only 27.4 percent of their points are coming from 3s, 263rd nationally, and 15.5 percent are coming from free throws, which is 331st nationally. Bethune-Cookman ranks in the bottom 15 nationally in free-throw percentage and is shooting just 47.1 percent on 2s, which is 279th in the country.

Defensively, the Wildcats are allowing opponents to shoot over 55 percent on 3s and are allowing a free-throw rate (FTA/FGA) of 45.5 percent, which is 312th nationally. Without much rim protection, Indiana should attack the paint as much as possible and work inside-out for 3-point attempts.

WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO

After its near upset of Auburn, Bethune-Cookman lost by 40 at Miami (FL) and by nine at Dayton before winning by three at Ohio. As mentioned earlier in the preview, the Wildcats lost their last two games against sub-250 KenPom teams, Jacksonville and Stony Brook, on a neutral court earlier this week.

The KenPom projection has Indiana by 22 points with a 98 percent chance of a win. Bart Torvik’s rankings favor IU by 23 with a 96 percent chance of a Hoosier win.

This is one of three remaining buy games on IU’s schedule and one the Hoosiers should win convincingly against an overmatched opponent.

(Photo credit: Bethune-Cookman Athletics)

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