What to Expect: Indiana at Northwestern – Inside the Hall

Indiana returns to motion Wednesday night time when it travels to Evanston to tackle Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Area. The Wildcats are 18-7 general and 9-5 in Large Ten play. 

Wednesday’s sport is about for a 9 p.m. ET tip on BTN:

Indiana and Northwestern will each enter Wednesday’s sport driving excessive.

The Hoosiers have gained eight of their final 9 and three straight video games with victories over Purdue, Rutgers and Michigan.

The Wildcats joined Indiana in second place of the league standings with a win over No. 1 Purdue on Sunday in Evanston. Northwestern has gained three straight video games and 6 of its final eight contests.

THE FIRST MEETING

Whereas it regarded like a horrible loss on the time, Northwestern has confirmed to be a greater than formidable Large Ten workforce this season. The Wildcats got here to Bloomington on Sunday, Jan. 8 and stunned the Hoosiers, 84-83.

Protection was a significant downside for Indiana towards the Wildcats in Meeting Corridor. Northwestern entered the primary matchup with the nation’s 187th-best offense, based on KenPom, and hung 84 factors and 1.14 factors per possession on Indiana. The loss dropped Indiana to 1-3 within the Large Ten.

The defensive issues started on the perimeter as Indiana’s guards allowed Northwestern to provoke offense with little ball stress. Chase Audige, Ty Berry and Boo Buie every took benefit with straight-line drives to the basket, which allowed the Wildcats to construct a 17-point lead lower than 12 minutes into the sport. At one level, Mike Woodson switched to a zone to maintain Northwestern’s guards from driving into the lane. Buie completed with a team-high 26 factors and went to the road six instances whereas Audige added 19 factors and tried 10 free throws.

“They received great guard play with Boo and Chase,” Woodson mentioned Monday. “I believed they damage us right here. Our focus has simply received to be, we received to go in with a defensive mentality.”

Northwestern took benefit of Indiana’s lack of ability to defend with out fouling. The Wildcats doubled Indiana’s free throw makes an attempt (28 to 14) and outscored the Hoosiers by 9 factors from the road.

Turnovers have been additionally a significant concern. Indiana dedicated 16 turnovers, resulting in 25 factors for the Wildcats. Conversely, Northwestern dedicated solely seven turnovers which Indiana was seven factors.

From a person perspective, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino each had dominant performances within the first assembly. Jackson-Davis went for 18 factors, 24 rebounds, eight assists and 4 blocked pictures in 40 minutes. On the time, he was battling a sore again and it was simply his second sport again after lacking contests towards Elon and Kennesaw State in December.

Hood-Schifino scored a season-high 33 factors and was 7-for-10 on 2s, 5-for-7 on 3s and 4-for-6 from the free throw line. The 33 factors by Hood-Schifino have been essentially the most by an IU freshman since Eric Gordon additionally scored 33 towards Chattanooga on November 12, 2007.

TEMPO-FREE PREVIEW

All stats are conference-only and are up to date by means of Monday’s video games.

Free throws and turnovers will once more loom giant for Indiana towards the Wildcats.

The standout numbers on the Northwestern statistical profile are clear: turnover share, defensive turnover share and free throw fee (FTA/FGA).

In Large Ten play, Northwestern is popping over its opponents on 20.1 p.c of possessions and is committing turnovers on solely 13.7 p.c of its personal possessions. The Wildcats dedicated solely 125 turnovers in 14 Large Ten video games (8.9 per sport) in comparison with 182 (13 per sport) for its league opponents.

The free throw line can be pivotal for Northwestern, though the Wildcats do wrestle to defend with out fouling. Northwestern is averaging 18.7 free throw makes an attempt in Large Ten play in comparison with 16.7 for its opponents.

The holes for Northwestern’s protection are on the inside. Large Ten opponents are grabbing 29.8 p.c of their missed pictures and are making 50.3 p.c of their 2s.

WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO

The KenPom projection is Indiana by one with a 51 p.c likelihood of a Hoosier victory. The Sagarin rankings like Indiana by slightly below some extent.

After Sunday’s win towards No. 1 Purdue and sole possession of second place within the Large Ten standings on the road, Welsh-Ryan Area ought to be stuffed with vitality. Picked to complete thirteenth within the Large Ten within the preseason, Northwestern has far exceeded expectations and ought to be again within the NCAA event for the primary time in six years and simply the second time in program historical past.

Indiana’s guard play has been shaky on the highway and the duo of Buie and Audige is among the greatest within the league. Audige is arguably one of the best perimeter defender within the convention and Buie does a superb job attending to the rim off the dribble.

“If you exit on the highway, it’s only a completely different mentality,” Woodson defined. “One way or the other I received to get them to grasp and assist them be higher, to place us in a greater place to win.”

The flip facet, after all, is that Northwestern has to account for Jackson-Davis. He’s taking part in at a nationwide participant of the yr stage. Northwestern did an excellent job towards Zach Edey on Sunday and compelled him into six turnovers with aggressive double groups within the submit. Jackson-Davis might want to deal with that stress with out turning it over and Indiana’s shooters might want to convert open appears to be like.

“It’s going to be a dogfight. They taking part in in entrance of their crowd, their fan base,” Woodson mentioned. “I’m simply anxious to see what we fabricated from once we get there.”

Filed to: Northwestern Wildcats