Big Ten Foes Indiana and Iowa clash in Iowa City

Indiana Hoosiers at Iowa Hawkeyes, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, IA
Sunday, January 23, 2011, 3:00 pm Eastern, TV: Big Ten Network
Opening Line: Iowa -2
Current line: Iowa -2
Opening Total: 137
Current Total: 137 1/2
Money Line: Iowa -135 / Indiana +115

Indiana and Iowa reside at the bottom of the Big Ten standings, but these two long time rivals always play hard against each other no matter the records. Indiana is 10-9 overall and 1-5 in Big Ten play under coach Tom Crean. Iowa is 7-11 overall and 0-6 in conference under first year coach Fran McCaffery, who was previously the coach at Siena. Indiana started off the season 9-2 with losses to Kentucky and Boston College. They were feasting on mostly cupcakes with the only semi-quality wins coming over Wright St and Evansville. However since then Indiana has lost 7 out of 8 games played, with the only win coming at home against Michigan. The Hoosiers have losses to Northern Iowa, Colorado, Penn St, Ohio St, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Wisconsin. The Hoosiers last game was Thursday at Wisconsin, and the Badgers won 69-60. Iowa has lost 6 in a row to start conference play. The Hawkeyes have played 4 of the 6 teams ranked in the top 25 poll in the Big Ten to start conference play plus a solid Northwestern team. Iowa has losses to South Dakota St, Xavier, Long Beach St, Wake Forest, Iowa St, Illinois, Ohio St twice, Purdue, Northwestern, and Minnesota. Iowa has wins over Alabama, Northern Iowa, Drake, and Louisiana Tech. Indiana leads the all time series against Iowa 94-71, but Iowa is 42-39 in Iowa City. Iowa has won 8 out the last 12 meetings. Three of the last four games have gone over the total.

Indiana has no significant injuries right now. The Hoosiers are outscoring opponents 74-67 on the season. Indiana shoots 49.3% from the field and 38.5% from 3-point range. Hoosier opponents are shooting 41.7% from the field. Indiana shoots 70.3% from the free throw line. They average 34.2 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +3.8. Indiana averages 14.2 assists and 13.9 turnovers a game. They force 14.1 turnovers a game on defense. Indiana averages 6.7 steals and 3.4 blocks a game. The Hoosiers are led by forward Christian Watford who is averaging 16.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists. He is the teams leading scorer and rebounder. Guard Verdell Jones III averages 12.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists to lead the team, and 1.1 steals a game. Guard Jordan Hulls is averaging 10.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1 steal a game. Victor Oladipo leads the team in steals with 1.3 a game.

Iowa has no significant injuries either. They are led by junior guard Matt Gatens. Gatens is averaging 12.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and he tied for the team lead in steals with 1.5 a game. Guard Bryce Cartwright averages 10.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists to lead the team, and 1.2 steals a game. Guard/forward Eric May averages 9.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.5 steals a game. Freshman forward Melsahn Basabe is averaging 9.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks a game. He is the teams leading rebounder and shot blocker. Iowa is outscoring opponents 69-66 on the season. The Hawkeyes are shooting 43.4% from the field and 34.1% from 3-point range. Iowa opponents are shooting 43.2% from the field. Iowa makes 65.1% of their free throws. They average 36.7 rebounds a game and have a rebounding margin of +3.1. The Hawkeyes average 13.3 assists and 14.6 turnovers a game. The Hawkeyes force 15.6 turnovers a game on defense. Iowa averages 7.8 steals and 3.1 blocks a game.

If you look at these teams, you wonder why they are so bad. They are both good shooting teams and rebound reasonably well. However, once you look at their defensive stats and see each team allows opponents to shoot over 40% from the field, you can see why they lose more than they win in the rugged Big Ten. If Iowa doesn’t win this conference game then they might not have another chance to win a game in conference. Maybe at home against Michigan but every other team has a chance to go to the NCAA tournament.