Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Must-See Basketball -- Here Comes IU-North Carolina




Of course students camped out for tonight’s North Carolina basketball epic.

When you’re young and bullet proof, when 30 degree temperatures are as relevant as eight hours of sleep a night, why not take a sleeping bag and camp out in the glowing surroundings of Assembly Hall.

This is certainly the only game on the non-conference schedule to do it, unless you find Central Connecticut State a compelling draw.

And if you didn’t sleep over, want a ticket and don’t mind waiting till the last minute for this 9:30 tipoff, you should be able to get a great seat for $500 or so, a decent one for around $300.

But we digress.

IU is 6-0 and ranked No. 1. North Carolina is 5-1 and ranked No. 14. The loss came to Butler in last week’s Maui Invitational.

About 27 NBA scouts will watch standouts such as IU’s Cody Zeller, Christian Watford, Victor Oladipo and Yogi Ferrell clash with North Carolina’s James McAdoo, Reggie Bullock and Marcus Paige.

What will they see?

Plenty of up-and-down action. Both teams run till the opponent drops, so if you love your basketball at a Wisconsin swing-offense, work-the-shot-clock pace, spend your time somewhere else.

Anyway, Ferrell and Paige mark a showdown of two of the nation’s top freshman point guards (Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart was the other).

Ferrell has done his part with a team-leading 29 assists compared to 11 turnovers. Considering that a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio is good, he’s made quite an impact. However, he’s only shooting 27.6 percent from the field, and that has to get better for him to make the offensive impact the Hoosiers have to have against elite competition.

Paige isn’t as consistent with the ball (20 assists, 19 turnovers), but his shooting isn’t bad (37.5 percent).

The best matchup of the night could become between the 6-5 Oladipo and the 6-7 Bullock.

Oladipo is a defensive nightmare who has 15 steals, a gazillion deflections, long arms and relentless energy. He’s also improved his shooting (65.8 percent) and averages 11.0 points.

Bullock averages 12.7 points while shooting 51.6 percent from three-point range and 57.1 percent overall.

What out for the 6-9 McAdoo, who averages 16.8 points and 8.8 rebounds. He’s certainly impressed IU coach Tom Crean.
“McAdoo is unlike everything we’ve seen with his ability to rebound out of the break,” Crean said. “They are a phenomenal, not only transition team, but transition rebounding team. McAdoo leads the way with that. It’s never over. It’s never over. If they don’t score quick, if they don’t get a layup or a three, you’ve gotta really be able to guard against the second shot because McAdoo is a trailer with a full head of steam.”



*****


IU might have struggled to a 4-8 football finish, but its future potential showed by having nine players receive All-Big Ten recognition.

Here is the IU release on that:
 

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana senior defensive tackle Adam Replogle and sophomore wide receiver Cody Latimer earned second team All-Big Ten honors, the conference announced Monday evening. Seven additional Hoosiers received honorable mention recognition. The nine honorees are the most for the IU program since 2001, when 12 Hoosiers collected league laurels.

Replogle earned second team accolades from the conference coaches and media, while Latimer was recognized as a second-teamer by the media and was an honorable mention selection by the coaches.

Junior tight end Ted Bolser (coaches and media), junior kicker Mitch Ewald (media), true freshman right guard Dan Feeney (coaches and media), junior safety Greg Heban (media), fifth-year senior center Will Matte (media), true freshman left tackle Jason Spriggs (coaches and media) and sophomore wide receiver Shane Wynn (media) were honorable mention.

Indiana's six honorees on offense and three honorees on the offensive line are also the most since the 2001 team had eight and five, respectively.

Additionally, fifth-year senior defensive tackle Nicholas Sliger was named Indiana's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award winner.

Replogle started an Indiana record 47 games and finished his career with 184 tackles, 15 sacks, which is ninth in school history, and 28.5 tackles for loss.

In 2012, he led the team with five sacks (tied for seventh in the Big Ten), 13 tackles for loss (seventh) and two forced fumbles (tied for 10th) and finished third with 71 tackles. His 5.9 tackles per game topped all Big Ten defensive linemen, and he closed second among defensive tackles in sacks and TFLs.

Replogle added to his budding resume with his third straight Capital One Academic All-District V honor. He is also one of 10 finalists for the ARA Sportsmanship Award, a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, was a nominee for the 2012 AFCA Good Works Team and was a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy.

Latimer owned a team-best 805 yards, six touchdowns (tied) and 15.8 yards per catch, and he finished second with 51 receptions. He ended up third in the Big Ten with 67.1 yards per game, tied for fourth among wideouts in touchdowns and was seventh with 4.2 catches per game.

The Dayton, Ohio, native recorded his second career 100-yard game, both this season (Ball State - 115), with 113 yards to go along with a career-high-tying seven receptions and a career-high three touchdowns en route to his first co-Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honor against Iowa.

He became the first Hoosier with three TD catches since Tandon Doss recorded three at Purdue on Nov. 27, 2010. The three scores aretied for the second-most in school history (10 times), trailing only James Hardy's four (Michigan State on Oct. 28, 2006).

Matte matched an Indiana offensive linemen record with 45 career starts and did not allow a sack in 972 snaps. He was a 12-time game captain this season, a 21-time game captain in his career and was on the 2012 Rimington Trophy Fall Watch List.

Feeney and Spriggs each started all 12 games, an IU true freshmen record for offensive linemen. Feeney did not surrender a sack in 935 snaps and finished second on the team with 54 knockdowns. Spriggs led the Hoosiers with 80 knockdowns and allowed just two sacks in 961 snaps.

Bolser's 41 receptions were second in the Big Ten and shared 10th nationally among tight ends, and his 445 yards were third in the Big Ten. He added three TDs and his numbers put him third on Indiana's single-season list for tight ends in catches and yardage.

Wynn led the Hoosiers with 68 catches and six touchdowns (tied) and finished second with 660 yards. He was second in the Big Ten with 5.7 receptions per game, tied for fourth among receivers with his six TDs and closed 2012 eighth with 55.0 yards per game.

Heban led the team and all Big Ten defensive backs with 91 tackles, 68 solo, and he also paced the team with three interceptions (tied for fifth in Big Ten) and eight passes broken up (tied for the team lead). His seven tackles for loss were tied for fourth on the team and he added one sack and one fumble recovery. Heban paced the team in tackles six times overall (five times at safety).

Ewald finished the season with 42 extra points (third most in school history), 15 field goals (tied for fifth) and 87 points (eighth). For his career, Ewald now has 105 extra points (fourth), 44 field goals (tied for third) and 237 points (sixth).



*****


ESPN.com ranks IU’s Class of 2013 No.4 behind Kentucky, Kansas and Memphis. With six players signed, it ranks with South Florida and California as the largest class in ESPN.com’s top 40.

Kentucky, Kansas and Memphis all signed five players.

Flordia ranked No. 6 despite signing only two players:

IU’s class is forwards Noah Vonleh, Troy Williams, Devin Davis and Collin Hartman, guard Stanford Robinson and center Luke Fischer.

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