INDIANA VS NORTH CAROLINA TONIGHT

IU SPORTS INFOMRATION

THE OPENING TIP
Indiana is in its 113th season of college basketball and will host North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. IU holds a 7-5 edge in the series between two teams that have each won five NCAA Championships. This will be the third meeting in the event between the two programs with the visiting team winning both matchups - IU winning 79-66 in Chapel Hill in 2001, while the Tar Heels took home a 70-63 win in Bloomington in 2004.

For the first time since the 1979-80 preseason and just for the third time in school history (1975-76), the Indiana men's basketball team started the season as the top ranked team in the country. Indiana was also picked by the Big Ten media to win the conference championship. The Hoosiers return the same starting lineup they finished their season with last year. The group helped lead IU to a 27-9 record as they earned the program's first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2002 and just the second berth in the round of 16 since 1995. Indiana was ranked 16th by the Associated Press and 13th in the final USA Today/Coaches poll. Using the formula on how the NCAA ranks a teams' improvement from one year to the next, IU had a 15 1/2-game improvement in the standings from 2010-11, the seventh largest in NCAA history. The Hoosiers also rank 11th with 1,696 wins all-time.

THE COACHES
Indiana named Tom Creanas its 28th men's basketball coach on April 2, 2008, and he is in his fifth year with the Hoosiers. He is 251-171 all-time as a head coach and has six wins over nationally ranked foes in the last two seasons. Crean was named National Coach of the Year by ESPN's Jason King, and Big Ten Coach of the Year by the Sporting News and the BTN's Tom Dienhart. He was also the midseason winner of the Jim Phelan Award which is the National Coach of the Year by Collegeinsider.com. SI.com also selected him as the Midseason Coach of the Year.

Roy Williams is in his 10th season as the head coach at North Carolina, posting a 262-69 record with the Tar Heels. Prior to UNC, he was the head coach at Kansas for 15 years and compiled a 418-101 mark. His overall career record is 680-170 as a head coach between the two schools.

KEY STATS
The Hoosiers are 29-20 all-time against the ACC. Last year, Indiana won at NC State, 86-75. The Hoosiers have been on the road in this event in three of the last four years. The Hoosiers lead the nation in free throws attempted per game (32.0), are second in free throws made per game (23.7) and fourth nationally in scoring (88.7 ppg). Indiana is the top rebounding defense team in the league (27.0), and lead in rebound margin (+14.2) and scoring margin (+32.3). The Hoosiers are second in the Big Ten in free throw percentage (74.0), field goal percentage (52.5), field goal percentage defense (35.5) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (27.5).

Senior Jordan Hulls is leading the Big Ten in 3-point field goals made per game (3.2) and is third in assist/turnover ratio (23/5). Sophomore Remy Abell has made 7-of-8 3-pointers, junior Victor Oladipo is second in the league in steals (2.5) and field goal perentage (65.8) and senior Christian Watfordis second in the league in rebounding (8.0).

SHEEHEY SHINES
Junior Will Sheehey made 8-of-9 field goal attempts and scored 19 points in 19 minutes against Ball State. He had six rebounds and two assists. In his first start of the season against Sam Houston State, Sheehey responded with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists against Sam Houston. He has made 19-of-25 free throws and is shooting 56.4 percent from the field.