INDIANA VS MINNESOTA PREVIEW

INDIANA SPORTS INFORMATION

THE OPENING TIP
Indiana is in its 113th season of college basketball and will play host to No. 8/10 Minnesota in the Big Ten homeopener for the Hoosiers. This will be the first matchup of Top 10 teams in Assembly Hall since February 19, 2000 when No. 10 IU played host to No. 7 Ohio State. IU opened conference play with road wins at Iowa (69-65) and at Penn State (74-51).

The Hoosiers are currently ranked No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and by the Associated Press, the 22nd straight week they have been nationally ranked, the longest since they were ranked for 71 straight weeks from 1989-94. This was the first time since the 1979-80 preseason and the third time in school history (1975-76), that IU 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, who have won 20 Big Ten titles, including 11 outright, have the best winning percentage in league game history winning 59.5 percent of its conference tilts (821-558).

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. In just five years, he has taken over a program that returned 36 career points among two walk-ons and built a team that was ranked No. 1 in the country this preseason, leading IU to a 41-10 record since the beginning of the 2011-12 season. He is 259-172 all-time as a head coach and has seven wins over nationally ranked foes in the last two-plus 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 last season.

Tubby Smith is in his sixth year at Minnesota and has a 118-69 record with the Golden Gophers. Overall, it is his 22nd season as a head coach with stops at Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky. His overall record is 505-214.

THE STARTING FIVE
The Hoosiers have the fourth rated offense in the country and the sixth-best defense in the nation according to kenpom.com.

The Hoosiers are 13-9 away from Assembly Hall since the start of the 2011-12 season and have won four of its last five Big Ten road games dating back to last year (Purdue, Minnesota, Iowa, Penn State). IU has the highest overall winning percentage against Division I programs among Big Ten teams with a 41-10 (80.4 percent).

Indiana leads the nation in scoring (87.0), scoring differential (27.9), free throws made (307) and free throws attempted (411). The Hoosiers are the only team in the Big Ten with five players averaging 11 points or better per game (Zeller, 16.5 Oladipo, 13.3; Watford, 12.7; Sheehey, 12.1; Hulls, 11.4).

The Hoosiers are one of the most improved teams in the country defensively ranking ninth in the nation and leading the Big Ten in field goal percentrage defense (35.8) and third in the country in rebound margin (+11.2). In two league games, Indiana held Iowa and Penn State to 58.0 ppg., 32.5 percent shooting from the field and 22.9 percent from 3-point range.

ZELLER'S IMPACT
It's doubtful that you could find a player who has had more of an impact on a college basketball program over the last two seasons than sophomore Preseason National Player of the Year Cody Zellerof Indiana. Since he put on the Cream and Crimson, Indiana is 41-10 for an .804 winning percentage and the Hoosiers lead all Big Six Conference school's in field goal percentage (49.8 percent), 3-point field goal percentage (42.7 percent) and free throw percentage (75.8 percent).

He had 19 points and 10 boards against Iowa, 15 points and four steals against Penn State and leads the Big Ten in free throws made per game (5.3) and attempted (7.4). He is fourth in scoring (16.5), second in rebounds (7.9) and third in FG percentage (62.7 percent). In 40 minute stats, Cody Zeller leads the Big Ten in points/assists/rebounds per game at 36.9.