Indiana Players Suspended: Five Indiana men’s basketball players, including starting guards Xavier Johnson and Parker Stewart, were suspended for “disciplinary reasons” just before the team’s game against Northwestern on Tuesday night. Before and during Indiana’s 59-51 loss to the Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois, fans of the Hoosiers flocked to Twitter to predict the game’s outcome.
The reason for the bans and the injuries to senior guard Rob Phinisee is still a mystery, but the squad was down to seven scholarship players after those events. I will not tell you all of the in-house items, because they breached rules and were punished for it,” Woodson stated. As a team, “you define the rules that guys have to follow as a team,” he said. A 30-26 halftime lead for the Hoosiers was enough to keep all five suspended players on the bench for the rest of the game. Although Woodson was angry with the suspended players, he claimed they remained on the bench because they were still a part of the squad even though they didn’t deserve to play. Trayce Jackson-Davis, a junior forward, said that even though the suspended Hoosiers were not on the court, they were still cheering them on from the bench.
Following his first three seasons of college basketball at Northwestern, Kopp returned to his old stomping place to play for the Golden Gophers again. But he was met with a frosty reception in the place he had previously called home, and he was forced to leave. Indiana will play Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan, at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. It’s up to Woodson to decide whether or not to reinstate suspended players after the team’s planned regrouping. A one-game thing? I have no idea,” Woodson remarked. “If I want to do it when I go home tonight, I’ll have to make that decision.”
There is nothing you can do, Jackson Davis said
In the end, Indiana’s starting lineup began to wear down as they all played for at least 34 minutes. Despite a 35-28 lead early in the second half, a five-minute scoreless streak and a 13-0 Northwestern surge proved too much for a fatigued Indiana team to overcome.
“Woodson praised the performance of his fellow players, saying, “I think they all performed quite well.” Because of the actions of their comrades, they were unable to achieve their goals.” Both Jackson-Davis and senior Race Thompson, Indiana’s forward tandem, combined for 27 points and 17 rebounds, but Jackson-Davis struggled from the field, shooting 4-for-13 in a team-high 39 minutes. Thompson was 7-13 from the field, but he was 0-2 at the free-throw line and missed all three of his 3-point attempts.
Despite a valiant effort by Indiana’s big men to bring the Hoosiers within striking distance as the clock ticked down to zero, sophomore guard Trey Galloway shone for the Hoosiers, scoring 13 points to tie a career-high. In the absence of Phinisee, who was sidelined with an injury, and Johnson and sophomore Khristian Lander, who were all suspended, Galloway stepped in at point guard. While the conditions were unexpected, Galloway praised his team for their ability to adapt and compete despite the setbacks.
He said, “I knew exactly what I had to do,” Galloway. For the sake of my teammates, I decided to compete in this tournament. Galloway had five rebounds, three assists, and a block in his final game before fouling out with 2:36 left to play. He also had five turnovers in the game. It was Woodson’s belief that Galloway would not have the stamina to play well in the final minutes of the game, but Galloway and his teammates “played their butts off.” In the second half, Indiana starters Miller Kopp and Anthony Leal had a difficult time. There were only two field goals made by each player in 34 minutes of action.
This is what to expect:
Next up for Indiana will be a trip to Evanston, where they will take on Northwestern. Despite a 4-8 Big Ten record, the Wildcats’ recent two victories have given them hope for the season. The game is set to begin at 9 p.m. ET on BTN on Tuesday. This is the final game for Indiana before the NCAA tournament in 2022, and the Hoosiers will need a win to keep their hopes alive. At Assembly Hall, Indiana fell to the Fighting Illini 74-57 despite a two-point lead at halftime on Saturday.
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Northwestern’s Big Ten home record is a dismal 1-5, but its five defeats have been separated by just 26 points. Last week, the Wildcats beat Rutgers 79-78 in overtime to earn their first league home win of the season. Only Miller Kopp, who transferred to Indiana, and Anthony Gaines, who graduated from Northwestern, left the squad for other schools. At 6 feet 10 inches and a former top 100 recruit, 6-foot-10 forward Pete Nance is Northwestern’s best player. Nance has the ability to open up the floor, finish around the rim, and also draw fouls and finish at the free-throw line. On 3-pointers, Nance has a 43.5 percent success rate this season. (merakisalonnc.com)
With a free throw rate of 75.6 percent and a season percentage of 75.8 percent, he is 13th in the Big Ten in free throws made and attempts attempted. He averages 15.6 points and 6.8 rebounds a game for the Wildcats, which is the most in the Big Ten Conference. Three of Indiana’s next four games are on the road, and the Hoosiers’ final home game is against Wisconsin next week in Bloomington, making the road ahead much tougher. To ensure that the Hoosiers don’t lose consecutive games for the first time this season, they must win in Evanston on Tuesday.
Boo Buie and Chase Audige are Chris Collins’ other two double-figure scorers: The Big Ten’s eighth-best assist rate and the conference’s 14th-best 3-point field goal percentage belong to the 6-foot-2 Buie (39.5). He’s a good free-throw shooter, too, like Nance (80.3 percent). Synergy Sports claims that Buie is a great spot-up player. On spot-ups, he’s averaging 1.30 points per possession, good for 96th in the country. According to Synergy, he ranks in the nation’s top 79th percentile in pick-and-roll situations with.9 points per possession.
As a guard, Audigy averages
As a guard, Audigy averages 11.6 points and 27.1 minutes per game in a high-volume, low-efficiency role. Audigy has the Big Ten’s 20th-highest usage rate, although he only makes 45.3% of his 2-point attempts and 28.6% of his 3-point attempts. Julian Roper, a freshman, joins Buie and Audige in the backcourt. Ty Berry, a sophomore, comes out of the bullpen. It’s been a long time since Roper has scored in double figures.
At home against Wisconsin on Jan. 18, Berry was benched after starting the first 16 games and was then promoted to the starting lineup for the last four contests. Berry has had a difficult time coping with the demands of the position. He has averaged just 5.2 points in Northwestern’s last five games, shooting just 34.6 percent from the field. Greer, a senior guard who has appeared in 26 games, is hitting 42.3 percent from three. Ryan Young and Elyjah Williams support Nance and Robbie Beran, respectively, at the four spot upfront. At six-foot-nine and 200 pounds, With a career 3-point percentage of 35.8 percent, Beran scores 6.3 points a game on average in 23 minutes. Beran ranks 23rd in the Big Ten with 54.5 percent of his twos in conference play.
The 6-foot-10, 240-pound Young provides the Wildcats with a powerful post presence. His 9.6 points per game rank him as the team’s fourth top scorer, although he only makes 49.3 percent of his twos in Big Ten games. Young is the Big Ten’s seventh-best offensive rebounder and the conference’s 12th-best defensive rebounder, both measured in percentage terms. On the court, Evanston-native Williams averages 14 minutes per game and shoots more than 55 percent of his twos.
