(Photo Credit: UCA Sports)
The Hoosiers continue their impressive start with another addition to their win column after the Crossroads Classic on Saturday. Now, the Hoosiers look to fix up some loose ends against the University of Central Arkansas Bears before a long, daunting stretch of Big Ten conference play.
A record of 9-2 has not come easy for the Hoosiers who seem to have a way of coming from behind to secure their victories as of late. J-Mo made the point that the Crossroads Classic is going to be renamed to the “Morgan Classic” with a repeat (and improvement) from his record breaking year last year. Who knows, maybe the Pacers should consider drafting him just for this reason? And in typical Hoosier fashion, Butler led for nearly the first 37 minutes of the game, but Indiana’s athleticism took over in the final stretch and capped off by an incredible shot by Phinisee.
Indiana did not start off playing well against Butler. They returned to their poor, uncoordinated, butter-finger form with 6 turnovers in 8 minutes and were trailing by nearly 10 after that stretch. They calmed down and grabbed control of the game slowly as the clock ticked away. Their 15 total turnovers is not anything to be proud of, but 9 in the final 32 minutes is much better than their start. We will always have room to improve, but hopefully with time we can settle down and play with more confidence especially at the start.
The Hoosiers now travel back down IN-37 to host the Bears of University of Central Arkansas. This is one of the last two non-conference games for the season. It’ll serve as a good stretch to try out some new rotations and experiment in a safer environment prior to conference play.
The Bears are 4-5 and half of their wins come against non Division 1 programs, and the other half against University of Arkansas – Little Rock. They have struggled against other Division 1 programs, losing by an average of more than 19 points. They are currently ranked at 272nd on Kenpom, while Indiana is at 24th.
Departing Players
Projected Starters
The Rotation
The Bears have been under the helm of coach Russ Pennell for the last 5 years. He has been battling uphill the last 5 years and improving his team yearly. Last year was his first winning season bringing the team to a 18-17 record and a quarterfinal appearance in the CBI which was their first winning season as a Division 1 team. They have yet to make the NCAA Tournament, but have had several solid performances against big name schools last year including a nearly 30 point win at California and pushing UCLA to overtime when they were ranked 23rd. Other than these, the Bears have not been able to put together much of a consistent outing.
This season, Central Arkansas has been listed as finishing 8th in the Southland Conference based on the conference preseason poll from the coaches and sports directors for each school with Stephen F. Austin being the favorite for the conference. They will likely not win the regular season title as they lack many big playmakers, but they are used to playing bigger name schools on the road so have the ability to put up a fight against the Hoosiers.
It is difficult to really dissect the play of the Bears as they have not been in the national spotlight like several of the Hoosier’s last opponents. They are currently in the middle of a tough 5 game road trip against schools like Louisville, U. New Mexico, IU and Oklahoma State and it has been rough thus far with only a victory against U. Arkansas Little Rock. They will likely rely on the deep ball as they rank 88th on 3P% and have two sharp shooters from beyond the arc, Deandre Jones and Thatch Unruh. Forcing the Bears to make poor shots from beyond the arc will likely put the Hoosiers in a good position to win comfortably as their athleticism and strength will be too much for the Bears in the paint.
During this rough stretch, Deandre Jones has continued to lead their team. The sophomore has started 28 games thus far for the Bears and has improved greatly over the off-season with an average of nearly 15 points per game now. Eddy Kayouloud and Hayden Koval each add on an additional 10+ points per game as well. They do not have any players that are viewed as being “All-Conference” First or Second Teams and rely more on the team as a whole than any superstar. Thus, they have been frequently changing their roster up with only 3 players starting all games and an additional 6 having started at least a game. On Sunday against New Mexico, their bench struggled and it was their downfall – being outscored 60-22 compared to the Lobos.
University of Central Arkansas currently sits at 4-6. They have won the games that they stood a chance in and lost those they were outmatched. Indiana may not have their hands full this week, but for a change may be able to experiment and look for ways to push themselves early and fast rather than continually playing catch-up and leaving their fans with chest pain by the end of the first half. A lack of depth and superstar power make the Bears a team that should not put much of a fight against the Hoosiers.
Fun fact: Scottie Pippen’s alma mater is U. Central Arkansas. He is by far their most noteworthy player from the program and is proud of his heritage.
Race Thompson is still out with a concussion but attended practice and appears to be inching closer to a return. Although he is still in concussion protocol, he recently did two cardio workouts and some weightlifting.
There is still no timetable for a return for Jerome Hunter, who is still recovering from surgery to his leg.
Central Arkansas does not have any injuries of note.
How to Watch
| Date | Wednesday, December 19th |
| Time | 7:00 PM EST |
| TV | BTN |
| Radio | HoosiersTV Audio |
| Stats | LiveStats |
| Tickets | SeatGeek |