What: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Alabama A&M Bulldogs
Where: Assembly Hall in Bloomington, IN
When: Wednesday, November 5 at 8:00 pm
How to Watch: The game will be streaming on BTN
Opponent Glance: The Alabama A&M Bulldogs are in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, better known as the SWAC. They are projected by Ken Pomeroy’s ratings as the 320th ranked squad in the country (for context, there are 365 teams rated) entering the season.
The Bulldogs will, very likely, enter the contest against at IU because they open on November 3 with a game at home against Blue Mountain Christian. The Bulldogs knocked off Samford 74-73 and followed that with a win over the University of Alabama-Huntsville in exhibition play.
The victory against Samford is an impressive one as they project 181st in the country by Ken Pomeroy. Kintavious Dozier, a 6’1” senior guard, led the team against Samford with 21 points plus seven rebounds and four assists. Koron Davis, a 6’7” wing originally from Gary (IN), led the charge against the UAH Chargers with 24 points on 9-13 shooting. The Bulldogs are coached by Donte’ Jackson and he’s in his first season after leading Grambling State for the past eight years.
This is actually a team with some good size as the Bulldogs have ten players that are 6’7” or taller and four players listed at 6’9” or taller. In the two exhibition games, they started four guards and a forward and there are six players that came with Jackson from Grambling State.
Why it Matters: First impressions matter. While Darian DeVries introduced himself to some of the Indiana faithful with a trip to Puerto Rico and then a pair of exhibition games, this is the first game that really counts and it is critical to get off on the right foot.
Archie Miller’s tenure got off to a rotten start with a dreadful performance at home and it felt like he never really recovered with the fanbase. Beyond the optics and feelings of the fan base, this is a game that Indiana cannot lose if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.
A loss to a team that is likely to finish sub-300 in nearly every performance metric will serve as an anchor on a NCAA Tournament resume. Winning the game is paramount but doing so in convincing fashion is also important.
As we saw during the Mike Woodson era, a failure to win these “buy games” by comfortable margins tanked Indiana’s ratings and also served as blinking red warning lights warning of the trouble to come when the quality of the opposition picked up.
Result: Indiana Win 98-51
Game Stories:
A New Era Begins as Hoosiers Blitz Bulldogs 98-51
Wilkerson Sparks New Era for Indiana Basketball in 98-51 Win
Game #2
What: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Marquette Golden Eagles
Where: United Center in Chicago, Illinois
When: Sunday, November 9 at 1:00 pm
How to Watch: ESPN
Opponent Glance: Shaka Smart is a familiar name at head coach but everything else about this Marquette team is largely unknown. The Golden Eagles were picked to finish fifth in the Big East by the league’s coaches while Chase Ross was picked as a first-team All-Big East member. Smart is one of the few coaches that is relying almost exclusively on high school recruiting and development of his existing roster to build his program.
There is a lot of talk about culture and stability and that’s all true but it could also lead to some down years if the returning players are not ready to step into the starring roles they have no choice but to try and occupy.
For instance, players like Sean Jones and Chase Ross have been solid supporting players but can they be the leaders and stars of a good team? We at least have a very good idea about how Shaka Smart wants and expects his team to play and the returning players should, in theory, mean the Golden Eagles should be fairly far along in their development within the system despite this being the second game of the season.
Marquette excels at creating turnovers and then taking advantage of the change of possession to get out in transition and attack. They are typically top 25 in pace and, on paper, they have the personnel to play at an even quicker pace than usual this season.
Expect to see a ¾ court press that tries to create turnovers but also tries to wear down IU’s guards and prevent the Hoosiers from getting into any offensive sets until 8-10 seconds have come off the clock on each trip.
On offense, the Golden Eagles do their best to either take shots at the rim or from beyond the arc. The starting lineup is somewhat difficult to predict but it’s likely to: Chase Ross (6’5”), Zaide Lowery (6’5”), Royce Parham (6’8”), Sean Jones (5’10”) and Ben Gold (6’11”).
Why it Matters: Marquette is almost certainly going to finish in the top 50 of KenPom and this a neutral court game in Chicago so there is a very good chance this game ends up qualifying as a Quad One contest at the end of the season. IU has four non-conference games against power conference opponents: Kentucky, Louisville, Kansas State and Marquette. The Kansas State game is at home and likely ends up a Quad Two game while Kentucky and Louisville are going to be Quad One games where IU will be underdogs (perhaps significantly so).
This game against Marquette is probably IU’s best non-conference chance for a critical Q1 victory. The Hoosiers have flopped in recent neutral site non-conference games and IU fans are undoubtedly hungry for the new coaching staff to reverse that trend.