Happy Hoosier Holiday’s

As we move along here in December of one of the strangest years of my 52yrs. of existence on this Earth, Indiana University sports are not only in full swing, but they are also excelling. The men’s basketball team (@IndianaMBB) team was in North Carolina this week to compete in the Maui Classic. And although that may sound strange, it’s pretty much par for the course for 2020.

The Hoosiers were 1-0 upon arrival after dispensing of Tennessee Tech 89-59 the day before Thanksgiving. Their first opponent was Providence of the Big East. IU was impressive in their 79-58 win over the Friars. And although they had pretty balanced contributions from everyone who saw minutes, Race Thompson stood out. The redshirt junior had 22Pts. and 13Rebs. in his 35 minutes of action. Sophomore Trayce Jackson-Davis chipped in 12Pts. 7Rebs. Junior point guard Rob Phinisee added 11Pts. 5Asts., and senior guard Al Durham finished with 19Pts. 6Rebs. 3Asts. Freshman Trey Galloway played the most minutes of the newcomers and although his numbers don’t jump off of the page at you, it’s easy to see what he is going to bring to the table for the next four years. And that is an understanding of the game. An ability to been in the right place at the right time. His toughness and willingness to do whatever the team needs him to do. He has an orneriness about him that makes him one of those players that Hoosier fans will love, but Hoosier opponents will loathe.

Game two in “Maui” was a completely different story than the first two games of the season for the Hoosiers. Not taking anything at all away from a pretty damned good Texas team, but Indiana a little “deer in the headlights” look about them right from the get go. The aggressiveness and confidence they showed the first two games of the season was gone. Long gone! And even worse, they appeared to be a little disinterested, and that disinterest grew as the game went on. Again, Texas is a pretty good team. In fact, they went on to beat North Carolina to win the tournament. But no one will ever convince me that they are 22 points better than this Indiana team.

Game three had the Hoosiers pitted against the Stanford Cardinal. There was a lot of angst by the Hoosier faithful heading into this game. Two games had shown an IU team that we thought was capable of playing with anyone in the country, only to be followed up with a game where they wouldn’t have beaten many Power 5 conference teams. But the Hoosiers responded well to their first loss of the year by beating Stanford 79-63. Although IU only lead by five at halftime, it still felt like they were in complete control pretty much the entire game in my opinion. Jackson-Davis responded with an aggressive 31Pt. 6Reb. game after a what some would consider a lackluster 17Pt. game against Texas. He was joined in double figures by Thompson who had 15Pts. 8Rebs. and Sophomore Armaan Franklin who played all 40 minutes and had 13Pts. 8Rebs. 5Asts. Everyone was pretty solid in the win, and the Hoosiers left Maui having finished 3rd in the tournament, a 3-1 record overall on the season, and plenty to build on as they prepare for Florida State this coming Wednesday.

On Saturday, December 5th, 2020 the Indiana Football (@IndianaFootball) team traveled to Madison, Wisconsin to face the Badgers. The Hoosiers were 5-1 going in, having only lost to Ohio State by a touchdown in Columbus. They left Madison 6-1 heading into the in-state rivalry game next weekend against Purdue. The Hoosiers were playing their first full game without star quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. who was putting up phenomenal numbers on the year, but was lost for the year after tearing his ACL in last weeks win against Maryland. Backup quarterback Jack Tuttle stepped in for the injured Penix, Jr. and led the Hoosiers to a 14-6 victory. He brings a different skillset to the offense than Penix, but in my personal opinion, he looked poised and more than capable of leading this team for the rest of this storybook season.

He stayed within himself and didn’t try to make throws he’s not capable of making. He did fumble the ball once, but he was a wide open dropped pass from having a three touchdown passing game in his first start for the Hoosiers. He finished 13/22 for 130yds. 2TD’s and no interceptions. Against a Badger team that was ranked #16 coming into the game, I’d say those are pretty solid numbers. Speaking of rankings. Indiana was ranked #10 coming into the game and it was obvious in the post game footage that they feel a little slighted that it was being called an upset. It almost feels like the rest of the country and the “experts” don’t fully believe yet, but that non belief can be good bulletin board material until they do take notice.

Indiana’s defense is no longer a unit that hopes to keep the game close so in hopes the offense can out score the opponent. No, now they are the aggressor. They are forcing turnovers and getting the offense back on the field. When you have a capable offense like the Hoosiers do and you couple it with a defense that is as good and as disruptive as this defense, you have the makings of a championship caliber team. There is not really a weak spot with this defensive unit. The are solid against the run, they can get to the quarterback, and they are as good as they come in the secondary. They are a group that has become fun to watch, which is not something that is not usually said about any team, but especially an Indiana Hoosiers defense. Next up, the Boilermakers. And to that I say, POTFB.

The Indiana women’s basketball team’s season underway and the Hoosiers have yet to be tested. They are 2-0 after opening the season with wins against Eastern Kentucky (100-51) and Samford University (71-26). They’re explosive attacking offense is a thing of beauty when they get it rolling. They are relentless, and have the depth to put pressure on opposing defenses from start to finish. Against EKU they had 11 of the 12 players who saw the floor score. Led by Mackenzie Holmes 26Pts. 8Rebs. and Grace Berger’s triple-double of 17Pts. 10Rebs. 10Asts. the outcome was never in doubt. Against Samford 8 of the 11 players that saw the floor scored, with Holmes and Berger once again leading the way with 13Pts. apiece.

The competition takes a huge step up this afternoon (Sunday, December 6th, 2020) as the Hoosiers travel to Lexington, Kentucky to take on the #11 ranked Lady Wildcats. UK’s women are 3-0 on the young season, and are averaging 72Pts. per game. Indiana has a team that is more than capable of going on the road against a quality opponent and leaving town with a win, but they have to go get it. Kentucky is coming off a hard fought win against Kansas St. which saw them only being up 2Pts. heading into the 4th Quarter, where they then outscored the other Wildcats by 11 and came away with a 60-49 win. It should be noted that K-State’s star sophomore center, Ayoka Lee left the game early with an ankle injury and did not return.

Three IU men’s basketball game this past week that resulted in a 2-1 record, an Indiana football game yesterday that broke a ten game losing streak to the Badgers and moved the Hoosiers to 6-1 on the season, and an Indiana women’s game today on ESPNU against a ranked team with a chance to grab what could be the first signature win of the season and move them to 3-0, is the perfect start to the Holiday Season for this Hoosier crazy fan of Indiana University sports. If you are excited for the start of basketball season, and riding the wave of excitement that the football team has created, then treat yourself and tune in and watch the women’s team play today. I can’t guarantee a win, but I can guarantee a team of women that know how to play, are relentless, play with a chip on their shoulder, and play together for the betterment of the team. Who knows, you just may enjoy yourself.

Happy Hoosier Holiday’s to all! GO BIG RED!