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[PointGuard]

Dec. 12: Wichita State Shockers (6-4) @ Indiana Hoosiers (6-2)

Terry Morillo: The first half was a real battle with 11 lead changes. We came out of it ahead 37-35. But we got on it in the 2nd half and quickly drew away from the Shockers to post a solid 78-58 victory. Our defense in the 2nd half was outstanding. Jonte Edwards—18 pts, 5 ast; Robert Bowie—13 pts, 3 reb, 3 blk; Wayne Rush—8 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast. [7-2]

Dec. 19: Indiana Hoosiers (7-2) @ Utah Utes (4-3)

[i]Ramon Montez[/i]: Offensively we played well. Defensively we played horribly. The first half was extremely close the entire 20 minutes with Utah narrowly on top 47-45 at halftime. Our defense got worse in the 2nd half allowing the Utes to steadily pull further ahead. We fell 99-84 as we let Utah drill 65% of their FG’s and 58% of their 3’s with SG Erik Smith scoring 28 points. For us, Chris Broussard—11 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl; Robert Bowie—11 pts, 4 reb; Marcus Wright—11 pts, 4 reb; Kirk Reeves—10 pts, 3 reb; Wayne Rush—9 pts, 2 ast, 2 stl; Lonnie Morrison—8 pts. [7-3]

[PointGuard]

Dec. 26: #20 ranked Xavier Musketeers (8-1) @ Indiana Hoosiers (7-3)

Mike McMillan: I hate losing a home game, even when it’s against a ranked team. We led throughout almost the entire first half and finished the half with a 35-31 lead. The score remained close with several lead changes in the 2nd half. But Xavier showed why they’re ranked in the final 4 minutes during which they throttled our offense and pulled away for a 77-65 win. We outshot the Musketeers 58% to 40%, but Xavier grabbed 6 more rebounds and made 9 fewer turnovers than did we. The refs put Xavier on the line 11 more times where they scored 11 more points than us. Xavier’s SG Anthony Harris had a big game with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks. Out top players were Chris Broussard—10 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl; Kirk Reeves—9 pts, 3 reb; Robert Bowie—9 pts, 3 reb; Wayne Rush—8 pts; Marcus Wright—8 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast, 3 blk. [7-4]

Jan. 2, 2046: Indiana Hoosiers (7-4) @ North Carolina Tar Heels (5-5)

Terry Morillo: This is the final pre-conference game for us this season. It’s been a real challenging schedule, but we needed that to compete in Conference E. The Tar Heels jumped out of the gate in front of us. But we over took them 6 minutes into the first half and with 4 minutes left in the half we were up by 10 points with Robert Bowie hitting some key shots. North Carolina trimmed our lead at halftime to 36-31. But we played so well, that I gotta tell ya, I was sure we’d win this game. The Tar Heels came out with a new defensive intensity in the 2nd half which slowed us down. Midway through the half, it became a game of back and forths with neither team able to truly game control. But UNC kicked their offense up a notch and drove to a hotly contested 68-64 win over us. We outshot them 50% to 40%, but made 22 turnovers. With the Tar Heels getting to the line 20 more times, they outscored us on free throws by 12 points. Robert Bowie—15 pts, 5 reb, 2 blk; Wayne Rush—11 pts, 3 ast, 4 stl; Kirk Reeves—10 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast; Chris Broussard—9 pts, 5 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl. [7-5]

[PointGuard]

Ramon Montez, co-head coach

We’d hoped to have a better record entering conference play, but we took on tough competition: 1 was from Conf A, 6 were from Conf B, 2 were from Conf C, and 3 were from Conf F and 4 of those 12 opponents were ranked at the time we played them. On a positive note, we averaged 77.4 ppg while giving up just 68.2 ppg and our NET Ranking is 51st best. And going into conference play, everyone is healthy so that’s a big plus.

Here’s how our players have done thus far:

SF Chris Broussard: 26.3 mpg, 8.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.3 apg
SG Wayne Rush: 23.0 mpg, 9.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.5 apg
C Kirk Reeves: 19.8 mpg, 8.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 apg
C Marcus Wright: 19.0 mpg, 7.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.5 apg
PG Jonte Edwards: 17.8 mpg, 7.2 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 4.3 apg
PF Robert Bowie: 17.8 mpg, 10.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.1 apg
PF Lonnie Morrison: 12.4 mpg, 5.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.8 apg
PG Calvin Heard: 12.2 mpg, 2.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 1.5 apg
PF Brian Valdez: 11.5 mpg, 3.9 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.5 apg
SG Ray Richardson: 11.1 mpg, 5.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 0.9 apg
PG Brett Mosley: 10.0 mpg, 4.3 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 1.5 apg
SF Martin Towers: 9.8 mpg, 3.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.1 apg
PG Terrell Anderson: 2.4 mpg, 0.8 ppg, 0.3 rpg, 0.6 apg

As can be seen, we gave 12 of our players a lot of opportunity which will be valuable as the season progresses. Our 13th scholarship player (Anderson) was productive in the limited time we were able to play him, so we’ll give him some greater exposure as we’re able to do so.

Here’s the records for the Conference E teams:

#14 Wisconsin: 10-1, NET 1
Georgia Tech: 10-3, NET 48
Texas A&M: 9-3, NET 115
Minnesota: 9-3, NET 38
Tennessee: 9-3, NET 37
Marquette: 8-3, NET 75
Richmond: 8-3, NET 21
Davidson: 7-4, NET 63
California: 7-4, NET 202
Florida State: 7-4, NET 87
Baylor: 7-5, NET 186
Indiana: 7-5, NET 51
Pittsburgh: 6-6, NET 195
UC Santa Barbara: 5-6, NET 237
Utah State: 5-6, NET 168
Marshall: 4-7, NET 253

[PointGuard]

Jan. 9: Pittsburgh Panthers (6-6, 0-0) @ Indiana Hoosiers (7-5, 0-0)

Mike McMillan: Our guys didn’t waste time tonight. They immediately grabbed the Panthers by the throat and never let up. By halftime we were up 38-23. Even though we eased up in the 2nd half on what had been a lockdown D in the first half, we continued to expand our lead with a formidable offensive onslaught. We were up by 29 points with 7 minutes to go and then cruised to a resounding 86-65 stomping of Pittsburgh. We hit 53% of our FG’s, 52% of our 3’s, and were +11 on the boards. All of our starters played well with PG Jonte Edwards scoring 12 points and handing out 3 assists in just 16 minutes of play, SG Wayne Rush hitting for 10 points plus taking down 3 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists, SF Chris Broussard finishing with 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists, C Kirk Reeves scoring 8, grabbing 8 rebounds, and getting 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, and PF Robert Bowie tossing in 8 points and hauling down 10 boards and getting 2 assists. We played our entire bench extensively and they contributed 38 points, 12 boards, and 11 assists. [8-5, 1-0, 1st place tie]

[PointGuard]

Jan. 12: Indiana Hoosiers (8-5, 1-0, 1st place tie) @ Davidson Wildcats (7-5, 0-1, 9th place tie)

Ken Yamoto: Road games are tough and this was now exception to that. We exchanged the lead 10 times with Davidson in the first 9 minutes. We were able to achieve a 35-27 halftime advantage and expanded our lead to 15 points 3 minutes into the 2nd half. But the Wildcats then scratched their way back. While we never gave up the lead, Davidson got close to us several times. But our defense kept them from getting past us and we pulled off a 65-56 road win by outshooting the Wildcats 47% to 37% and dominating the boards 34-22. C Kirk Reeves had 15 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals, C Marcus Wright scored 10 and blocked 2 shots, SF Chris Broussard hit for 9 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and got 2 steals, and PF Brian Valdez added 9 points. INJURY: Chris Broussard suffered a sprained wrist late in the game which is expected to hamper his play for about 10 days. [9-5, 2-0, 1st place tie]

[PointGuard]

Jan. 16: Indiana Hoosiers (9-5, 2-0, 1st place tie) @ California Golden Bears (8-5, 1-1, 4th place tie)

Ramon Montez: There was never more than a 4 point difference in the score throughout the entire first half and Cal held a 35-34 lead at the break. The war continued during the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half. By that point their had been 13 lead changes. We then went on a run though that put us ahead by 13 points. We never let the Bears get closer than 7 points from then on and won 76-64. We won this one with solid D. SG Wayne Rush—2 pts, 3 reb; SF Chris Broussard—12 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk; C Kirk Reeves—11 pts, 8 reb, 2 blk; PF Brian Valdez—9 pts, 2 stl; PF Robert Bowie—8 pts, 3 reb, 2 blk. MAJOR INJURY: C Marcus Wright broke his arm and will be out of commission for a month-and-a half. [10-5, 3-0, 1st place]

[PointGuard]

Jan. 19: Indiana Hoosiers (10-5, 3-0, 1st place) @ Tennessee Volunteers (11-4, 2-1, 2nd place tie)

Terry Morillo: We need to win to stay alone in first place in the standings. Tennessee is a very good defensive team (opponents averaging just 59.7 ppg). 3 of their 4 losses have been to teams in the top 10 in the polls. PF Marcus Walker is averaging 14.5 ppg and 7.9 rpg. Their 2 starting guards (Adam Kosik and Calvin Williams) have combined to average a bit over 23 ppg. They primarily run a motion offense and a man-to-man defense. Here’s how the game went: The game was a barn-burner most of the way. The lead continually flip-flopped throughout the entire first half with neither team able to get more than a few points ahead. The Vols took a 48-44 halftime advantage. We changed our defensive approach during the break and it worked. We made it tough for Tennessee to score. Unfortunately our offense was slowed also so the teams continued to swap the lead. But Robert Bowie caught fire in the final 6 minutes and we clamped down even more tightly defending Tennessee. That allowed us to pull away enough to record a 79-71 victory. We held Walker to just 7 points and 2 rebounds. SG Wayne Rush—13 pts, 2 ast, 2 stl; PF Robert Bowie—13 pts, 5 reb; PF Lonnie Morrison—9 pts; PG Jonte Edwards—8 pts, 2 ast. [11-5, 4-0, 1st place]

[PointGuard]

Jan. 23: Richmond Spiders (11-4, 3-1, 2nd place tie) @ Indiana Hoosiers (11-5, 4-0, 1st place)

Ron Montez: Richmond’s good, but tonight we were much better. We grabbed the lead right away and ran away from the Spiders to post a 44-24 lead at the end of the half. Richmond was simply unable to solve our defense. We continued our dominance in the 2nd half and led by 31 points at the midpoint of the half. We endured a 3 minute long offensive power shutdown at that point but Richmond could never cut much into our lead and we squashed the Spiders 78-54 by outshooting them 49% to 30%. Other than Brian Valdez who played brilliantly coming in off the bench, the rest of our subs were uncharacteristically unproductive in this game. But our starters totally outplayed Richmond’s starting 5 and the Spiders’ subs weren’t a factor. Now all Conference E teams, other than #12 ranked Wisconsin (which sports a 4-1 conference record) are 2 or more games behind us in the standings. PF Brian Valdez—15 pts, 8 reb, 4 blk; SG Wayne Rush—14 pts, 2 ast; PG Jonte Edwards—12 pts, 3 ast, 2 stl; SF Chris Broussard—11 pts, 7 reb, 6 ast; PF Robert Bowie—10 pts, 6 reb, 2 blk; C Kirk Reeves—8 pts, 12 reb, 2 ast. [12-5, 5-0, 1st place]

[PointGuard]

Jan. 26: Indiana Hoosiers (12-5, 5-0, 1st place) @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (13-5, 3-2, 3rd place tie)

Terry Morillo: This game was rated as a toss up. While we kept the game close, the Yellow Jackets held the lead throughout most all of the 1st half which ended with Georgia Tech ahead 35-32. We kept on their tale for 12 minutes in the 2nd half, but then let them gradually pull away to knock us off by a final score of 78-63. Tech’s defense kept us from getting clear shots off and we hit just 37% of our FG’s and 21% of our 3’s. Georgia Tech’s SG Brian Shilling scored 13 points which was below his average, but he pulled down 8 rebounds and had 3 assists and 2 steals. C Kirk Reeves—10 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl; PF Brian Valdez—10 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl; PF Lonnie Morrison—10 pts; SG Wayne Rush—9 pts; SF Chris Broussard—8 pts, 5 reb. [12-6, 5-1, 1st place tie]

[PointGuard]

Jan. 30: Florida State Seminoles (10-7, 3-3, 7th place tie) @ Indiana Hoosiers (12-6, 5-1, 1st place tie)

Ken Yamoto: While there were just 4 ties in the first 15 minutes, neither team could attain any true advantage. But we were able to gain and hold a lead in the final 5 minutes of the half which ended with us on top 47-39. Even though we were ahead by double figures almost the entire 2nd half, I wasn’t happy with our D which was much too loose. We hit 64% of our FG’s and that should have allowed us to win by a greater margin than 88-77 which was the final score. PF Robert Bowie—15 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast; SG Wayne Rush—15 pts, 2 ast; PF Lonnie Morrison—13 pts, 8 reb; C Kirk Reeves—12 pts, 7 reb, 2 stl; SF Chris Broussard—8 pts, 3 ast, 2 stl; PF Brian Valdez—8 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk. [13-6, 6-1, 1st place]