Indiana basketball, winners of five straight, hit the road once again on Saturday night for a clash with Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 8:00 p.m. ET.
The Hoosiers (13-3 overall, 4-1 in Big Ten play) enter the weekend matchup having won three consecutive Big Ten games, including most recently taking down USC at Assembly Hall. The Hawkeyes (11-4 overall, 2-2 in Big Ten play) are fresh off a wild overtime victory at home over Nebraska earlier in the week.
Ahead of Saturday night's tip-off, preview the battle between Indiana and Iowa.
HEAD COACH PROFILE
Head Coach: Fran McCaffery
Record: 542-372 in 29th year overall, 291-195 in 15th year at Iowa.
Fran McCaffery has been in the game for a long time. Prior to last season, where Iowa participated in the NIT, McCaffery had led his Hawkeyes to the NCAA Tournament in seven of the last eight tournaments, including four straight appearances in the Big Dance.
His coaching career began back in 1983 at Penn, where McCaffery was an assistant coach. He spent just one season there, quickly moving on to become an assistant coach at Lehigh. Spending two seasons as an assistant, McCaffery was named the Mountain Hawks' head coach in 1985.
The next stop for McCaffery was in South Bend at Notre Dame. He was with the Fighting Irish from 1988-99. After his time at Notre Dame, McCaffery was named the head coach at UNC Greensboro, where he stayed until 2005.
Then, the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native moved onto Siena. McCaffery stayed with the Saints from 2005-10 before becoming the head coach at Iowa.
THIS SEASON
Iowa began the season by hosting the Kenny Arnold Classic in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes won all three games by double-digits, en route to a 5-0 start to the season—including a 10-point win over Washington State.
Iowa's first loss of the season came at a neutral site against Utah State. The Hawkeyes responded with back-to-back wins, including a home victory over Northwestern.
Next up, Iowa lost on the road to Michigan and at home against rival Iowa State. The Hawkeyes lost both of those game, against two teams that are currently ranked, by two points and nine points respectively.
Since those two losses, Iowa has won four of its last five, with the Hawkeyes' lone loss during that stretch coming on the road against Wisconsin by 21 points. Last time out, Iowa took down Nebraska 98-87 in overtime.
On the season, Iowa is averaging 89.9 points per game, while shooting 50.7% from the field and 39.1% from 3-point range—the 16th-best mark in the country. The Hawkeyes have been out-rebounded this season by an average of 5.0 rebounds a game and are averaging 19.9 assists a game to just 10.3 turnovers a night.
Defensively, the Hawkeyes are allowing 77.8 points a contest. Iowa's opponents are shooting 46.4% from the floor and 32.4% from beyond the arc so far this season. Iowa forces 15.5 turnovers a game.
Heading into Saturday night's affair, Iowa currently ranks 51st in Kenpom—two spots behind Indiana. Per Kenpom, the Hawkeyes boast the 20th-ranked offense and the 124th-ranked defense in the country. In the NET rankings, Iowa ranks 52nd—four spots ahead of Indiana.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
- Guard Peyton Sandfort: Sandfort came into the season has one of the top projected players in the Big Ten. Despite not having the season many around the Hawkeyes would've hoped, Sandfort is still averaging 16.5 points per game on 40.3% shooting from the field and 34.5% from 3-point range. He's added 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game as well. Sandfort dropped 30 points—which tied his career-high—in Iowa's most recent win over Nebraska. Sandfort has made multiple 3-pointers in all but three games this season.
- Forward Owen Freeman: After sharing Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors last season with Indiana's Mackenzie Mgbako, Freeman is averaging a team-best 16.7 points per game on the season, while shooting 63.2% from the field—which ranks third in the Big Ten and 12th nationally. Freeman is averaging 6.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game this year. The Moline, Illinois native has scored in double-figures in all 13 games he's appeared in this season.
- Guard Josh Dix: Iowa's third-leading scorer, Dix is averaging 14.8 points a night. He's shooting 56.4% from the field and a prolific 45.5% from downtown. Dix is also averaging 3.6 rebounds a game and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.2 on the season. In Iowa's win over Nebraska, Dix scored a team-high 31 points on seven made 3-pointers. He became the first major conference player to finish with at least 31 points, six rebounds, seven assists, four steals and a block since LSU's Ben Simmons on Dec. 2, 2015.
STORYLINES TO WATCH
Oumar Ballo has been dominant as of late, can he keep it going...
In Indiana’s three consecutive wins in the Big Ten win, Ballo is averaging 21.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. He's also shooting 64.1% from the field. Ballo recorded back-to-back double-doubles against Rutgers and Penn State and earlier this week against USC, Ballo dropped 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting, while grabbing eight rebounds and swatting two shots. Going up against another one of the Big Ten's most talented big men, Ballo will have to once again be up to the task against Owen Freeman and the Hawkeyes.
The battle between last season's Co-Big Ten Freshmen of the Year...
Mackenzie Mgbako and Owen Freeman shared Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors last season. This season, Mgbako is averaging 13.2 points per game on 46.6% shooting from the floor and 39.4% from 3-point range. Meanwhile, Freeman is averaging a team-leading 16.7 points on 63.2% shooting from the field. While they play different positions and won't be matched up against each, whichever former Big Ten Freshman of the Year can show they've made the biggest jump as sophomores may just give his team the push they need to win on Saturday night.
QUICK HITTERS
Who: (RV) Indiana (13-3, 4-1) at Iowa (11-4, 2-2)
Series History: Indiana leads all-time series 107-82. (Last Meeting: Indiana won 74-68 on Jan. 30, 2024 in Bloomington, Indiana)
When: Jan. 11, 2025 at 8:00 p.m. ET
Where: Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa
TV: FOX: Cory Provus (play-by-play), LaPhonso Ellis (analyst)
Radio: IU Radio Network: Don Fischer (Play-by-Play), Errek Suhr (Analyst), John Herrick
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