The Hoosiers take on Rutgers in Piscataway today in their tenth Big Ten game of the season.
Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET and will be aired on the Big Ten Network.
TheHoosier.com has gathered previews and predictions for the game below.
1. Avoiding another slow start -- The shot clock has been functional in all of the other games where Indiana has come out of the gates sluggish. Rutgers has the third-least efficient defense in Big Ten play, and it also doesn't do a great job of forcing league foes into mistakes ranking third-to-last in defensive turnover percentage. However, as the Northwestern game showed, advantages IU has on paper hasn't always translated over to live game action.
2. Getting Romeo Langford going -- He's not getting any shortage of opportunities - he's using a team-high 27.5 percent of possible possessions and taking 27.3 percent of possible shot attempts. Either he needs to take better advantage of the chances he gets, or IU has to put him in a better position to attack the basket and get into a rhythm.
3. Juwan Morgan avoiding foul trouble -- He showed he can do it against bigger players in last Saturday's loss to Michigan, but for the most part bigger centers have caused issues for Morgan and stressed Indiana's frontcourt depth. 7-foot, 265-pound Shaq Doorson won't make things easy around the rim or on the glass.
Junior Eugene Omoruyi is the team’s leading scorer at 13.9 points per game and also its leading rebounder at 7.2 per game. Omoruyi has been coming off the bench since returning from a knee injury, but has started 14 of the 16 games he’s appeared in this season.
He’s a 33.3 percent 3-point shooter this season, but is just 1-for-12 from distance in league play. Like most of the Rutgers roster, he’s not an efficient scoring threat. The Canada native is shooting just 44.3 percent from the field.
Geo Baker is the primary catalyst in the Rutgers backcourt following the departure of Corey Sanders. The 6-foot-4 sophomore is shooting 36.2 percent on 3s in league play, but just 32.9 percent on 2s. Still, Baker is a player capable of getting into a rhythm offensively if he gets confidence early. He’s coming off a 20-point effort at Penn State on 7-for-15 shooting.
Baker has been joined in the starting lineup in recent weeks by freshmen Martez Mathis and Ron Harper Jr.. Mathis, a native of Baltimore, is effective as a guy who can get into the lane and draw fouls. In Big Ten play, he has the league’s 14th highest free throw rate (FTA/FGA) at 48.2 percent. He’s shooting 68.3 percent from the line in conference play.
“We’re a different team from Rutgers in the past,” Baker said. “That’s the biggest thing — to show that the culture is changing. None of us came here to lose.”
Culture is the key word here. Indiana backers who might recoil at the thought of losing to Rutgers again should take a closer look. The Scarlet Knights play disciplined, cohesive defense. They hit the boards hard and fight for loose balls. They’re offensively challenged, for sure, but they’re learning how to close out tight games.
“Winning a game against Indiana at home would be a big step for us in the right direction,” Harper said. “We feel like we’re the underdog in every game we’re going to play the rest of the year. It gives you something extra in the tank. You play a lot harder when you want to prove people wrong and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
Predictions and Probabilities
TheHoosier.com Staff Predictions
Stu Jackson: Indiana 68, Rutgers 60
Jon Sauber: Indiana 72, Rutgers 66
KenPom
Indiana 66, Rutgers 64 (56 percent confidence)
Thrill Score: 57.9 (No. 4 among Wednesday's games)
ESPN
Indiana 58.8 percent
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