11/11/2021 basketball Edit

Know Your Opponent: Northern Illinois

Trevor Gersmehl • TheHoosier

Staff Writer

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Indiana looks to build off of their first win of the season by going 2-0, but they'll have to go through a veteran Northern Illinois team to do so.

Northern Illinois finished last season with just a 3-16 record, but the tides are already turning. Newly hired head coach Rashon Burno already has the Huskies at 1-0 after the team beat Washington 71-64 earlier this week. Having already knocked off a power-five school, Northern Illinois is confident and could pose a challenge for the Hoosiers.

A huge reason for their big win on the road at Washington was senior guard Trendon Hankerson. Hankerson had 28 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 steals to carry his team to the upset. He averaged 13.9 points last season and must be a focal point for the Hoosiers defensively. Hankerson is a very ball-dominant guard who can create off of the dribble and also uses screens to his advantage while both on and if he's off of the ball.

Middle Tennessee State transfer Anthony Crump will also be a player the Hoosiers will need to scout effectively. Crump had 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists against Washington. He does a little bit of everything to help a team win and plays very much like a point-forward -- standing at 6-foot-8. The lefty isn't much of a threat from the perimeter, but he is very good making plays for his teammates.

Many of Northern Illinois' players are transfers or returning players who haven't played many college minutes and are looking for success for the first time. Keshawn Williams and Kaleb Thornton are two such players who could make an impact against Indiana. Both are backcourt players who can get streaky from deep.

Northern Illinois' big man situation will be something to monitor this game. Senior big man Adong Makuoi started the game but only played 10 minutes the entire game. Makuoi has decent size at 6-foot-9- but the second-tallest player on the roster is Crump, who plays more like a guard.

If Makoi doesn't play much again, the Huskies' best shot at stopping Trayce Jackson-Davis would be a combination of Crump and 6-foot-7 Chinedu Kingsley Okanu. Okanu had four blocks in the season opener for NIU. This lack of size may make it hard to stop the preseason All-American in the paint.

Eastern Michigan Projected Starters:

G - Trendon Hankerson (Sr; 6-2; 185)

Season Stats: 28.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 3.0 spg

G - Keshawn Williams (So; 6-3; 175)

Season Stats: 6.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg

G - Darweshi Hunter (Jr; 6-5; 200)

Season Stats: 3.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg

G - Anthony Crump (Sr; 6-8; 210)

Season Stats: 11.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 6.0 apg

F - Adong Makuoi (Sr; 6-9; 220)

Season Stats: 3.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg 2.0 bpg

Things To Watch For Indiana:

Can Indiana have more success shooting the basketball? They got some good looks against Eastern Michigan but just didn't knock them down. That allowed EMU to hang around and eventually give the Hoosiers quite the scare as time dwindled down.

The Hoosiers made four of their 24 attempts from three Tuesday. Xavier Johnson said after the game that they had shot the same exact number in their final scrimmage before the season. They will need to hit more of those looks to extend the lead and bury Northern Illinois.

They played excellent defense the majority of the game, but it is hard to hold a division I team down the entire game. Can the Hoosiers keep the same level of defensive intensity while contributing more on offense, or do their efforts need to be more evenly distributed?

Game Information:

Who: Indiana (1-0) vs. Northern Illinois (1-0)

When: Friday, Nov. 12th, 7 p.m. ET

Where Bloomington, IN

TV: BTN +

Radio: IU Radio Network with Don Fischer, Errek Suhr and Joe Smith

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QUICK HITTERS

• Indiana is 75-12 all-time against the MAC.

• Trayce Jackson-Davis is coming off the 10th game of his career that scoring at least 20 points and grabbing at least 10 rebounds.

• Northern Illinois head coach Rashon Burno spent 6 seasons as an assistant at Arizona State before coming to NIU.

• Northern Illinois shot 52% from three to beat Washington but only hit 43.8% of twos