The third-ranked Indiana Hoosiers host the #1 team in the country, the Michigan Wolverines in the premier college basketball game this week. The game starts at 9 pm EST on ESPN. The Hoosiers audio live stream is here (account required).
The Hoosiers have been behind the Wolverines in the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Polls since falling from the #1 rank in both after Week 5. Indiana held the top spot from the pre-season ranks through the fifth week before falling to Butler 88-86 in overtime to lose it. There were only two weeks that Indiana was out of the top five, each time moving up the next week to regain the claim. The lowest rank for the Hoosiers came just before their current third rank, as the only other loss this year, a 64-59 defeat to Wisconsin in mid-February, put them in seventh according to the AP and eighth for the coaches.
Indiana has won each of its last five games and has a chance to match its last winning streak. After the extra-time defeat against the Bulldogs, the Hoosiers won their next six games.
The Hoosiers enter Saturday's contest with the best offense in the country, averaging 84 points per game. As a team, they have hit exactly half of their shots this season, creating a fifth-best field goal percentage in the nation right at .500. Indiana has reached the century mark in points twice and has beaten 12 teams by at least 20 points this year.
Cody Zeller has team-high averages in points per game (16.1), rebounds per game (8.2) and blocks per game (1.3). Kevin Ferrell put up 4.5 assists per contest, good for the Hoosiers' lead.Victor Oladipo is the resident sharpshooter on the team, leading in shooting percentage (.655) and three-point shooting percentage (.529).
The last contest for the Hoosiers wasn't much of one; the 97-60 victory over Purdue wasn't close after the game's first ten minutes. Zeller notched a double-double with 19 points and 11 boards, and made all seven of his free throws. Will Sheehey added seven assists off the bench in only 18 minutes. Christian Watford and Ferrell each only missed one three-pointer.
In the last game between the teams, 22nd-ranked Michigan held off the 23rd-ranked Hoosiers 68-56 in February in Ann Arbor last season. Jordan Hulls had the team highs in points (18), assists (5) and three pointers made. (He was 4-for-5 from behind the arc.) In the other 2011-2012 match-up, Indiana topped the Wolverines 73-71 in Bloomington about a month before. Watford led the squad in points (25) and rebounds (7), while the team shot 63.6 percent in three-point shot attempts.