That's all from Assembly Hall where Indiana beats McNeese State by 45. I'm Josh Eastern, saying thanks for following along. Stay tuned to VAVEL for postgame coverage of this game. Good night everyone!
McNeese State had 3 players in double figures led by Tevin Jackson
The Hoosiers finsihed with 5 in double figures led by Blackmon Jr. with 24
FINAL: Indiana 105, McNeese State 60
2nd (:18): Taylor for 2 for IU
2nd (47.4): Anunoby misses the last FT
2nd (47.4): Anunoby misses the first FT after being fouled, but a lane violation will give him another which he makes
2nd (1:12): Priller makes the first and the second!
2nd (1): Priller fouled and will shoot 1-and-1
2nd (2): Zeisloft fouled and will shoot 1-and-1. He misses the front end
2nd (2:59): Greenwood was fouled. He misses both FTs
IU has eclipsed the century mark. 100-60 IU
2nd (3): Zeisloft nails a 3 for IU
5 Hoosiers in double figures led by Blackmon Jr. with 24
With 3:53 to play, Indiana leads McNeese State, 97-60
2nd (3): Ball out of bounds and that brings us to a timeout
2nd (4): Ferrell with a 2-point jumper for IU
2nd (4:38): McFerrin makes his first and his second
2nd (4): Bryant commits his 4th foul and McFerrin will shoot 2
2nd (4): Williams with a nice take for 2
2nd (5): Bryant with a tough layup inside for 2
2nd (5:52): Jackson makes both FTs
2nd (5): Jackson with the steal and then is fouled by Anunoby. He'll shoot 2
2nd (6): Bryant with a nice follow and slams it home for 2
2nd (7): Bryant for 2 for IU
Blackmon Jr. continues to lead all scorers with 24 for Indiana
With 7:45 to go in the game, Indiana leads McNeese State, 87-56
2nd (7): Ball out of bounds to IU and that brings us to a timeout
2nd (8:26): Moss makes both FTs
2nd (8): Foul on Johnson for IU. Moss will shoot 2
2nd (8): Juwan Morgan for 2 for IU
2nd (9:11): Harvey makes both this time
2nd (9:11): Harvey makes the first and misses the second, but Harvey is fouled again on the rebound
2nd (9): Harvey is fouled and will shoot 1-and-1
2nd (9:28): Bryant makes both. 85-51 IU
2nd (9): McFerrin fouls Bryant. He'll shoot 2
2nd (9): McFerrin for 2 for MS
2nd (9): Ferrell for 3 for IU
2nd (10): Bielfeldt for 2 for IU
2nd (10:35): Ugochukwu makes both FTs
2nd (10): Ugochukwu fouled and will shoot FTs
2nd (11): Ferrell with a nice contested lay in
With 11:17 to go in the second half, Indiana leads McNeese State, 76-47
2nd (11): Ball out of bounds and that brings us to another media timeout
2nd (11): Anunoby for 2 for IU
2nd (12): After a few offensive rebounds for IU, Bryant commits an offensive foul. MS ball. 74-47 IU
2nd (12): Blackmon Jr. with another 3 for IU
2nd (13): Easy lay in for Jackson for 2
2nd (13): Burr for 2 on the fastbreak lay up
2nd (14): Blackmon Jr. for 3 for IU
With 14:36 to go in the second half, Indiana leads McNeese State, 68-43
2nd (14): Indiana calls a timeout
2nd (14): Potier for 3 for MS
2nd (15): Bielfeldt with a nice post move for 2
2nd (15): Blackmon Jr. for 2
2nd (15:59): Burr shooting 2. He misses the first and makes the second
Three Hoosiers now in double figures: Blackmon Jr. w/ 16, Williams w/ 11, and Bryant with 10
With 15:59 to go in the second half, Indiana leads McNeese State, 64-39
2nd (16): Ball goes out of play and that brings us to a media timeout
2nd (16): Williams for 3 for IU
2nd (16): McFerrin goes coast to coast and finishes with a jumper for 2
2nd (17): Burr lays it in for MS
2nd (17): Another empty possession for MS as Potier throws up an airball
2nd (18:22): Bryant completes the 3-point play
2nd (18): Good interior passing and Bryant lays it in and is fouled as well
2nd (18): Bryant with an easy flush for IU
2nd (19): Greenwood for 3 for MS
2nd (19): Blackmon Jr. for 3
2nd (19:22): Burr makes the first and the second
2nd (19): Bryant fouls Burr after a few offensive rebounds
We're ready to go for the second half here at Assembly Hall. MS will start with ball
No Cowboy is in double figures as Jackson has 9 points for McNeese State
Blackmon Jr. leads IU in points at the half with 13 while Williams has 8
I'm Josh Eastern and I'll be back in about 15 minutes for the second half
HALFTIME: Indiana 53, McNeese State 31
1st (:2): Williams with an acrobatic 2 to end the half for IU
1st (34.1): Burr makes the first and the second. Those are the first FTs by MS tonight
1st (34.1): Burr drives and is fouled. He'll shoot 2
1st (1): Jackson for 2 for MS
1st (1): McFerrin with an easy 2, and then Bielfeldt lays it in for IU
1st (1:43): Johnson makes the first and misses the second
1st (1): Johnson fouled by Potier. He'll shoot 2
1st (1): Burr for 3 for MS
1st (2): 2 offensive rebounds for IU before Johnson nails a 3
Blackmon Jr. with 13 for IU while Ferrell, Hartman, Bielfeldt and Bryant all have 5 points a piece
With 3:24 to go in the first half, Indiana leads McNeese State, 45-22
1st (3): Ball out of play to IU and that brings us to another media timeout
1st (4): Robert Johnson for 3 for IU
1st (4): Offensive foul on Burr. IU ball
1st (4): Greenwood for 2 followed by a 3 for Zeisloft
1st (5): Williams with a nice slam for 2
1st (5): McFerrin for 2 for MS
1st (5): Shot clock violation by IU. Hoosiers currently on a 7-0 run in the last 2:22
1st (7): Blackmon Jr. puts it back for 2
1st (7:30): Ferrell makes the front end and the second one as well
1st (7): Foul charged to Harvey of MS and Ferrell will shoot 1 and 1
Blackmon Jr. leads all scorers with 11 points
With 6:57 to play in the first half, Indiana leads McNeese State, 33-18
1st (7): Ball goes out of bounds and that brings us to a media timeout
1st (7): Blackmon Jr. for 3 for IU
1st (8): Jackson for 3 for MS
1st (8:59): Blackmon Jr. completes the 3-point play
1st (9): Blackmon with the steal on one end and then the layup plus the foul on the other end. He'll shoot one
1st (9): McFerrin for 2 for MS
1st (9): IU has extended their lead out to 27-13 with 9:46 left in the first half
1st (9): Hartman goes flying into the stands deflecting the ball out
1st (10): Blackmon Jr. for 3 for IU
1st (10): Nice post move by Hartman for 2
1st (10): Nice drive by Jackson for 2 for MS
1st (10:54): Bielfeldt completes the 3-point play
1st (10): Bielfeldt with an and-1 for IU
1st (11): Turnover for MS as Johnson is standing out of bounds
Indiana has hit 2 straight 3's to extend their lead to 8. Thomas Bryant leads with 5 points thus far
With 11:35 to go in the first half, Indiana leads McNeese State, 19-11
1st (11): Hartman for 3 and MS calls a 30-second timeout. 19-11 IU
1st (12): Ferrell with a transition 3 for IU
1st (12): Bielfeldt muscles it up for 2
1st (12): Potier for 3 for MS
1st (13): Ferrell fouled with 2 on the shot clock. Foul on Johnson for MS
1st (14): Ugochukwu for 2
1st (14): Offensive foul on Ugochukwu. IU ball
1st (15): Bryant for an easy 2 for IU
1st (15): Ugochukwu for 2 followed by Williams for 2
With 15:42 to go in the first half, Indiana leads McNeese State, 7-4
1st (16): Foul on the floor brings us to the first media timeout
1st (16): Blackmon Jr. for 2 for IU
1st (17): Williams with a HUGE put back dunk for IU
1st (18): Williams with a HUGE block of McFerrin after getting stripped on the other end
1st (18): Jackson for 2 for MS
1st (19): Bryant with a nice offensive rebound and the put back
1st (19): Burr with a floater to open the scoring for MS
1st (19:37): Bryant makes the first, misses the second
1st (19): Bryant fouled from behind going up. McFerrin charged with the foul
1st (20): IU wins the tip and we're off
Here we go! Players taking the court. MS in all yellow, IU in all white
Lineups being announced. Tipoff is just around the corner
McNeese State starters: Jamaya Burr, Jarren Greenwood, Craig McFerrin, Tevin Jackson, Lance Portier
Indiana starters: James Blackmon Jr., Troy Williams, Robert Johnson, Thomas Bryant, Yogi Ferrell
For time and typing sake, Indiana will be referred to as IU while McNeese State will be MS
Coach Tom Crean said on his pregame show he is staying with the three-guard lineup of Ferrell, Johnson, and Blackmon Jr. along with Williams and Bryant. Will pass along the official starting five's when they become available
Hello everyone, I'm Josh Eastern checking in LIVE from Assembly Hall where we are about 45 minutes until tipoff between the Hoosiers and the Cowboys
Indiana has had a few games to rally the troops and get back on track and they have done just that. With just three games, including this game, before Big Ten play starts, it’s time to get things going in the right direction.
“Our aggressive mindset was on both ends; that's really how it has to be,” Crean said following Wednesday’s game against IPFW. “When you're not as aggressive on defense, it's going to carry back over to your offense, right? If you're in a settle mode, you're not going as hard and as tough as you can on the offensive end, you're not going to be as aggressive on defense. You're doing both constantly inside of the game. It's not football.”
This Indiana team can score and score a lot. The Hoosiers are averaging 87.4 points per game and are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country, as they shoot 43.5 percent from downtown and average 10 threes per game. Their biggest issues have come through turnovers and defense. The defensive performance in the last two games has looked much better, but that is against lesser opponents.
Indiana coach Tom Crean isn’t married to a starting lineup and has mixed it up a few times to try to find the best lineup. It could have been assumed that Bryant, Ferrell, Blackmon Jr., and Williams would be in there almost every night, but with the recent struggles, that can no longer be assumed. The other guys in contention for the starting lineup and the role players on this team are Max Bielfeldt, Robert Johnson, and Collin Hartman. All three of these guys have rotated into the starting lineup with Johnson has been getting the nod a little more frequently as of late with Indiana going with a four guard lineup.
Their main man is 6-0 junior guard Jamaya Burr who leads the team in points with 13.9 points per game. This team, however, is averaging 29.0 points per game off of the bench including 40 bench points in Wednesday’s loss.
According to KenPom, the Cowboys have the 13th toughest schedule in Division One and it has shown as they have played teams like LSU and Oklahoma along with this game against Indiana plus a trip to UCLA on the 22nd.
As for McNeese State, they come in ranked 313 in the KenPom rankings as of Dec. 11. The Cowboys have had a rough time of it thus far this season with their only win coming on November 25 over Dillard University, a game in which they won by just one.
The Hoosiers return four starters from a season ago and are led by senior point guard Yogi Ferrell. He has started every game he has played in and this season, Ferrell is having a great season. Thus far he has averaged 17.3 points per game including a 38-point performance against IPFW. Another key contributor is Troy Williams as he can get it done in so many different ways. Against IPFW, Williams collected 19 rebounds. Freshman Thomas Bryant is also another key component to this team as he provides much needed size at 6-10. A big key for the Hoosiers is protecting the rim and Bryant still has a lot of work to do in that department.
This is the first meeting between these two schools, but coach Simmons faced Indiana in the 1985-86 season while he was an assistant at Louisiana Tech. Simmons’ side dropped that game to the Hoosiers, 84-63.
The Cowboys are coached by Dave Simmons who is currently in his tenth season at the helm of the program. Simmons is one of the longest tenured coaches in McNeese State history even though he has a losing record overall of 128-157.
The Hoosiers are coached by Tom Crean who comes into his eighth year at the helm of the program. Since taking over in 2008, he has rebuilt Indiana basketball and has put them in contention to compete year in and year out. In the past four-plus years, coach Crean has a record of 100-48 and since 2011 they have averaged 23 wins.
McNeese State of the Southland Conference come into Saturday night’s matchup in Bloomington coming off of a 97-64 loss at the hands of UL-Lafayette on Wednesday and come into this matchup with a 1-6 record overall.
Indiana of the Big Ten comes into this game following two straight home wins against Morehead State and IPFW on Saturday and Wednesday respectively. The Hoosiers cleaned some things up on defense and ended up running both teams out the gym in two big wins.
Welcome to VAVEL College Basketball’s LIVE coverage of the McNeese State Cowboys vs. Indiana Hoosiers. I’m Josh Eastern and I’ll be providing play-by-play updates, commentary, and results of the game. The game starts at 6:30 PM EST at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, IN. VAVEL USA will be providing coverage pre-game, during the game, and post-game.