by Kent Sterling This was an ugly if ultimately rewarding game for Indiana as they began the second six-game stretch of the Big Ten season. For Illinois, it was ugly and not rewarding, and signaled tap city, as Al McGuire used to say. The Hoosiers outscored the Illini 13-5 from the foul line, out rebounded […]
by Kent Sterling Indiana fancies itself as the state where basketball is king. NBA rosters feature a disproportionate number of men who grew up playing the game in Indiana, and only one time since 1980 have all college programs eligible to participate in the NCAA Tournament been shut out. 2014 might be the second, unless […]
by Kent Sterling The lead of Zach Osterman’s Indianapolis Star piece on Indiana’s road loss last night to Michigan State Spartans reads, “Indiana should leave the Breslin Center happy with its performance, even in a loss, to No. 3 Michigan State.” Has Indiana fallen so far that losses to a good team that played poorly […]
by Kent Sterling Indiana beats #3 Wisconsin, loses to heralded bottom feeding Northwestern, and then rises up to take the #3 ranked Michigan State Spartans to the wire in East Lansing. Will the real Hoo-Hoosiers please stand up, please stand up! The lead for Indiana got as high as five points at 46-41 with a […]
by Kent Sterling Not sure I’ve ever seen an Indiana team this capable of playing really well and really poorly within a four-day period. The Hoosiers weren’t perfect against #3 Wisconsin last Tuesday. The result of that game had as much to do with Wisconsin looking a step slow as it did the Hoosiers playing […]
by Kent Sterling Mary Willingham is a polarizing person in the college athletics world. Her research shows 60% of the University of North Carolina football and men’s basketball players with whom she worked as an academic advisor read and write at anywhere from a 4th to 8th grade level, and 10% don’t fare quite that well. […]
by Bert Beiswanger This may be a little belated, so forgive me. But I’m going to address it anyway. I was at the Pacers game Tuesday night with a friend and we were following the Indiana-Wisconsin game on ESPN Gamecast. When it appeared IU was going to win, I said to my friend, “They better […]
by Kent Sterling The fuss is perplexing to me. The just course is so clear. The debate is silly. The American way is to reward those who provide value. Coaches get paid more and more money. Nick Saban makes more than $7 million for coaching football at Alabama. That’s a lot of cash for a […]
by Kent Sterling Indiana beat #3 Wisconsin last night 75-72 in a game very few thought would be competitive. The Hoosiers last beat the Badgers almost seven years ago, and this might be Bo Ryan’s best group yet. Wisconsin played a half-step slow, and defended with uncharacteristic indifference, but a win over the #3 team in […]
by Kent Sterling Indiana played a solid fundamental game and beat the #3 team in the country by three. Nice win. Good job. Stanford Robinson looked like a guy who can both get to the rim and defend a little bit. Austin Etherington played tough smart basketball. Yogi Ferrell and Noah Vonleh did what they […]
