Two of the excellent brandnames in college basketball. A set of leading-15 groups. Las Vegas. Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery on the call.
What more might you ask for in a regular-season college hoops face-off?
That’s the phase for a much-anticipated match inbetween No. 10 Arizona and No. 14 Indiana, which will take location at 7: 30 p.m. ET Saturday inside MGM Grand Garden Arena. It’s a big-time videogame for the launching of FOX Primetime Hoops, a brand-new bundle of extremely expected Saturday night match included on FOX.
The Hoosiers were forecasted to surface veryfirst in the Big Ten preseason survey and have lived up to buzz throughout the veryfirst month of the season. Mike Woodson’s group is off to a strong 8-1 start with triumphes over North Carolina and Xavier. A match versus a leading-10 Arizona group offers Indiana a opportunity to program the nation they are the class of the Big Ten.
Meanwhile, Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona group is off to a strong start as well, earning wins over Cincinnati, San Diego State and Creighton to bring house the Maui Invitational champion. The Wildcats suffered a loss in their conference opener last week to Utah, which was a unexpected outcome. Will they react, or did the Utes expose something out of the Cats that Indiana can expose in this videogame?
Here are 3 things to watch in this match.
Elite frontcourt play
If you like huge guys fighting in the paint, this match is for you.
Arizona’s duo of 6-foot-11 Ąžuolas Tubelis and 7-footer Oumar Ballo are averaging a integrated 39.2 points and 17.6 rebounds per videogame. Lloyd plays them together, and that mix hasactually been tough for opposing groups to safeguard.
Meanwhile, Indiana has an All-American prospect in Trayce Jackson-Davis (17.5 points, 8.9 rebounds per videogame) and fifth-year senior Race Thompson (6.7 points, 5.0 rebounds per videogame). Jackson-Davis came back to Indiana after choosing inbetween a return to school and the NBA Draft, and the factor for his return is a videogame like this, and an chance to win a nationwide title. It will be intriguing to see what the Wildcats’ defensive videogame strategy is for TJD, who integrated for 51 points and 16 rebounds in wins over Xavier and North Carolina.
Can Arizona’s backcourt take care of the ball versus a hard Indiana defense?
This was the secret concern for the Wildcats last year, and it’s still one to watch this season.
Kerr Kriisa is the leader of this backcourt, however he has a brand-new cast of playmakers around him with Bennedict Mathurin and Dalen Terry both being chosen in the veryfirst round of the NBA Draft last June. Kriisa, a 6-foot-3 junior guard from Estonia, hasactually gotten off to a fantastic start to the project, balancing 7.8 helps to simply 2.5 turnovers per videogame.
The Wildcats hit the transfer website this offseason, including Texas guard Courtney Ramey, who has scored in double-figures in all 5 videogames he’s played in this season. Pelle Larsson, a 6-foot-5 junior from Sweden and the ruling Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year, hasactually been charged with taking on an increased function this year for the Wildcats. In the group’s only loss this season to Utah, the trio got shut down, integrating to go 5-for-27 from the field.
Arizona’s capability to take care of the ball and limitation turnovers will get evaluated on Saturday night as Indiana fifth-year senior Xavier Johnson will appearance to make things hard for the Wildcats’ backcourt. Since taking over the head training task at Indiana in 2021, Mike Woodson hasactually made defense a facial point for this program. The Hoosiers presently rank 11th in the nation in KenPom changed protective performance.
What’s the status of Jalen Hood-Schifino?
The first-class freshman hasactually missedouton Indiana’s last 2 videogames with a lower back injury, and Woodson has stated the 6-foot-6 guard is daily. The finest efficiency of his young profession came last week in the win over North Carolina when he had 14 points and 6 rebounds, making a set of triples in the procedure. He’s balanced over 28 minutes per videogame in 7 contests, showcasing his athleticism and capability to make plays for others.
Without Hood-Schifino on Wednesday night versus Nebraska, junior guard Trey Galloway got the start and went off for 20 points, striking 4 triples in the procedure. Tamar Bates, a secret reserve off the bench, hit 5 triples and put up 19 points in the win.
If Hood-Schifino is back, that’s a welcome sight for the Hoosiers. Regardless, the capability of Galloway and Bates to knock down threes is big for an IU group that can go through cold spells from beyond the arc.
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John Fanta is a nationwide college basketball broadcaster and author for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a range of capabilities, from calling videogames on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to offering commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
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