Georgetown Hoyas
Current record: 3-0
2011-12 record: 24-9 (12-6 Big East)
2011-12 RPI: 14 (IU was 11)
2012-13 Sagarin: 27 (IU is 6)
2012-13 Pomeroy: 37 (IU is 1)
Series: Tied 1-1 (Last Meeting: Dec. 11, 1979)
Head Coach: John Thompson III (255-124 overall, 187-82 in 9 years at Georgetown)
TV: 10:00, Tuesday, ESPN (Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale, Andy Katz)
Blog: Casual Hoya
After playing its first subpar game of the year in a 66-53 win over Georgia, top-ranked Indiana will face its toughest test of the young season when it battles Georgetown at 10 p.m. tonight in the championship game of the Progressive Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Hoyas knocked off No. 11 UCLA, 78-70, to punch their ticket to the finale.
Taking on lackluster Georgia on Monday, the Hoosiers (4-0) struggled in the first half. The Bulldogs (1-3) led Indiana 30-29 at the break as the Hoosiers hit just eight of their 25 shots (32 percent) in the first 20 minutes and coughed up the ball eight times.
Indiana emerged from the locker room with increased intensity, led by the ultra-aggressive Victor Oladipo, who lifted up the rest of the team with his assertiveness on both ends of the floor. In the first 6 minutes, 9 seconds of the second half, Oladipo scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting -- including a pair of dunks -- and pulled down five rebounds.
"We had a lot of energy sources tonight," Tom Crean told reporters after the game, according to iuhoosiers.com. "Vic, at the start of the second half, he was tremendous. He's one of the best defenders around, no question, but he doesn't get the credit for being a total basketball player. ... When he's flying up the court, he makes us a lot better."
The Hoosiers took the lead for good on two Remy Abell free throws with 13:44 to play. Jordan Hulls took it from there. With Indiana leading 42-40 with 10:21 left, Hulls scored or assisted on 18 of the team's next 20 points as the Hoosiers pulled away.
Hulls buried back-to-back 3-pointers to ignite a game-clinching 17-5 run. In all, Hulls netted 11 points during the spree -- capping the stretch with another 3-ball -- and Indiana finished off the Bulldogs for a 13-point win.
Hulls finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists while playing a turnover-free and team-high 31 minutes. On the year, Hulls has 18 assists and one turnover.
Oladipo added 15 points -- on 6-for-8 shooting -- and eight rebounds, scoring 11 of his 15 after the break. Christian Watford nailed a key second-half 3-pointer on his way to 14 points. Yogi Ferrell handed out five assists to one turnover. Abell had another solid outing, going 2 of 2 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free throw line for eight points. It was the third game this season in which Abell was perfect from the field, and he's hit 10 of his 12 shots on the year.
In what may have been his worst performance as a Hoosier, Cody Zeller finished with six points, four rebounds, two steals and two turnovers. Zeller looked clumsy, out of whack and uncharacteristically indecisive all night. He attempted just one shot in the second half and finished with four field goal attempts -- his fewest since he played Chattanooga a year ago in his second collegiate game.
Indiana dominated the boards, out-rebounding Georgia 40-24. All nine Hoosiers who stepped on the court pulled down at least one rebound, with eight of the nine players getting three or more. The Hoosiers are out-rebounding opponents by 16.7 boards per game.
Indiana held Georgia to .83 points per possession, but it was hard to tell if that was a credit to Indiana's defense or an indictment of Georgia's offense, which was plagued by horrid shot selection.
While it was an off-night for the Hoosiers, Georgetown looked sharp in its upset win over UCLA.
Coming in to the game, most of the attention was being given to the debut of Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA's talented freshman, but it was Georgetown forward Otto Porter Jr. who stole the show. In his first full game of the season (head injury), Porter made up for lost time, totaling 18 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, five blocks and three steals.
Georgetown Upsets UCLA (via ESPN)
"Otto's first full game and look at the stat sheet. That was a full game," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said, according to the Associated Press. "Then there was a lot of other stuff he did that doesn't show up on this piece of paper. It was good to have him back out there."
Guard Markel Starks poured in a team-high 23 points for the Hoyas, who hit 30 of their 55 shots (54 percent), including 7 of 14 from beyond the arc. Greg Whittington and Nate Lubick had 13 and 11 points, respectively.
For the season, the Hoyas boast an extremely balanced scoring attack. Whittington (13.0), Starks (11.7), Mikael Hopkins (10.7), Lubick (10.3) and D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera (10.0) score in double figures. (Smith-Rivera is a freshman from North Central High School in Indianapolis.) Porter is averaging 9.0 points per game, which is skewed because he only played six minutes in the season opener before leaving with an injury.
Georgetown -- who only had six players score against UCLA -- opened its year with victories over Duquesne (61-55) and Liberty (68-59). A season-opening contest with No. 10 Florida was cancelled.
This matchup will be an interesting clash of styles.
The Hoosiers want to run, and the Hoyas prefer to set up their Princeton-style offense. Georgetown basically goes seven-deep while Indiana's regular rotation features at least nine guys (maybe more if Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin are cleared before tonight's game). Indiana has been playing four guards -- Hulls, Oladipo, Abell and Ferrell -- a lot of minutes, and Georgetown has four starters who stand at 6-foot-8 or taller.
With this being each team's second game in as many nights, look for the Hoosiers to run, run and run some more in an attempt to impose their will on the thinner Hoyas.
After tonight's contest, Indiana hosts Ball State on Sunday before squaring off with No. 9 North Carolina a week from today (Nov. 27). The Cardinals are 2-0 this season while the Tar Heels are 4-0 heading in to tonight's 8 p.m. matchup with Butler in the Maui Classic.