Pregame Glance: IUPUI

After a long break, relatively speaking, the Buckeyes take on the Jaguars of IUPUI.  Clearly the Jaguars are more than a little confused – wouldn’t you be if you discovered you were simultaneously attending Indiana and Purdue  while in Indianapolis?  This would be akin to OSU and Michigan creating the Ohio State University and Michigan University in Toledo.  OSUMUT.  Crazy, right?

And what’s their mascot?  A Boilermaking Hoosier?  Oh, no, wait, it’s…

IUPUI coach Ron Hunter is quite a character. While only managing to get the Jaguars into the NCAA tournament once in his 16 years, he’s made a name for himself in other ways. Most obviously was a stunt in 2008 against Oakland University – a game in which he coached barefoot. His goal? To get 40,000 shoes donated to Samaritan’s Feet, an organization that donates shoes to people who can’t afford them.

Hunter got 200,000. In fact, he had 110,000 before the game even tipped off. It helps when ESPN picks up the story, eh?

As for the players, the Jaguars are essentially a three person cast with a large number of guest stars.  Their leader is Junior Forward Alex Young (6-6, 200), a prodigious scorer who averages above 17 points per game on 44% shooting from the floor.  Young also picks up 6 rebounds and 2 assists per game, making him one of the more versatile opponents the Buckeyes will have faced all season.  Young is IUPUI’s version of David Lighty, and the two will very likely be facing each other often during the game.

Joining Alex in the scorer’s circle is Senior Guard/Forward Leroy Nobles (6-5, 195).  Nobles scores just under 17 a game on 40% shooting.  He won’t light you up, but he can hit his shots if you leave him alone.  He’s also not big on shooting the three for a 2-man, with only 50% of his shots coming from that range.  In fact, for a smaller team, the Jaguars shoot surprisingly little from beyond the arc.  Definitely not a “live by the three, die by the three” style team.

The last big scoring threat for IUPUI is Junior Guard Stephen Thomas (6-1, 170).  Thomas averages in the double digits in scoring, but makes his mark by being particularly efficient, hitting 54.7% from the field.  Thomas doesn’t pick up many assists for a point guard but makes up for it by hitting the glass hard and securing more than 3 rebounds per game.

Given the numbers, you would expect that these three are prolific shooters and insane scoring threats.  What I have neglected to mention, though, is that all three average at least 32 minutes per game on the court.  And they’re not the only ones.  Senior Guard John Ashworth (6-3, 195) puts in similar time, but only nets 5 points and 2 assists for his time on the court.

This means that the Buckeyes should be able to wear out IUPUI by playing deeper on their bench and keeping the pace of the game as fast as possible.  We know Matta has both the capability and desire to do both of these things, so it will be up to the Jaguars to try to slow the Bucks down.  Don’t be surprised to see a lot of full court press  to try to negate the Buckeyes size and speed advantages.  At this point, they should be particularly adept at handling the pressure.

The last IUPUI starter will be the one who has to handle Sullinger all night.  Freshman Forward/Center Mitchell Patton (6-9, 245) will have his hands full all night long with the Buckeyes young big man.  Patton does not play long – only about 14 minutes per game – but does score 6 points for his time.  I expect Sullinger will be in for a fun night.

The game will be played in Value City Arena at 7:00 PM Eastern Time.  The Big Ten Network will be televising the action.

As is the current tradition, we’ll also be running a live blog during the event.  Whether you can see the game or not make certain to stop on by!