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Indiana vs Northwestern: What to expect

By Dylan Broady

BLOOMINGTON, IN - NOVEMBER 20: Romeo Langford #0 of the Indiana Hoosiers shoots the ball against the UT Arlington Mavericks at Assembly Hall on November 20, 2018 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN - NOVEMBER 20: Romeo Langford #0 of the Indiana Hoosiers shoots the ball against the UT Arlington Mavericks at Assembly Hall on November 20, 2018 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Heading into Indiana’s first Big Ten matchup. Here are a few things we can expect from this game.

What should we expect from IU? 

The Indiana Hoosiers currently sit at a healthy 5-2 record heading into the Big Ten opener. We currently hold a 5-0 record at the hall and 0-2 on the road. So what can we expect from our Hoosiers against Northwestern?

We play very well in front of Hoosier Nation. We can expect Langford and the boys to be pumped up and make a statement to the rest of the Big Ten that we are here to take over. Northwestern comes into this game at 6-1. They will want to grab a tough road win to start their 2018 Big Ten campaign. We should be ready for their best shot.

Indiana has won some good games at home already this season. The highlight home win so far is Marquette. The schedule has been pretty light this season for non conference games. Except for Duke and we all know how that turned out. We should still be optimistic for the season as a whole. We are young and inexperienced in big games. Which will improve as the season progresses.

Romeo Langford is averaging nearly 18 points per game this season. His season high is 22 points, which he has accomplished twice. Once at home against Marquette and on the road against Arkansas. We can expect Langford to come out swinging with those big shots early to get the Hoosiers off to a hot start.

What should we expect from Northwestern? 

While they have had some good wins against Utah and Georgia Tech, this team isn’t in the same category as IU talent wise. We should expect them to come out and play hard nonetheless. We will see how Vic Law and Ryan Taylor lead Northwestern against a talented IU team. While they have good wins, IU will be their toughest test so far this season.

These two players can ball out and have helped Northwestern to some good wins. IU will need to stop these two scoring machines if they want to come away with a big home win on Saturday. We can expect both players to come out and try to set the tone early for their team. They both can hit big shots and go on scoring runs.

Prediction

IU will play tough hard nosed Big Ten defense. We will come away with a big victory by a double digit margin Saturday afternoon. They will thump Northwestern and put the rest of the Big Ten on notice while doing so. IU is here to play this season. Things are looking up from a tough loss at Duke.

Score

IU: 78

NW: 65

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