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Indiana Basketball: NIT First Round Preview against St. Francis (PA)

By Jonathan Rothschild

BLOOMINGTON, IN - MARCH 02: Justin Smith #3 of the Indiana Hoosiers and Devonte Green #11 of the Indiana Hoosiers congratulate near the end of the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Assembly Hall on March 2, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN - MARCH 02: Justin Smith #3 of the Indiana Hoosiers and Devonte Green #11 of the Indiana Hoosiers congratulate near the end of the game against the Michigan State Spartans at Assembly Hall on March 2, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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The Hoosiers were one of the last four teams out of the NCAA tournament and are subsequently a No.1 seed in the NIT.

Indiana didn’t get the result they wanted to on Selection Sunday, and in turn get ready for another postseason in the NIT.

The Hoosiers will play host in all of the games leading into the Final Four, which will take place in Madison Square Garden, if they were to make it that far.

Turning their attention to their first round matchup, St. Francis comes into Bloomington with a NET ranking of 261.

The Red Flash played a plethora of quality teams this season but with little success. They lost by 15 to Buffalo, 37 to UCLA, 25 to North Carolina, and 38 to Virginia Tech in a game that they scored just 37 points.

Despite losing big to ranked opponents, they won the regular season Northeast Conference title, coming one game short of winning the Northeast Conference Tournament in a game they lost to Fairleigh Dickinson by nine.

Indiana is coming off a four game winning streak followed by the tough four point loss to Ohio State in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament in what was essentially a play-in game for the NCAA’s.

The Hoosiers are looking for another big game from junior Devonte Green who is coming off a career high 26 points on 8-of-10 shooting from behind the arc.

It can be senior Juwan Morgan and freshman guard Romeo Langford’s last game at Assembly Hall with a loss.

One player that the Hoosiers have to watch on defense is St. Francis’ Keith Braxton. He leads the Red Flash with a team high 16.2 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game.

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What you need to know

What?  No.8 St. Francis (PA.) 18-14 Vs  No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers 17-15
When? Tuesday, March 19 – 7:00  pm EST
Where? Assembly Hall, Bloomington IN
TV? ESPN
Radio? Indiana Radio Network; Sirius XM 84
Prediction? Indiana 90, St. Francis 69

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