Indiana Basketball vs Princeton: Know your opponent, preview, and prediction
By Alec Lasley
The Indiana basketball Hoosiers are back again after a couple of days off and look to improve to 5-0 when they host the Princeton Tigers.
After cruising in Saturday’s game against the Troy Trojans, the Indiana basketball program returns to the floor for a tilt against the Princeton Tigers, who are looking for the first win of its season.
For Indiana, it is another game to sharpen its tools and continue to get better before December approaches, and getting healthier is something that will help that.
Devonte Green returned to action against Troy, his first game of the season after dealing with a hamstring injury, and while he didn’t force anything offensively, you can tell he already has a lot of confidence heading into his senior season.
The Hoosiers will have to deal with a very talented trio for the Tigers, however.
Princeton head coach Mitch Henderson is in his ninth season for the Tigers and is looking to take this team back to the NCAA Tournament, a place where they were just two seasons ago. Henderson relies heavily on three players in Richmond Aririguzoh, Jaelin Llewellyn, and Drew Friberg, all of whom play over 32 minutes per game.
Aririguzoh is the big body down low and a senior leader for the Tigers. Tied for the team lead in scoring (17.3 ppg), he is one of the most efficient players in Princeton history as he is coming off of a season in which he shot 69.3 percent, second-best for a single season in program history. At just 6-foot-9, he will be going up against a lot of size for the Hoosiers, in an interesting matchup that Princeton needs to get production out of in order to keep the game close.
While Arirguzoh may be the leader of the team, the most talented player is that of Jaelin Llewellyn. The sophomore guard was a four-star recruit coming out of high school and was the first freshman since 2007 to lead Princeton in assists last year. Stepping up in big games before, he put up 17 points in Madison Square Garden in his first career college game last year against St. Johns.
The third player that the Tigers rely on is that of Drew Friberg. The 6-foot-6 wing is a player that gives Princeton the ability to stretch the floor. At 40.9 percent shooting from deep, making five more threes than all but one Tigers player has attempted, Friberg is the lone option from three but a very good one at that.
With just eight players averaging over 10 minutes per game, the three players mentioned are the only three to play more than 23 minutes a game. Depth and size are the two main issues for Princeton and something that should become even more emphasized in Assembly Hall on Wednesday.
Key storylines
Indiana:
Indiana is clearly the better, stronger, deeper, and more athletic team, but will that cause them to ease off of the gas pedal to start the game? Devonte Green is now in game two, how will the offense look with him trying to get back in a rhythm? Will Rob Phinisee return to the lineup so we can get out first look at a healthy backcourt rotation? Trayce Jackson-Davis is fresh off of B1G Freshman of the Week honors, will his great play continue? Look for Hoosiers to come out strong on the defensive end.
Princeton:
The Tigers lack depth and size, two things that don’t bode well going up against Indiana. With just a 31.9 percent three-point rate as a team, at 23 attempts per game, will some of the shots start to fall? Don’t create a lot of easy looks for each other on the offensive end, something that could cause the Tigers to fall behind early with Indiana’s defensive ability and athleticism.
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Key Players
Indiana:
Al Durham (16.8 ppg, 52.9% 3pt), Justin Smith (16.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg), Trayce Jackson-Davis (14.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg), Rob Phinisee (11.3 ppg, 5.3 apg)
Princeton:
Richmond Aririguzoh (17.3 ppg, 7.7 rpg), Jaelin Llewellyn (17.3 ppg, 2.3 apg), Drew Friberg (13.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 40.9 % 3pt), Jose Morales (4.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg)