Indiana Basketball vs Northwestern: Know your opponent, preview, prediction
By Alec Lasley
The Indiana basketball program is back home looking to get back on the right track when Northwestern comes to Assembly Hall on Wednesday.
It has been nearly two weeks since Indiana basketball came out victorious but the Hoosiers will look to do so on Wednesday night when taking on Northwestern in the first Big Ten game of 2020 in Assembly Hall for IU.
While Indiana hasn’t played its best basketball over the past few weeks, Northwestern is the lone Big Ten team without a conference win.
Led by Chris Collins, one of many coaches around the country on the hot seat, Northwestern is sitting at 5-8 and currently riding a five game losing streak. For Collins, he looks to Miller Kopp to lead the Northwestern offense. The freshman big man is leading the Wildcats in points with 12.7 per game.
With nine of the 13 games this season in double-digits, he also has been wildly inconsistent. So far, Kopp has three games of 20+ points but also seven games of less than 11 points, including a 0-point outing. While he is extremely talented, having a freshman lead the team is always tough but he is rounding into shape, averaging 19.7 points per game over his last three games.
His ability to stretch the floor will be crucial against Indiana who has struggled guarding stretch forwards. Shooting 42.4 percent from three, he has seven games of 2+ made threes this year.
Kopp’s front court partner, Ryan Young, is yet again another freshman who is averaging 10.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. With two double-doubles in his past five games, Young is turning into a very good inside-out punch with Kopp, as he has taken just seven threes all year.
In the backcourt, Pat Spencer is the guard that heads the Wildcats attack. The senior guard averages 10.2 points and 4.0 assists per game on the season but is not always the most trustworthy with the ball. Averaging over 2.0 turnovers per game, Spencer has had five games with more turnovers than assists this season.
For Boo Buie, the other talented freshman averages 10.8 points per game but is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, which will hurt the backcourt depth of the Wildcats.
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Key Storylines
Indiana
Will Indiana be able to play an entire 40 minutes of basketball for the first time all season? The Hoosiers need to find an identity. Rebounding? Free-throws? Defense? They need something to hang their hat on, will it be against Northwestern? Which one of the guards will play up to their potential? The backcourt needs to step up in order to reach their success this year. This should be an easy game for IU to win. Let’s see if they can get it done.
Northwestern
The Wildcats could be a bit shorthanded with three players who average 20+ minutes banged up, and expected to miss the game. No depth could be an issue if the Hoosiers can get into a rhythm. Losing its last five games, Northwestern is hanging on to whatever life it has left, by a thread. Five of the last six games have seen a different player lead the Wildcats in scoring, but who will they be able to rely on?
Key players
Indiana
Trayce Jackson-Davis (14.8 ppg, 8.4 rpg), Devonte Green (13.0 ppg, 2.5 apg), Justin Smith (11.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg), Al Durham (10.9 ppg, 2.7 apg)
Northwestern
Miller Kopp (12.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 42.4% 3pt), Ryan Young (10.8 ppg,7.2 rpg), Pete Nance (10.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg), Pat Spencer (10.2 ppg, 4.0 apg)
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