After a season-opening win over Morehead State on Monday, Indiana basketball takes on the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats on Thursday, November 10 at 8:30 PM E.S.T.
Although the Hoosiers struggled out of the gates against Morehead State on opening night, the rust eventually was knocked off and Indiana pulled away with a 35-point victory against the favorites to win the Ohio Valley Conference.
Now looking at the Wildcats from Bethune-Cookman, it seems as though it will be a slightly easier matchup for the Hoosiers, especially considering they just lost to Big Ten foe, Iowa, by 31 points on Monday night.
In games against major conference teams over the past five seasons, BCU has lost four games by 30+ points and seven of the nine games by double digits. The Wildcats have not surpassed 70 points in any of those games against major conference teams.
This team might be a bit better scoring-wise than recent Bethune-Cookman rosters, but to say that Indiana might not dominate this game from the tip would be not the brightest idea.
Here are my three bold predictions for the No. 13 team in the nation against Bethune-Cookman on Thursday night:
Three bold predictions for Indiana basketball vs. Bethune-Cookman
#3. Jalen Hood-Schifino dishes out 8 assists in less than 25 minutes
In his first collegiate game, Hood-Schifino registered seven points, two rebounds, four assists, one steal, and two turnovers in 27 minutes. Realistically, if you were to rewatch that game, the star freshman in Bloomington could have finished with at least seven assists if it weren’t for easy misses by teammates.
As he looks to gain his confidence and look for his shot more (only four attempts on Monday), Hood-Schifino will continue to draw defenders’ eyes to him as he’s able to calmly make players for others.
Look for the five-star standout to really look to get Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson involved early and often, and as the Hoosiers blow out the Wildcats, he will finish with at least eight assists in less than 25 minutes of game time.