Weekend Recap and Week Preview

The Weekend That Was:

Ball State: lost at #25 Utah 90-72 Friday, beat IU-Kokomo 101-62 Monday. Cardinals put up a good fight against a very good Utes squad in Salt Lake City.
Butler: beat Maine 99-57 Saturday.  The Bulldogs shot a school-record 71.9% from the field in blasting past the Black Bears.
Evansville: beat Earlham 116-45 Saturday. Purple Aces treated a Division III opponent just as a Missouri Valley team should treat a Divsion III team. The Aces had six players in double figure scoring.
Indiana: beat Mississippi Valley State 116-61 Friday and beat Texas Southern 83-64. James Blackmon Jr. scored a game-high 25 points in his Hoosiers debut. Mike Davis returned to Assembly Hall with Texas Southern in a losing effort.
Indiana State: defeated IUPUI 79-66 in overtime Friday. The Sycamores survived a scare from a very game Jaguars squad. The Trees finally exerted their might in the overtime session, outscoring IUPUI by thirteen points in extra time.
IPFW: defeated Manchester 74-50 and won at SIU-Edwardsville 74-71 Monday. After a home win against a D-III school, IPFW backed it up with a tough road win at the SIUE Cougars.
IUPUI: lost two hard fought games to in-state rivals, 79-66 (OT) to Indiana State Friday and 77-57 at Purdue Sunday.  Jaguars showed a lot of depth, but just did not have quite enough talent to notch a win against either the Sycamores or the Boilermakers.
Notre Dame: defeated Binghamton 82-39 Friday and Navy 92-53 Sunday. Solid Irish performances against overmatched opponents.
Purdue: defeated Samford 80-40 Friday and IUPUI 77-57 Sunday. Freshman Vince Edwards averaged 19.5 ppg in the two weekend wins.
Valparaiso: defeated East Tennessee State 90-76 Friday, lost at Missouri 56-41 Sunday. The only split weekend of Indiana teams. Trailed by only one point at halftime against Mizzou, but just could not score consistently in the second half.

Coming Attractions:
Tuesday:

St. Louis at Indiana State - After a season-opening win at IUPUI, the Sycamores face the Billikens in a match-up of teams with really unique nicknames. SLU has made the last three NCAA tournaments, but lost a great deal to graduation since last year.
Chattanooga at Butler: The Mocs take a shot at the 'Dogs at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler looks to continue its hot shooting from Saturday against Maine.
#4 Duke vs. #19 Michigan State, #1 Kentucky vs. #5 Kansas - The Champions Classic makes its first ever stop in Indianapolis. Anytime four of the top teams in the country make a local stop, it is a must-see event. FH2FH will be at Bankers Life Fieldhouse for its fifth and sixth games in the first five days of the season.
Wednesday:
Coppin State at Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish look to continue their momentum against another low-major opponent.
IU-South Bend at Valparaiso: Crusaders look to get their scoring back on track after a rough game at Missouri.
Evansville at Miami (OH): Purple Aces make their way to Oxford for a battle with the MAC's Redhawks.
IUPUI at Milwaukee: After two tough losses, IUPUI looks for their first win against the defending Horizon League tournament champions.

Thursday:
Grambling State at Purdue: The worst team in college basketball, according KenPom projections, heads to Mackey Arena for the first of its three games in the state of Indiana in seven days.
SMU at Indiana:  After missing out on the NCAA tournament last year largely due to a weak non-conference schedule, Larry Brown's Mustangs head to Assembly Hall looking for a eye-opening win against the Hoosiers.