Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Hoo's Next - Evansville Edition

2:56 PM  J.B.Eadie  


Who: University of Evansville Purple Aces
When: 8:00pm ET – Wednesday November 16, 2011
Where: Ford Center – Evansville, IN
TV: ESPN3

The Scoop: The Evansville Purple Aces look to defend their 1-0 record at home tonight against our Cream and Crimson who look to advance to 3-0. The Aces are coming off a shocking overtime victory in a game versus the defending national runners-up, the Butler Bulldogs. Though the Hoosiers have never lost to Evansville, it is a bit too early in the season to count anyone out. Coach of the Aces, Marty Simmons, looks to build off of his team’s early momentum tonight, but one can be sure that Coach Crean and the gang won’t make it easy.
What to Expect:
  • Cody Zeller - There are plenty of stories to follow throughout tonight's game. As always, continue to look out for freshman Cody Zeller as he comes off of a B1G Ten Co-Freshman of the week award. Naturally, keep on eye his scoring threat and ability to rebound. But also, watch out for Zeller’s defensive presence, as he already has 9 steals through the first couple of games.
  • Sheeladipo – Sheeladipo of course standing for the unstoppable sophomore duo of Will Sheehey and Victor Oladipo. The two players have combined for 56 points and 17 rebounds over the course of the first two games. Oladipo recently receiving an award of his own, the B1G Ten player of the week. This hybrid of dominance is one thing that Hoosiers fans hope to see more of throughout the year. Between Sheehey’s poise and Oladipo’s explosiveness, the Hoosiers should have a leg up on the Aces tonight.
  • Moderate chance of rain – No, I’m not referring to the state of Indiana’s bizarre weather changes. You should expect a chance of rain, not off, but on the court tonight in Evansville. The Hoosiers stand at 10th in the nation in field goal percentage with a whopping 57.8% average. It is evident that the Hoosiers have spent some time in Cook Hall this off season. Expect players like Hulls, Sheehey, and Jones III to light it up tonight as they have so far this season, but also don’t count out players like Oladipo and Elston to have accurate shooting nights as well. 
However, it is not only the Hoosiers who will be dropping in shots tonight. Indiana has struggled to close out shooters behind the arc thusfar this season. The Hoosiers should look to apply more pressure on outside shooters to avoid giving up the deep threat.

Outcome: The Aces will have to ride their recent momentum to have a chance in this one. I expect the Hoosiers to run away with it after a while. 83-68 Hoosiers.

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