How to Watch Indiana Vs. Texas Tuesday in Maui Invitational; Game Time, TV, Point Spread
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Indiana's impressive victory over Providence on Monday allowed them to punch a ticket into the Maui Invitational semifinals, and the talented Texas Longhorns are waiting for them.
Texas is ranked No. 17 in the country and has an explosive team coached by Shaka Smart, who's now sporting a full head of hair for the first time in his coaching career. The Longhorns have an experienced backcourt with junior top scorer Courtney Ramey (17.0 points per game) at shooting guard and senior point guard Matt Coleman (13.5 points and 7.0 assists) leading the way.
They beat Davidson 78-76 in the first round, and survived two good looks from Davidson shooters in the final 30 seconds.
Fifteen games on Indiana's current 27-game schedule are against teams currently ranked in the top-25, so this test is great preparation for the Hoosiers. Archie Miller and his staff will catch up quickly on the Longhorns. That's tournament basketball.
Indiana and Texas have played twice before, but not in a while. Indiana lost 70-58 in November of 2000 in the Preseason NIT but won the following year 77-71 in the Great Alaskan Shootout.
** FOLLOW THE LIVE BLOG HERE DURING THE GAME: CLICK HERE **
There's a switch to the TV station, so listen up. Here are the particulars on Tuesday's game:
- Who: Texas Longhorns (2-0, 0-0 in the Big 12) vs. Indiana Hoosiers (2-0, 0-0 in the Big Ten.
- What: Semifinals of the Camping World Maui Invitational.
- When: 1:30 p.m. ET, Tuesday, Dec. 1.
- Where: Harrah's Cherokee Center, Asheville, N.C.
- Latest Line: Indiana is a 1-point favorite on DraftKings.com as of 5 11 a.m. ET Tuesday. On Monday, Indiana was a 2-point favorite over Providence and covered easily in the 79-58 win. Texas was a 7.5-point favorite over Davidson and won 78-76, but did not cover.
- Poll rankings: Texas is ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press top-25 poll. Indiana is receiving votes in both polls and would be ranked No. 30 in the Associated Press poll and No. 34 in the Coaches Poll.
- Kenpom.com rankings: Indiana jumped 11 spots after Monday's win and is now No. 14 in the rankings. Texas is ranked No. 9.
- TV: ESPN
- Announcers: Jason Benetti (good) and Bill Walton (awful)
- Radio: Indiana Radio Network
- Announcers: Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, Joe Smith
- Streaming: IUHoosiers.com/broadcast
- Other Maui games on Tuesday: North Carolina vs. Stanford, 4 p.m. ET; Providence vs. Davidson, 7 p.m. ET; UNLV vs. Alabama, 9:30 p.m. ET
Here are three things I want to see from the Hoosiers on Wednesday:
1. Hit some three-pointers
Texas is long and athletic on defense, so it's going to be important for Indiana to be better from three-point range to help spread them out. The Hoosiers haven't been particularly good in that category so far — just 30.4 percent through two games — but senior Al Durham did get hot in the second half Monday, knocking down three long balls.
Indiana is getting plenty of good looks from out there, but they need to knock them down in this game, which should be high-scoring.
2. Bonus points on offensive rebounds
Indiana had 15 offensive rebounds against Providence and got a lot of second-chance points because of it. Race Thompson, who had a career day, had eight offensive boards himself as part of a 22-point, 13-rebound night.
Easy points are always a bonus, and more of the same from Thompson and Trayce Jackson-Davis will help a lot here too against the Longhorns. Holding their own on the boards is going to be a point of emphasis all season for the Hoosiers, and it's no different in this game.
3. Keep pushing the ball upcourt
By moving to a three-guard set, Indiana coach Archie Miller wants to play faster and get up and down the floor more often. Texas likes to play that way, too, so this is a good game to answer speed with speed.
Indiana has plenty of ballhandlers for the first time in the Miller era, so pace can be an issue to take advantage of. All of Indiana's guards are quick, and they make good decisions most of the time on the break. If we see a lot of that on Tuesday, this should be a wildly entertaining game.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- BILL WALTON NEEDS TO GO: Publisher Tom Brew wonders why ESPN still has Bill Walton doing games. He was awful on Monday's broadcast and he needs to go. CLICK HERE
- THOMPSON CHANGES HIS GAME: It's Race Thompson's fourth year at Indiana, and his time has finally arrived. He has a new body and, even more importantly, new-found confidence that he can play at a high level. Tom Brew column. CLICK HERE
- GAME 2, INDIANA BEATS PROVIDENCE: Indiana dominates on the boards and runs away from Providence in the first round of the Maui Invitational. CLICK HERE
- GAME 1, INDIANA BEATS TENNESSEE TECH: In the Hoosiers' season-opener in Assembly Hall, Trayce Jackson-Davis scores 26 points to lead IU to an 89-59 victory over Tennessee Tench. CLICK HERE
- COMPLETE INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is the full Indiana basketball schedule for the 2020-21 season, including links to stories on games already played. CLICK HERE
