LIVE BLOG: Follow Indiana's Game with Minnesota in Real Time
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Greetings from INSIDE Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. It's chilly outside, but it should get nice and hot in here tonight when Indiana takes on Minnesota in a big game for both teams.
We've got two middle-of the-pack Big Ten teams getting together, with both of them trying to add on to their NCAA Tournament resume. It's another late mid-week TV game. Here's how to watch, plus the latest point spread and my three keys to the game: CLICK HERE
If you're not familiar with our live blog, here's how it works: I'll keep you updating in real test with everything that's going on in the game, plus share an opinion or two along the way. The comments are time-stamped, and the most recent ones are at the top, so just keep refreshing.
OK, let's roll.
FINAL: Indiana 82, Minnesota 72. Story to come.
11:20 p.m. ET – Rob Phinisee fouled in the backcourt with 37.8 seconds to go. He makes them both and Indiana leads 82-72. Minnesota misses and opts not to foul. Hoosiers wrap it up, and win 82-72. Huge victory for the Hoosiers.
11:14 p.m. ET – Armaan Franklin fouls out with 1:15 to go after a loose ball scramble. Finishes with 11 points and six rebounds. Jerome Hunter hits two free throws, 79-70. Trey Galloway gets a rebound after a Minnesota miss. He makes 1-of-2 free throws. Indiana still at 75 percent for the game from the line, 21-for-28.
11:10 p.m. ET – Make it eight possessions in a row now. Al Durham fouled in the backcourt and hits two free throws. The streak ends on a Jerome Hunter turnover at the basket on a bad pass. And then another turnover in the backcourt when Rob Phinisee loses his footing. Down to 75-68 now.
11:09 p.m. ET – Indiana has scored on seven consecutive possessions to keep this lead in double digits. Minnesota calls timeout after a Marcus Carr basket, but its 73-61 with 2:10 to go.
11:05 – The Hoosiers are on a 16-2 run here late, something we just haven't seen all year in Big Ten games. Indiana leads 69-57 with 3:09 to go. See if they can hang on now.
10:58 p.m. ET – Another drive to the basket by Rob Phinisee where he's blowing by 7-footer Liam Robbins on the way. Biggest lead of the game now for Indiana, ups 65-57 with 4:20 to go. And now a foul on Trayce Jackson-Davis, who gets a loose ball. Final media timeout of the game, and Indiana leads 65-57. TJD makes both after the timeout and now the lead is 10.
10:52 p.m. ET — More treats! The under-8 timeout.
10:38 p.m. ET – We're at the second media timeout and Indiana still leads 52-48. Indiana dominating on the boards, with a 25-15 edge. Race Thompson, who made 5-of-6 free throws in the first half, starts the second just 1-for-4.
10:31 p.m. ET – Three quick three-pointers gets Indiana a six-point lead, the biggest of the half. Two by Jerome Hunter on nice fades, and one by Al Durham. Indiana on a 13-1 run and leads 52-46 with 13:23 to go.
10:27 p.m. ET – Seven offensive rebounds so far for Minnesota. Too many.
10:24 p.m. ET – First media timeout and Minnesota is still up two at 45-43. It had gotten up to six points – the Gophers' largest lead of the game, but two hoops by Trayce Jackson-Davis got the Hoosiers right back in it. That's 14 points for Trayce now.
HALFTIME – Indiana trails by two, which seems odd because it felt like they were playing much better than that. The turnovers (8) hurt. Indiana a respectable 9-for-12 from the free throw line for those you you who obsess about those things.
9:55 p.m. ET – Minnesota is 4-for-11 from three so far, which is keeping them in the game. The Gophers have only three turnovers so far, too. Indiana has eight. Indiana calls timeout with 5.6 seconds left and the ball. Al Durham drives downcourt, but doesn't even get a shot off before the half. Minnesota leds 37-35.
9:45 p.m ET – A Flagrant 1 foul was called on Jerome Hunter, but the replays sure looked sketchy. Indiana leads 32-30 at the last media timeout, but there's only 2:36 left in the half. Last hoop by Jerome Hunter, with a free throw coming.
9:35 p.m. ET – Minnesota big man Liam Robbins is pretty slow anyway, but he's really having a hard time moving tonight. Rob Phinisee and Trayce Jackson-Davis both blew right by him on the dribble for layups. Indiana leads 25-21 with 6:37 to go.
9:30 p.m. ET – Indiana gets its first three-pointer of the game from Armaan Franklin on a nice kick-out from Race Thompson, and then he hits another one on the next trip down. Indiana leads 17-14.
9:25 p.m. ET – An ugly stretch there for Indiana, with a couple of turnovers by Al Durham and Khristian Lander. Minnesota jumps back ahead 12-11. Indiana goes socreless the last 3:18 before the media timeout.
9:13 p.m. ET – A second dunk by Trayce Jackson-Davis and then a block by Rob Phinisee on Marcus Carr. Trayce then beats a hobbled Liam Robbins down the floor and scores with a foul. He misses the free throw, but Armaan Franklin rebounds to get another possession. This time it's Race Thompson who attacks the rim. He makes 1-of-2 and Indiana leads 9-7 at the first media timeout (15:41).
9:08 p.m. ET – An emphatic start for Indiana, with a dunk by Trayce Jackson-Davis on a nice lob pass by Rob Phinisee. Must have seen something in the film. Cardboard cuts at the Hall roar in approval.
9:05 p.m. ET – Officials for tonight's game are Larry Scirotto, Donnie Eppley and Earl Watson.
9 p.m. ET – Center Liam Robbins is in the starting lineup for Minnesota. Bad ankle though, so the much-quicker Trayce Jackson-Davis needs to make him move.
8:55 p.m. ET — A treat for you!
8:50 p.m. ET – My gambling friend Walter Ego has checked in. He took the Hoosiers minus-6.5 and the under 35.5 in the first half for Indiana. Let's see how he does.
8:45 p.m. ET – For those of you hoping to see a starting lineup change for Indiana to offset the slow starts, sorry, you're out of luck. Running it back with the same five. Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson up front, Al Durham, Armaan Franklin and Rob Phinisee at the guard spots. Let's see how this goes.
8:40 p.m. ET – Indiana is 3-4 at home in Big Ten, and lost as favorites three times (Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers). The Hoosiers are favored by 6.5 points heading into this one. They beat Penn State at home but didn't cover, and beat Maryland and covered. The third win was against Iowa, where they were underdogs but won outright anyway. Other loss was to Illinois, where Indiana was a 3-point underdog at home and lost by 4 in overtime.
8:30 p.m. ET – Now Robbins is out with the Gophers as they've returned to the floor. Moving around gingerly, though.
8:20 p.m. ET – Some injuries updates. Down on the Minnesota end during warmups, no sign of either Gabe Kalscheur (broken hand) or 7-foot center Liam Robbins (ankle).
8:10 p.m. ET – Indiana's basketball managers getting in a little pre-game laugh on Twitter after Trayce Jackson-Davis took a spill off a stool on Sunday at Ohio State.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- PARKER STEWART UPDATE: Indiana coach Archie Miller talked about transfer Parker Stewart on his radio show Monday night. There's o timetable for him to play this season, but he is practicing with the team now and working out. For the story, CLICK HERE
- INDIANA NCAA TOURNAMENT PROJECTIONS: The Hoosiers are currently projected to be a "last four in" team in the NCAA Tournament. CLICK HERE
- BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS: For Tom Brew's latest Big Ten power rankings, CLICK HERE
- INDIANA IN MUST-WIN TERRITORY: Indiana has two vital games for its tournament hopes this week. CLICK HERE
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