My Two Cents: 10 Things To Know About Indiana's Game With Arizona in Las Vegas
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LAS VEGAS, Nev. — All the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas can be numbing at times, especially to the infrequent visitors from small-town America. But this weekend, several thousand members of Hoosier Nation get to come to Sin City, with a good basketball excuse thrown in.
Indiana is playing here on Saturday, taking on an Arizona team that's also one of the best ballclubs in America. The event — a doubleheader at the MGM Grand Garden Arena that also features UNLV and Washington State in the first game — is called "The Clash.'' London calling? Nah, it's Las Vegas with all its bells and whistles.
I've noticed in the fan groups the past couple of days that there is a TON of misinformation about this game, and a lot of unknown things getting tossed out. So I thought it was best this morning to set you straight on everything that matters, and everything you really need to know. Here we go:
1. The game starts at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time
It's amazing how time-zone challenged people still are these days, fans and some media sites alike. I've seen so many wrong posts about this, so here is another reminder about when this game starts. It's at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, which is 4:30 p.m. here in Las Vegas, which is on Pacific Time.
So set those DVRs accordingly and set your watches as needed if you've traveled west. And for my Northwest Indiana fans, tip-off is at 6:30 p.m. Central Time for you. The rest of Indiana always forgets about our nice little sliver of heaven being an hour behind.
Are we all clear on this now? We good?
2. Not in a ballroom this time
A few weeks ago, Indiana's women's team had a disastrous trip to Las Vegas when their two games here wound up getting played in a casino ballroom that was better suited for a tacky wedding or a hyped-up sales meeting. There wasn't even any medical personnel around to help with injured players. It was a joke, and a nightmare. The following week, several women's teams refused to play there, including Purdue.
People have been chatting that Indiana shouldn't be playing here because of the fear factor, but that's foolish. The Hoosiers are playing in the 17,000-set MGM Grand Garden Arena, which has hosted thousands of huge sporting events in the past 30 years. The Pac-12 Conference tournament was here for years, and there have been a ton of boxing matches — like Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield and Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr., and hundreds of UFC and wrestling events. The Grammys were here this year, and the CMAs have been here a dozen times.
In other words, there is absolutely nothing to worry about.
There will be a big crowd, and great amenities, so no worries. Have fun, because it will be a great neutral court setting. "That arena is going to be electric,'' Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said.
3. Game makes television history
FOX Sports is all in with the Big Ten. They own a big piece of the Big Ten Network and are spending billions of dollars in the new TV contract with the league.
On Saturday night, they are rolling out college basketball in prime time on a Saturday night, something they've never done before on their national FOX channel. They are even rolling out their A-Team for the game, with hype-master play-by-play guy Gus Johnson and veteran analyst Bill Raftery, who's been one of the best in the business for years, doing the broadcast.
FOX has had a long relationship with the Pac-12, too, so pairing up these two brand names in the first-ever national game is a big deal.
So click on your local FOX station at — repeat after me — 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
4. A first-ever meeting with Arizona
Indiana has played 54 games against Pac-12 teams in its history, but they've never played the Wildcats before. Not once.
Indiana has played every other Pac-12 team, and the Hoosiers are 34-20 all-time. The most recent meeting was against Stanford during the November 2020 Maui Invitational, which was played in Asheville, N.C. It was their third and final game in that event, and the Hoosiers won 79-63. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 31 points that day, and Race Thompson had 15.
Here's how Indiana has fared against Pac-12 teams:
- Arizona State, 1-0
- California, 3-1
- Colorado, 1-2
- Oregon, 3-0
- Oregon State, 7-6
- Stanford, 5-0
- UCLA, 6-6
- USC, 2-2
- Utah, 2-1
- Washington, 3-1
- Washington State, 2-1
5. Why it hasn't happened
There's no real rhyme or reason behind why Indiana and Arizona haven't crossed paths before. They've been in a lot of the same NCAA Tournaments, but the brackets have never put them together.
Neither side has ever reached out either, and for some good reasons. Lute Olson coached at Arizona for 25 years, and that was after being at Iowa for 10 years and getting his butt kicked battling with Bob Knight from 1974-83. He wasn't interested in doing that anymore. Good thinking, Lute.
And during the 2018-21 window, when Indiana was coached by Archie Miller, there was no interest in coaching against his brother Sean, who was Arizona's coach at the time. Indiana did beat Sean Miller earlier this year, when the Hoosiers won a road game at Xavier.
6. Similar goals, issues for Indiana, Arizona
Indiana and Arizona both have visions of winning some trophies this year. Both have lost just one game this year, with Indiana arrived in Vegas at 8-1, and Arizona at 7-1. The Hoosiers are ranked No. 14 this week, peaking at No. 10 so far this year. Arizona is No. 10, peaking at No. 4 before losing at Utah last week in their Pac-12 opener.
Both teams are powerful up front, but things can go off the rails on the perimeter at times. Indiana had a brutal shooting day it its one loss at Rutgers, and Arizona has its own issues from deep. Over the last two games, Arizona is shooting just 8-for-48 from the 3-point line, a measly 16.7 percent average.
It happens, and it happened to both of these teams in league openers.
"Us and Indiana got off to good starts, but we both played road games against really good teams that are gritty and knew us well, and you saw us struggle,'' Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. "It makes it hard when you're not making shots.''
Both teams bounced back from those losses, Indiana beat Nebraska 81-65 on Wednesday night, making 11 threes. Arizona beat California 81-68, but that's not really overly impressive to me because Cal is 0-9 on the season.
7. Making shots inside
Indiana is shooting 52.2 percent from the floor this season, best in the Big Ten and No. 3 in the country overall. That's pretty impressive, but Arizona is actually No. 1 in the country at 55.2 percent.
Trayce Jackson-Davis has a lot to do with those numbers for Indiana. He's 56-for-83 from the field, an impressive 68.5 percent on the year. For Arizona, 6-foot-11 Lithuanian Azuolas Tubelis is averaging 20.1 points and 8.3 per game and is shooting 61.0 percent from the floor. Oumar Ballo, a 7-foot center from Bali, is averaging 19.1 points and 9.3 rebounds, and is shooting 76.9 percent from the floor (60-for-78)
That's a good-on-good matchup for sure.
8. Best in the country, again
Tubelis and Ballo have been so good in the paint that they are the only pair of teammates in the country averaging 39 points and 17 rebounds combined per game.
9. Winning at a high rate
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd replaced Sean Miller last year, and he's been winning ever since he got there. The former Gonzaga assistant is 40-5 in a year-plus. They went 31-3 last year, winning the Pac-12 regular season title and the conference tournament here in Las Vegas.
They won won two NCAA Tournaments as a No. 1 seed, but then were upset by No. 5 seed Houston in the regional semifinals. He inherited a very good team, and you IU fans who are Pacers fans as well know far too well. You know how good Bennedict Mathurin is.
Mike Woodson, as we know, is in his second year with the Hoosiers. He went 21-14 last year, getting the Hoosiers back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years.
10 Gambling capital of the world
Now that sports gambling is practically everywhere and nothing more than a few clicks away on your phone, the lure of placing a bet on the Hoosiers in Las Vegas isn't what it used to be. But it certainly can be done at any of several dozen sports books inside every casino here.
We always give you the opening lines first thing in the morning on game days, but for prep work, just know that the 8-1 Hoosiers are 7-2 against the point spread so far this season, only failing to cover in the loss at Rutgers and the home win against Little Rock, where they won by 19 as 29-point favorites.
I was out and about quite a bit on Thursday night and ran into a lot of Indiana fans in Las Vegas. These big improvements to the schedule are a big hit with Hoosier Nation for sure.
