Both Indiana and St. John’s will get their first real tests of the season when they face each other Wednesday night in Bloomington, Ind.
It’s a Gavitt Tipoff Games matchup that pits a Big Ten team against a Big East opponent. Indiana is 2-1 all-time in the Gavitt Games, with its last matchup a 96-73 home win against Marquette on Nov. 14, 2018.
St. John’s (2-0) will push the tempo under third-year coach Mike Anderson. The Red Storm are coming off a 91-70 win over Saint Peter’s after they broke the century mark in a 119-61 win over Mississippi Valley State to start the season.
“You’re going to see a little bit of everything in college basketball,” Indiana coach Mike Woodson said. “We’ve worked leading in to St. John’s, pressing. You’ve just got to hope when they throw it on us, our guys will be comfortable in making the reads and getting the ball out of the double teams and getting the ball up the floor to try to create a scoring opportunity.”
The Hoosiers (2-0) have been led early this season by junior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, who earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors the first week of the season after averaging 20 points and 10.5 and five blocks against Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois.
“He’s improved a lot,” Woodson said. “He really has. And a lot of it is when you’re coaching young players, they think that they play hard. And I’ve always thought this: There’s always another level that a player can get to.
“And from a coaching standpoint, that’s what we’re trying to push these guys to continue to play at a high level and play harder.”
St. John’s has been led by forward Julian Champagnie, who pulled his name back from the NBA draft to return for his junior season. Champagnie is averaging 21 points and is an inside-outside threat, shooting 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from 3-point range.
Point guard Posh Alexander (15 points) is another scoring threat who sets up his teammates well, evidenced by his eight assists per game.
“We have more guys that fit up-tempo in terms of how we want to play,” Anderson said. “We have some length. We have some athletic ability. We have older guys. These guys are getting better and better.”
Indiana holds a 5-2 overall series lead against St. John’s. The two schools last met in 2015, when the Hoosiers beat the Red Storm 83-73.
–Field Level Media
