Indiana has bounced back from a five-game losing streak with consecutive wins over Maryland and Minnesota.
The Hoosiers (18-10, 9-9 Big Ten) will continue to make a late-season push toward the NCAA Tournament when they host struggling Rutgers in Indiana’s home finale Wednesday night in Bloomington, Ind.
Indiana is coming off two of its best offensive performances of the season, beating Maryland 74-64 on Thursday and Minnesota 84-79 on Sunday.
In both games, Indiana shot better than 50 percent from the floor and tallied a combined 31 assists.
“They were great wins,” Indiana coach Mike Woodson said on his radio show Monday night. “It keeps us back in the hunt in terms of trying to get into the tournament; that’s what I’m pushing for our team.”
Xavier Johnson has been the catalyst to Indiana’s win streak, as the starting point guard has averaged 24.0 points and 7.0 assists over his past two games.
“The game has slowed down for him,” Woodson said. “I thought the last two games he’s played, he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do on both ends of the floor.”
Rutgers (16-12, 10-8) will look to snap a three-game losing streak. The Scarlet Knights were unable to come up with enough big shots and big plays down the stretch in a 66-61 home loss to then-No. 13 Wisconsin on Saturday.
“We all signed up for this league and this kind of basketball,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said following the loss. “Tonight was another one of those one or two-possession games.”
Rutgers is still in position to reach its second straight NCAA Tournament but will need some wins down the stretch. The Scarlet Knights have been led by the scoring of Ron Harper Jr. (15.6 ppg) and the defense of Caleb McConnell, who leads the Big Ten in steals with 65.
The game will pit the top two defenses in the Big Ten. Indiana leads the conference in scoring defense (65.3 ppg) and Rutgers (65.5) is second.
“They’ve just got a nice mixture of players that play hard, and if we don’t play hard, it won’t be a game,” Woodson said. “We’re going to have to compete with them for 40 minutes. They force you to play.”
–Field Level Media
