LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The Indiana men’s basketball team will begin its NCAA Tournament push Friday, matched against Mid-American Conference champion Kent State.
Although the Hoosiers were slotted in the Midwest Regional, the game will be played Friday at 9:55 p.m. in Albany, N.Y. and air on TBS.
Kent State is coached by Rob Senderoff, who was a member of Kelvin Sampson’s staff that was fired for NCAA rules violations in 2008. Kent won the Mid-American Conference Tournament, going 28-6. The Golden Flashes are ranked No. 71 in Ken Pomeroy. They lost to Houston by 5 and Gonzaga by 7.
And, in another interesting twist, if the Hoosiers win their first two tournament games, IU would likely play Houston, which is coached by Sampson. The Cougars are the top seed in the Midwest Regional.
The Hoosiers defeated Kent State in the 2002 South Regional final when they made the program's last trip to the Final Four.
Indiana will make its first back-to-back NCAA appearances since 2015-16. The Hoosiers won a First Four game against Wyoming season before they were eliminated by Saint Mary’s.
At 22-11 overall and 12-8 in the Big Ten, IU finished tied for second in the league with Northwestern. After beating Maryland Friday night, the Hoosiers lost to Penn State, 77-73, in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago Saturday.
Indiana is led by Trayce Jackson-Davis, its all-American center who became the school’s No. 3 all-time leading scorer, behind Calbert Cheaney and Steve Alford, Saturday. In point guard, Jalen Hood-Schifino the Hoosiers have a player voted the top freshman in the Big Ten.
Indiana ranked No. 30 in the NCAA Net rankings, going 6-9 in Quad I games. The Hoosiers’ best victories were at Big East runner-up Xavier, two wins over Purdue and a road victory against Illinois.
On the downside, IU was swept by Iowa, Northwestern and Penn State.
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