Tag: Indiana Hoosiers

Wisconsin basketball loses top international prospect to Big Ten rival

Wisconsin basketball loses highly-touted small forward to Big Ten rival

This story was updated to correct a misspelling/typo.

Highly pursued Bosnian wing Harun Zrno committed to Indiana on Friday.

The fast-rising class of 2025 prospect chose the Hoosiers over other finalists Wisconsin, Creighton and Virginia.

Related: Updated game-by-game predictions for Wisconsin basketball after UCLA loss

Zrno has yet to receive a ranking from 247Sports. The 6-foot, 7-inch forward had listed offers from that strong final group of programs. He visited each this month: Indiana on Jan. 7, Wisconsin on Jan. 10, Creighton on Jan. 12 and Virginia on Jan. 16.

The 21-year-old prospect averaged 20.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists in Bosnia’s top professional league this season. He is Indiana’s second commit in the class of 2025, joining four-star power forward Trent Sisley. The class ranked No. 77 in the nation before Zrno’s addition.

The program has prioritized the transfer portal in recent years, headlined by a six-player transfer class entering the 2024-25 season. That transfer class has Indiana at 14-6 (5-4 Big Ten) on the season with the calendar set to flip to February. The team sits at No. 60 in KenPom, No. 61 in the ESPN BPI and No. 65 in the NCAA NET Rankings.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, has three players committed to its class of 2025: four-star shooting guard Zach Kinziger, three-star center Will Garlock and international shooting guard Hayden Jones. That group ranks 54th in the nation.

Greg Gard and his staff have increased their international recruiting efforts in recent years, landing Italian center Riccardo Greppi in the class of 2024 and Jones in 2025. Zrno would have been another impressive recruiting win.

The 18th-ranked Badgers are 15-4 (5-3 Big Ten). Strong recruiting had aided that stellar record. John Blackwell and Nolan Winter headline the program’s recent high school commits, while Max Klesmit, John Tonje and Kamari McGee have become big-time transfer additions.

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Ohio State basketball still can’t finish, drops close one to Indiana in overtime

Another close loss. #GoBucks

It’s becoming a theme. The Ohio State basketball team lost another close game, this time at home against the Indiana Hoosiers. The Buckeyes once again fought back and were able to send it to overtime but couldn’t finish once again, losing by a 77-76 in front of a crowd ready and primed for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Monday.

The game never needed to get there in the first place. Ohio State once again had large stretches of sloppy play. The Buckeyes turned the ball over at inopportune times, allowed too many offensive rebounds, and had too many befuddling offensive possessions.

But when this team is playing connected, you can see the potential. In fact, OSU went into the break up 35-29 because of a good defensive effort. That, unfortunately gave way to far too many lapses in the second half. The Hoosiers used some hot shooting from Luke Goode to go up by ten points with about 5:00 minutes left in the game before the Buckeyes began to find its offense and play better defense behind the crowd.

And when John Mobley Jr. made a deep three-pointer with just :38 seconds left to tie things up at 71, overtime was in order.

Ohio State had plenty of chances to take control of the game in overtime but time and time again had empty possessions. Goode struck one more time with just over a minute left in overtime to give the Hoosiers the lead for good, and that’s all the scoring that would happen.

OSU would get one more opportunity to win the game, but a scramble resulted in the ball finding Bruce Thornton’s hands for a wide open three-pointer that rimmed in and out and sent the crowd home dejected.

Mobley led Ohio State in scoring with 22 points on 7-of-17 field goals. Micah Parrish (19) and Thornton (18) were the only other Buckeyes to finish in double figures.

The loss is Ohio State’s third in a row and drops the overall record to 10-8, and the conference record to a very disappointing 2-5. It’s going to be awfully hard to climb out of a the early hole this team has put itself in, especially if it can’t find a way to play with more consistent effort and cohesiveness.

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Ohio State basketball vs. Indiana: How to watch, stream the game

Friday night at the Schott #GoBucks

For the second game in a row, Ohio State lost a close one. After losing a heartbreaker by two points to No. 15-ranked Oregon the Buckeyes hit the road for Wisconsin. The Badgers led by 17 at the half only to see OSU battle all the way back, but the Buckeyes couldn’t quite get over the hump and lost by two once again.

Ohio State now comes back home to face the Indiana Hoosiers for a Friday night tip. Indiana enters the matchup at 13-5 but has dropped its last two games. It’ll be quite a night at The Schott with a trading card night with guest Greg Oden, Oden player tees for the first 500 students, and rally towels for the first 5,000 fans so head on out to the arena to see the team live.

If you can’t make it to campus, here’s how to see all the action from the comfort of your own home.

Basic info

When: Friday, January 17, at 8 p.m. ET

Where:  Value City Arena (Columbus, Ohio)

How to watch/stream/listen:

Broadcast: Fox

Radio: IMG Radio Network (flagship station WBNS 97.1 The Fan)

Radio announcers:

  • Paul Keels (play-by-play)
  • Ron Stokes (analysis)

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Three thoughts in the aftermath of Iowa women’s basketball’s loss vs. Indiana

Three thoughts from Iowa women’s basketball’s Sunday loss vs. Indiana.

Although early in the conference slate, Iowa women’s basketball (12-5, 2-4 Big Ten) has appeared to have hit a wall.

Following their 74-67 home loss vs. Indiana (12-4, 4-1 Big Ten) on Sunday, the Hawkeyes have dropped three consecutive games for the first time since 2018.

Specifically, in Sunday’s loss against the Hoosiers, Iowa shot 21-for-62 (33.9%) from the floor, 6-for-19 (31.9%) from deep, and 19-for-23 (82.6%) from the charity stripe.

Junior guard Taylor McCabe led the team with 15 points off 4-of-7 (57.1%) shooting from the floor and 4-of-5 from deep.

Defensively, the Hawkeyes forced 17 turnovers, including eight steals and four blocks that Iowa eventually converted into 24 points.

With Sunday’s loss in the past, here are three thoughts summarizing the Hawkeyes’ performance against the Hoosiers.

Turnovers stalling the offense

Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Although Iowa was better at limiting their turnovers by only committing nine against Indiana on Sunday, the lost opportunities that result from those mistakes add up and can ultimately cost the team in the long run.

While the turnovers were not the sole contributor to the losing effort by the Hawkeyes on Sunday, there is no denying that the mistakes slowed Iowa’s offensive attack throughout the game.

Ugly Shooting Performance

Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It is understandable to have a few players struggle to put the ball through the basket at times, but it’s a whole different problem when it’s the entire team.

Iowa’s top two offensive contributors, Lucy Olsen and Hannah Stuelke, shot a combined 4-for-18 (22.2%) from the field, 0-for-3 from deep, and 5-for-8 (62.5%) from the charity stripe.

With the competitiveness of the Big Ten only getting stronger with the addition of the four West Coast programs, Iowa can ill-afford for this poor shooting trend to continue moving forward.

Lack of Starting Production

Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Iowa’s bench outscored its starters 39-28 on Sunday. While scoring depth off the bench is a great thing to have, the Hawkeyes need more from their starting five and from their veterans.

Or, Iowa needs to consider shaking up the starting five and rotations to get players on the floor that are producing more for the Hawkeyes.

Turnovers stalling the offense

Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Although Iowa was better at limiting their turnovers by only committing 14 against Indiana on Sunday, the lost opportunities that result from those mistakes add up and can ultimately cost the team in the long run.

While the turnovers were not the sole contributor to the losing effort by the Hawkeyes on Sunday, there is no denying that the mistakes slowed Iowa’s offensive attack throughout the game.

In particular, it played a big role in Iowa trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half as nine of the Hawkeyes’ turnovers came in the game’s opening half.

Iowa’s next matchup will be on Thursday when they return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a 6 p.m. clash vs. Nebraska (13-4, 4-2 Big Ten).

The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network along with the radio call on the Hawkeyes Radio Network.

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Monday Morning Rewind: Three stars during Iowa basketball dominance of Indiana

Three stars from Iowa basketball’s dominant win over the weekend against Indiana.

Iowa men’s basketball (12-4, 3-2 Big Ten) steamrolled their way to an emphatic 85-60 win vs. Indiana (13-4, 4-2 Big Ten) in front of a packed Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd on Saturday night.

Offensively, Iowa kept their foot on the gas for most of the contest by shooting an efficient 32-for-59 (54.2%) from the floor, 11-for-24 (45.8%) from deep, and 10-for-18 (55.6%) from the charity stripe.

Even as the “points in the paint” scoring and overall rebounding margin favored Iowa, the true offensive weapon was the Hawkeyes’ ability to get timely three-point baskets kept the Hoosiers out of reach.

On the defensive side of the ball, Iowa forced 16 turnovers in addition to an astonishing 11 steals and six blocks. While the offensive rebounding was equal, at nine a piece, the Hoosiers were primarily a “one-and-done” offense, which was crucial in Iowa’s ability to go on stretch scoring runs.

With another victory under the belt, here are three stars that helped Iowa the most on Saturday.

Payton Sandfort

After erupting in the second half of Tuesday’s win over Nebraska, Sandfort followed up with a complete performance vs. Indiana by scoring a team-leading 23 points off 7-of-12 (58.3%) from the floor, 4-of-9 (44.4%) from deep, and 5-of-5 (100%) from the charity stripe.

Sandfort also recorded six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block in his 31 minutes of game action.

For Sandfort and Iowa’s sake, this performance is a relief as the senior forward had been uncharacteristically quiet in the two games prior to his second-half burst against the Cornhuskers.

Sandfort will need to keep this trend going as the team heads out West for its California road trip.

Owen Freeman

Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Freeman was a force again vs. Indiana on Saturday by scoring 16 points on 8-of-13 (61.5%) from the floor to pair with 12 rebounds, four blocks, three steals, and two assists to round out 27 minutes of action.

The performance is Freeman’s third double-double of the season and eighth of his career. His four blocks also gives him 18 total rejections over the past three games.

While this type of performance is nothing out of the ordinary for Freeman, his presence on the defensive side of the ball has allowed for a ferocious Hawkeyes defense to flourish as of late.

Drew Thelwell

Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

After missing the previous game with an injury sustained through warmups, Thelwell rejuvenated the Hawkeyes spirit with six steals, three rebounds, and three assists to pair with a 12-point performance on 4-of-7 (57.1%) from the floor and 4-of-9 (44.4%) from the free-throw line.

His six steals are the most by a Hawkeye since Joe Toussaint in 2021 and are tied for the second-most in a game under head coach Fran McCaffery.

The Hawkeyes will fly westward for their next matchup on Tuesday vs. USC (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten) from the Galen Center in Los Angeles, Calif.

The game will tip off at 9:30 p.m. CT and air on FS1. Fans can also tune in to the Hawkeyes Radio Network for the game’s radio transcription.

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2025 blue-chipper visited Iowa basketball over weekend

A key Iowa basketball target was on campus over the weekend to take in the Hawkeyes’ win over Indiana.

A top target for Iowa basketball was on hand to watch the Hawkeyes dismantle the Indiana Hoosiers.

Four-star small forward Joshua Lewis made his way to Iowa City and got to take in Iowa’s 85-60 win over Indiana. Lewis recently picked up an offer from the Hawkeyes.

Out of Blake High School in Tampa, Fla., Lewis is regarded as the nation’s No. 37 player in the 2025 class according to Rivals.

The 6-foot-7 small forward is ranked as the No. 73 player nationally, as the No. 15 small forward and as the No. 15 player from Florida per 247Sports. On3 rates Lewis as the country’s No. 40 player, as the No. 9 small forward and as the No. 8 player from the Sunshine State.

Lastly, ESPN ranks Lewis as the nation’s No. 62 player, as the No. 16 small forward and as the No. 10 player from Florida.

Lewis was originally committed to South Florida, but he reopened his recruitment following the tragic passing of USF coach Amir Abdur-Rahim. Lewis was the highest-ranked recruit in South Florida history at the time of his commitment.

If Iowa can land him, Lewis would be a massive win in the 2025 recruiting class for the Hawkeyes.

In addition to USF and Iowa, Lewis has picked up offers from Cincinnati, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, North Carolina State, Ole Miss and Virginia Tech throughout his recruitment.

Iowa also holds a commitment from power forward Dezmon Briscoe out of Crispus Attucks in Indianapolis and signed center Badara Diakite from South Kent School in Hartford, Conn., in November.

The Hawkeyes also added former four-star freshman forward Isaiah Johnson-Arigu from Miami via the transfer portal. Johnson-Arigu has joined the team and can practice but will not be eligibile to play for the Hawkeyes until the 2025-26 season.

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Best photos from Iowa basketball romp over Indiana

Iowa basketball put one on Indiana on Saturday night. The best photos from the night.

The Iowa Hawkeyes had some fun on Saturday night, rolling away from Indiana, 85-60.

All five Iowa starters scored in double figures in the Hawkeyes’ victory over the Hoosiers.

Those efforts were headed up by senior forward Payton Sandfort’s 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, sophomore guard Brock Harding’s points-assists double-double and sophomore forward Owen Freeman’s double-double.

Harding finished with 10 points and 10 assists, while Freeman registered 16 points, 12 rebounds, four blocks and three steals.

With the win, Iowa improves to 12-4 (3-2 Big Ten) ahead of next week’s West Coast road swing. The Hawkeyes play at USC (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten) on Tuesday and then at UCLA (11-5, 2-3 Big Ten) inside Pauley Pavilion on Friday.

Before it charts its path out West, here’s a look back at Iowa’s win over Indiana through the night’s best photos.

Ohio State football transfer picks new school

In case you missed it, Ohio State football transfer picks new school. #GoBucks

Despite still in the College Football Playoff national championship race, Ohio State football is still dealing with the transfer portal and offensive tackle, Zen Michalski, announced his intentions to transfer, but also to still help the Buckeyes during this run.

Michalski is a former four-star prospect in the class of 2021 from the state of Indiana and never really lived up to that billing while playing in Columbus, Ohio. Despite starting one game this season, odds were against him in regard to starting next season and it makes sense he would like to see the field during his last season of eligibility.

All of this was relatively expected, but it was a bit of a shock that he has announced his intentions of staying in the Big Ten and playing with the Indiana Hoosiers. IU was a force this past season and Michalski is hoping to head back home and be a part of something special in Bloomington.

No. 1 Bruins will their way to victory over Indiana, move to 15-0

The Bruins were not at their best, but they handled Indiana by 11. Cori Close spoke about the team’s toughness, which shone through on the road.

The No.1 UCLA Bruins will leave Bloomington still unbeaten after their 73-62 win on Saturday over Indiana. Even if the UCLA women’s basketball team had to sweat it out a bit, the Bruins moved to 15-0 for just the second time in program history. 

Despite the fact that UCLA led by double-digits nearly all of the fourth quarter, with Indiana not scratching to within eight points until there was less than a minute remaining in the fourth, things didn’t feel necessarily smooth for the top team in the country.

Not only did the team seem more reliant than ever on junior Lauren Betts, who had another terrific game on Saturday with 25 points and 12 rebounds, but the victory wasn’t a glamourous one. The Bruins relied more on their toughness than their talent, which is something that Bruins head coach Cori Close was happy to see. 

“Credit to them. I’m really impressed with the job that they did,” Close said of Indiana. “But I was also really impressed with our team. I’ve been really challenging them recently to be willing to win ugly. To be willing to win in a gritty way and not a pretty way.”

There have been plenty of highlights since the start of the season, but Saturday’s win felt a bit more translatable to March, when the Bruins will have to battle for wins, regardless of how much talent resides on their roster. 

“This wasn’t our best day,” Close said of her team, “but I thought the way they responded to adversity and willing to just win ugly, I’m impressed with.”

UCLA will stay in Indiana as it prepares for another Big Ten test on Tuesday against Purdue.

Ohio State lineman Zen Michalski has found a new home

Heading back home #GoBucks

A few weeks ago, Ohio State offensive lineman Zen Michalski announced he would be entering the transfer portal. We now know where Michalski will land next football season as the former four-star prospect will head back home to Indiana to play for the Hoosiers.

Michalski is a native of Floyds Knobs, Indiana. Floyds Knobs is close to the Kentucky boarder but less than a two-hour drive to Bloomington. The Hoosiers had an incredible turnaround this season under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti. Indiana went from the bottom of the Big Ten with just three wins to making the College Football Playoff and a school record 11 wins.

The Hoosiers will get a high character guy with a load of experience. Even though he only started one game at Ohio State, he did appear in 35 games and went up against some of the best defensive linemen in the nation in four years in Columbus. Michalski graduated from OSU in December.

He’ll most likely battle for the starting right tackle position that will be vacated by departing senior Trey Wedig.

Michalski has committed to staying with the Buckeyes throughout the College Football Playoff. After that, he’ll head back home. Ohio State and Indiana are not scheuduled to play in the regular season in 2025.

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