Indiana athletic director Fred Glass is pleased with the buzz around his department as the IU Tailgate Tour begins. And that energy was palpable at the tour's first stop in Fort Wayne on Tuesday.Frontcourt: Indiana’s Cody Zeller made big plays late on offense and defense – making a layup and drawing a charge – to secure Sunday’s win against Michigan State. Zeller is averaging 16 points and 8.1 rebounds. Forward Christian Watford has reached double figures in scoring in 10 consecutive games. He had 12 points and six rebounds against the Spartans.
Purdue’s A.J. Hammons had seven points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in Sunday’s overtime victory against Iowa. Hammons also had three blocks. He is averaging a conference-best two blocks in Big Ten games. D.J. Byrd is averaging 11.4 points in Big Ten games.
Backcourt: Victor Oladipo earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors after averaging 20 points in two IU wins last week. Oladipo had a career-high six steals against Michigan State. Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell has been more of a scoring threat in recent games. Fellow guard Jordan Hulls has 222 career three-pointers, second on IU’s all-time list.
Terone Johnson leads the Boilermakers in scoring (13.5 points per game). His brother Ronnie leads the team in assists (3.6 per game). Fort Wayne native Rapheal Davis has reached double figures in scoring in three of the last five games.
Bench: Forward Will Sheehey (10.4 points per game) and guard Remy Able (5.3 points) have been IU’s top options off the bench. Guard Anthony Johnson (5.8 points) and forward Donnie Hale (4.3 points, 3.1 rebounds) aid Purdue.
