The Aggies have been struggling all season long and now they jump from the frying pan into the fire when they travel to nation's basketball heartland to play the Indiana Hoosiers Friday at 4 pm Pacific time in the 17,222 seat Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington. I grew up in Indiana and still follow the Hoosiers and this is the first time I will not be pulling for them in a game.

The Hoosiers have been plagued with an unprecedented number of injuries this season but, even so, the Aggies enter the contest currently as 22 point underdogs.

'Next Man Up' Hoosiers face UC-Davis

BLOOMINGTON — The biggest question leading into Friday’s Indiana-UC Davis game is a simple one.

Who will IU coach Archie Miller have at his disposal to play against the Aggies?

At the end of Tuesday night’s 78-64 victory over Texas-Arlington, IU had seven players out of the lineup with various injuries. Six were scholarship players — Devonte Green, Jerome Hunter, Race Thompson, De’Ron Davis, Al Durham and Romeo Langford. A seventh, Zach McRoberts, is a walk-on but was starting before hurting his back.

Of that group, Langford is the one people are most interested in and unsure about. It’s unclear if the reigning Mr. Basketball from New Albany suffered a broken nose in a collision with a Texas-Arlington player in the lane in the closing minutes Tuesday. Indiana has provided no updates.

Langford is IU’s leading scorer, averaging 18.2 points and 6 rebounds per game. Another question mark from Tuesday is Durham, who landed hard on his back early in the game, went to the locker room during the first half and didn’t return.

Even if Langford can play Friday night, the Hoosiers (4-1) will still be a few players down when they face UC-Davis, an NCAA Tournament team from last season that has started the season 1-5.

Against two common opponents, the Aggies lost at Arkansas 81-58 and at Texas-Arlington 68-59. Their only victory was against Texas A&M Corpus Christi 57-54. UC-Davis is averaging 54.7 points, while shooting 35 percent from the field and 25 percent from 3-point range

https://www.heraldbulletin.com/sports/next-man-up-hoosiers-face-uc-davis/article_faa19514-eeb3-11e8-bc72-53cd0c6f8543.html


Your Indiana Hurtin’ Hoosiers Return to Action on Friday Night vs. UC Davis

The teams have played two common opponents thus far on the season. UC Davis lost at Arkansas 81-58 and at UT Arlington, 68-59.

UC Davis head coach Jim Les is from Illinois and played college basketball at Bradley. He told the Yolo County News that he has never been to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall and said this about the road trip:

“I grew up a Bobby Knight fan, an Indiana fan. I was never good enough to play at Indiana.”

“But I’m excited for our guys to have the opportunity to play one of the storied basketball programs in history,” says Les. “The place is a storied venue, too.”

Les had a long NBA career with multiple teams.

The Aggies have been struggling mightily on offense. Leading scorer TJ Shorts averages just 11 points per game, and their top four scorers are all shooting below 40% from the field.

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/your-indiana-hurtin-hoosiers-return-to-action-on-friday-night-vs-uc-davis/

The game will be televised on the BTN+ Network but it requires a fee. The radio broadcast will be on KHTK 1140 AM.

Go Ags!