Friday’s Sweet 16 in Indianapolis features several teams IU fans love to hate.
Purdue, Kentucky and Kelvin Sampson’s Houston will all be playing at Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday evening. Tennessee is the one squad most Hoosier fans wouldn’t mind seeing advance out of the Midwest Regional to the Final Four.
Both Sampson and Kentucky coach Mark Pope were asked IU related questions at their Thursday media availabilities in the Circle City.
Sampson, who coached IU for two seasons, was asked what it meant to be back in the Hoosier State.
“Doesn’t mean anything to me,” Sampson said. “I’m just looking forward to playing Purdue Friday night.”
Someone also asked Sampson about new IU coach Darian DeVries. Sampson beat DeVries’ West Virginia team twice during the regular season, by 16 in Houston, and by 14 in Morgantown.
“West Virginia was — they were good,” Sampson said. “Coach DeVries is a really, really good coach. Big 12 is full of great coaches. But I was really impressed with him.”
Meanwhile, Kentucky’s Pope got the obligatory IU vs. Kentucky rivalry question.
The teams will meet in December for the first time since 2016.
Pope, a former Kentucky player from 1994 to 1996, has an appreciation for the rivalry that has been lacking from both sides in recent years.
“I have such beautiful memories of Kentucky-Indiana in the RCA Dome and looking up in the arena and seeing the aisleway where it was split, where it was all blue/white all across the arena on one side and all red and white on the other side of the stadium,” Pope said.
“And I love everything about it. I think these rivalries are really special in college basketball. I think this rivalry has incredible history. I think it’s great for college basketball. There’s nothing about it that’s not great. I’m really excited about it.”
Indiana and Kentucky agreed to a four-game series beginning in 2025.
Kentucky and Tennessee tip at 7:39 p.m. ET Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium (TBS/truTV). Purdue and Houston follow at approximately 10:09 p.m. ET (TBS/truTV).
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