For the second consecutive year, there will be Big Ten men’s basketball in December.
As expected Indiana will have two conference games in the early part of the month in order to accommodate the new 20-game Big Ten schedule. The Hoosiers will have both a conference home and away contest in December.
Jon Rothstein broke the dates and opponents via Twitter:
Source: Indiana will host Northwestern on Saturday 12/1 as part of the Big Ten's early season conference games. #iubb
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) August 20, 2018
Source: Penn State will host Indiana on Tuesday 12/4 as part of the Big Ten's early season conference games. #iubb
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) August 20, 2018
Both Northwestern and Penn State are widely expected to finish in the bottom half of the 14 team conference. These early contests should provide IU an opportunity to get off to a good start in league play.
Northwestern finished the 2017-18 season at 15-17 overall and 6-12 in league play and missed the postseason. It was a disappointing season for Chris Collins and the Wildcats a year after their first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Indiana defeated Northwestern in Bloomington handily last year by a score of 66-46 in a game that was widely viewed as one of IU’s best defensive efforts on the season under first year head coach Archie Miller.
Penn State flirted with making the NCAA Tournament last year. The Nittany Lions had one of their better teams in recent memory, finishing 21-13 overall and tied with Indiana at 9-9 in league play. Penn State was invited to and won the NIT behind Tony Carr, who later entered the NBA draft and was selected by the Pelicans.
IU’s last trip to State College was a memorable one. IU won 78-75 at Penn State in 2017 on a buzzer beater by James Blackmon, Jr. The Hoosiers also lost OG Anunoby for the season in that contest.
It is also noteworthy that unlike last year, there appears to be no games on one day of rest.
With today’s reports, the dates, times and locations for all of IU’s November and December games are now known. You can view the latest 2018-19 schedule here.
