Indiana Basketball Will Host Florida State in 2019 Big Ten / ACC Challenge

Indiana will be taking on someone other than Duke in the 2019 Big Ten / ACC Challenge.

After facing the Blue Devils in each of the last two years, the Hoosiers will face the Florida State Seminoles in this year’s event.

The IU basketball program has now confirmed what CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein first reported regarding this year’s opponent in the annual slate of games involving the two power five conferences.

The game will be played on Tuesday, December 3 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington.  A specific time has not yet been released.

FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton released this statement about the game via the Florida State Athletics website:

“We are very excited about playing Indiana in the ACC / Big Ten Challenge.” said Hamilton. “They are always a very well-coached and athletic team. Indiana obviously is one of the historic programs in college basketball. Playing on their campus, in their gym with their knowledgeable and enthusiastic fans is going to be very tough. I am confident our players will embrace playing Indiana on the road, and we’ll be ready to play.”

IU holds a 4-0 all-time series lead over the Seminoles.  After meeting three times in less the two years in the early 1990’s, the teams have not played in 27 years.

This year’s contest will be the first meeting between the programs since a pair of 1992 battles including a NCAA Tournament game in March of that year.

Here are the four previous meetings:

• Nov. 25 1992:  Indiana 81-78 (at New York)
• Mar. 26 1992:  Indiana 85-74 (at Albuquerque)
• Mar. 16 1991:  Indiana 82-60 (at Louisville)
• Dec. 8 1975:    Indiana 83-59 (at Indianapolis)

Interestingly, this will be the first on campus game in the series.

Although IU will not a face a traditional ACC power this year, make no mistake — the Seminoles will be a major test.

Florida State is coming off a program record 29 win season that saw them go 16-3 down the stretch including wins over Virginia, Louisville and Syracuse.  They finished fourth in a stacked ACC with a 13-5 record and were ranked No. 10 in the final AP poll of the season.

The Seminoles only three losses in its final 19 games came at the hands of Duke, North Carolina and a Sweet 16 loss to No. 1 seeded Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament.

FSU will look to carry their momentum into the 2019-20 season, but they will have to replace a lot of pieces.

Most notable is forward Mfiondu Kabengele, who declared early for the NBA Draft.  The 6-foot-10 big man led the team with 13.2 points per game and was second with 5.9 rebounds.

Florida State will likely be a guard oriented team next year, with several key players missing from their 2018-19 front court.

Hamilton will also lose the following key contributors from last year’s squad:

• Terance Mann (G) 11.4 ppg, 6.5 rpg
• Phil Cofer (F) 7.4 ppg., 3.5 rpg
• Christ Koumadje (C) 6.6 ppg., 5.6 rpg
• P.J. Savoy (G) 5.9 ppg. 52 made threes.
• David Nichols (G) 6.4 ppg

Notable returning players for FSU include:

• Trent Forrest (G) 9.3 ppg., 4.5 rpg., 3.7 assists per game, 1.8 steals per game.
• M.J. Walker (G) 7.5 ppg., 2.2 rpg.
• RaiQuan Gray (F) 3.9 ppg., 2.3 rpg.
• Devin Vassell (G) 4.5 ppg. 41.9 percent three-point shooter
• Anthony Polite (G) 2.7 ppg., 1.7 rpg.

The Seminoles have a strong 2019 recruiting class headlined by five-star wing Patrick Williams.  The overall group is ranked No. 17 nationally according to the 247Sports Composite and it includes two 7-footers that should help FSU reload its front court.  Another 7-footer — Dominik Olejniczak — is an immediately eligible transfer in from Ole Miss.

IU is 7-11 all-time in Big Ten / ACC challenge games.  FSU is 9-11 and has won three straight games in the event including a win over Purdue last year.

The ACC leads the all-time Challenge series by a 12-5-3 margin after the two leagues finished in a 7-7 tie in 2018.

The ACC has won two of the last three Challenges after winning each of the first 10 in the series that began in 1999.

Florida State is Indiana’s fourth high major non-conference opponent on its 2019-20 schedule along with Arkansas, UConn and Notre Dame.  With 20 additional Big Ten games, the remaining seven contests are likely to consist of mid-major or lesser opponents.

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The complete 2019 Big Ten / ACC Challenge Schedule:

Monday December 2, 2019
Miami at Illinois
Clemson at Minnesota

Tuesday December 3, 2019
Florida State at Indiana
Michigan at Louisville
Iowa at Syracuse
Rutgers at Pitt
Duke at Michigan State
Northwestern at Boston College

Wednesday December 3, 2019
Virginia at Purdue
Notre Dame at Maryland
Nebraska at Georgia Tech
Ohio State at North Carolina
Wisconsin at NC State
Wake Forest at Penn State

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