Tuesday Night is senior night for the Indiana Hoosiers, and three players in particular — Jordan Hulls, Christian Watford, and Derek Elston – will be taking the court one last time in Bloomington as the Hoosiers take on the 14th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.

I was going to say it’s been a bumpy ride for these three seniors, but I don’t think that quite does them justice.

Joining an Indiana Hoosiers squad that had suffered its worst season in school history (6-25), which included the fewest wins since the 1915-16 season and the worst conference record (1-17) since it was moved to an 18-game schedule in the 1974-75 season, these men have worked tirelessly for the past four years to build the foundation for the Hoosiers team that you see today.

Make no bones about it: without the commitment, perseverance, dedication, and loyalty of Hulls, Watford, and Elston, this Indiana team wouldn’t be playing for its first Big Ten title since 2002 and their first outright title since 1993.

Since we’re all about the numbers here at Assembly Call, let’s just see how valuable this ternion of players has been:

JORDAN HULLS

YR PPG RPG APG MPG GP 2009 6.2 2.1 1.5 25.1 31 2010 11.0 2.3 2.9 31.2 32 2011 11.7 2.5 3.3 30.1 36 2012 10.7 2.5 3.1 29.2 29

CHRISTIAN WATFORD

YR PPG RPG APG MPG GP 2009 12.0 6.0 0.6 28.5 31 2010 16.0 5.1 1.1 29.1 29 2011 12.6 5.3 1.3 28.4 36 2012 12.7 6.4 1.1 27.3 29

DEREK ELSTON

YR PPG RPG APG MPG GP 2009 5.8 4.1 0.4 15.1 31 2010 4.9 3.7 0.3 15.5 31 2011 4.2

2.4 0.4 12.3 34 2012 1.5 1.0 0.2 7.2 14

Since coming together in 2009-10, each player has stepped into his role, accepted it, developed it, and has fashioned himself into the player you see today.

Jordan Hulls

Thrust into a starting role the day he arrived, Jordan Hulls has been Bloomington’s very own hometown hero. Hailing from Bloomington South High School, he didn’t have to exactly go very far to play for his school. But since his inaugural season, Jordy has come a long way: Not the biggest or most athletically talented player on the court, he’s had to outsmart and out-hustle his more naturally gifted peers.

His freshman year was a difficult one. Jordan has always been more of a scorer rather than a facilitator, and he struggled a bit on the court, averaging only 6.2 PPG and just 1.5 APG while logging more than 25 minutes a game.

He’s found his game since then, developing that lightning quick and quirky release, a sometimes Nash-like floater in the lane, and deadly marksmanship from three point range.

And part of his appeal is that he looks just like the your average male IU student. But he’s far, far from it. In his final season, he’s averaging 10.7 PPG and 3.1 APG.

Christian Watford

Much like Jordan Hulls, Christian Watford has been heavily relied on from day one.

Averaging an impressive 28.3 minutes per game for his career, Christian has truly been a huge part of the foundation (statistically) that the Hoosiers have been able to rely on year in, and year out.

I’ve given him the very apt title of ‘Mr. Consistency’ this year, and there’s no doubt that’s been the case. His minutes and points have declined since his sophomore season (only slightly), but he’s shaped himself to become a monster on the glass, along with Cody Zeller combining for an average of 14.5 rebounds per game this year.

Always there to put up his 13 points and 6 boards — and oftentimes more — filling in for Watford after he’s gone will not be an easy task for any Hoosier.

Derek Elston

Lastly, let’s talk Derek Elston.

Almost always coming off the bench, Derek does just as much for his team off the court as he does on it. I invite you to read this piece by Justin Albers from Inside the Hall; it’s a wonderful and in-depth look at Elston’s contribution to the team over the years.

And although he missed the first part of the season due to injury, and although his minutes are down, he has performed very well in his limited role. With talent amassing around him, he’s had to constantly compete for minutes on the court, but rather than make it issue of it, he’s embraced it and the team has strengthened because of it.

IU v Ohio State

Now that I’ve given some much-deserved recognition to our seniors, let’s turn back briefly towards the upcoming game against #14 Ohio State.

Since knocking off a top ten team on the road for the first time since 2000, the Hoosiers will be playing the Buckeyes for the second time this season after their 81-68 victory in Columbus, which included a 70-point performance from our ‘Big Three’ (Zeller, Watford, and Oladipo).

It was an incredible performance to watch, and if we get anything similar to what we witnessed on Feb. 10th, we’ll all be celebrating an outright Big Ten title tomorrow evening.

Now we’ll take a quick look at our Four Factors from game on February 10th:

FOUR FACTORS: FEB 10

eFG% TO% OR% FTR INDIANA 60.20% 15.15% 45.93% 44.90% OHIO STATE 44.92% 18.18% 36.11% 25.12%

Indiana shot the ball at an excellent clip, draining 26 of 49 from the field, and holding Ohio State to just 11 points off of turnovers.

In fact, the only category in the Four Factors that the Hoosiers lost out on was offensive rebounding percentage (a somewhat common theme), getting out-rebounded on the offensive glass, 11 to 7.

They more than made up for it at the free throw line, however; the Hoosiers sank 22 free throws to the Buckeyes’ 15. With the game in Bloomington, look for the team to try and make this one special for the seniors by capping the night off with a win.

Ken Pomeroy has Indiana as 11-point favorites, with an 82% chance of victory, and I like us in this one as well.

Prediction: Indiana 79, Ohio State 70

