Game day essentials:

Indiana (8-3, 1-1) vs. Chattanooga (8-4)

• Tip time: Easter lunch, Saturday
• Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17.222), Bloomington, Ind.
• TV: BTN (Wayne Randazzo, Stephen Bardo)
• Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, John Herrick)
• Electricity: Fox Sports
• Distribution of points: Indiana is the favorite by 14.5 points
• KenPom Predicted Score: Indiana 85 Chattanooga 71
• Story: Indiana leads the series 3-0
• Last meeting: IU 99, UTC 74 on March 17, 2016 in Des Moines, Iowa (NCAA Tournament Round of 64)
• Tickets (via our StubHub partner link)

Dan Earl of Chattanooga

Dan Earl is in his third season as head coach of the Chattanooga men’s basketball program. Over his coaching career, he has an overall record of 120-172.

Fans may know Earl well from his playing days at Penn State. Due to two redshirt seasons, he was Penn State’s point guard from 1993 to 1999. The 1995-96 season was one of the most impressive seasons of his career as he earned All-Big Ten honors and his team ranked as high as No. 9.

After a brief playing career overseas, Earl accepted a position as an assistant in 2006, where he remained until 2011. He then became Navy’s deputy head coach until 2015.

Earl accepted his first head coaching job at Virginia Military Institute in 2015 out of the SoCon. His tenure was marked by some tough years, but he was named SoCon Coach of the Year in 2021 after leading the Keydets to their first successful season with him at the helm. Its only postseason tournament appearance came in the CBI in 2022 after VMI finished tied for fifth place in the SoCon.

Earl accepted the head coaching job for Chattanooga in March 2022. He has a 47-33 record with the Mocs. His best finish came last season when he led the Mocs to a 12-6 record in the SoCon, good for second place in the conference.

Chattanooga results and squad

DATE	OPPONENT	LOCATION	RESULT
November 4, 2024	at USC	Los Angeles, California.	L 51-77
November 9, 2024	in St. Mary’s Church	Moraga, California.	L 74-86
11/11/2024	at Austin Peay	Clarksville, Tennessee.	L 61-67
November 14, 2024	Morehead State	Chattanooga, Tennessee	W 76-62
November 17, 2024	in the southeastern state of Missouri	Cape Girardeau, Mo.	W87-82
November 21, 2024	Johnson (TN)	Chattanooga, Tenn.	W 72-52
November 25, 2024	Tennessee State (Coke Classic)	Chattanooga, Tenn.	W 85-78
November 27, 2024	Bryant (Cola Classic)	Chattanooga, Tennessee	W 84-76
12/03/2024	Lip comb	Chattanooga, Tenn.	L 62-80
12/12/2024	in Evansville	Evansville, Indiana	W 75-67
12/15/2024	Alabama A&M	Chattanooga, Tennessee	W 85-63
12/18/2024	Tennessee Wesleyan	Chattanooga, Tenn.	W 99-52

Chattanooga Game Notes (via Chattanooga Athletics)

CHATTANOOGA WILL PASS AT TWU IN THE LAST HOME GAME OF 2024

• Chattanooga (8-4) earned its eighth win in its last nine games after posting a dominant 99-52 victory over NAIA member and state foe Tennessee Wesleyan on Wednesday night at McKenzie Arena. UTC collected 25 assists and posted a +32 rebounding margin (59-27) to pace the victory over the Bulldogs.

THREE-POINT SHOOTING IS THE KEY TO THE WINNING DREAM

• Chattanooga has compiled its two best three-point shots of the season during its current three-game winning streak. In last Thursday’s win at UE, UTC hit a season-high 12 three-pointers before topping the total with 14 three-pointers in Sunday’s win over AAMU. UTC reached 14 again in its win over TWU on Thursday night and has now scored a combined 40 3PT-FGs in its last three games.

BONHAM was named SOCON Player of the Week

• Trey Bonham was named Southern Conference Player of the Week on Monday. Bonham averaged 21.5 points while shooting 66.7% (14 of 21) from the floor, including 58.3% (7 of 12) from 3PT in wins over Evansville (22p, 3r, 3a) and AAMU ( 21p, 4r, 4a). 3s) last week. It’s his first SoCon POTW as a Moc and his second overall (02/21/22 with VMI).

More like this, your honor

• Reaching the 1,000 career point mark Thursday in Evansville, Honor Huff has begun to find its rhythm in the last week after a slow start to its 2024-25 season. Huff has shot at an even 50.0% (10 of 20) from 3PT land over the last two games, including a 6 of 11 (54.5%) performance in Sunday’s win over AAMU, a game that he ended the season with a win. high 24 points.

Notable KenPom numbers from Chattanooga:

(from 364 teams)

Pace – #226 (Offensive #250 / Defense #151)

Offensive Efficiency – #122

• The Mocs’ effective field goal percentage is 52.4 (No. 119). They shot 31.2 percent from three (No. 258) and 57.8 percent from two (No. 35).
• However, Chattanooga doesn’t find many points from within. 45.1 percent of their point distribution comes from 2-pointers (No. 288).
• On the other hand, their three-point attempt rate is high at 49.1 percent (No. 23).

Defensive Efficiency – #270

• Opponents have posted an effective field goal percentage of 52.5 so far (No. 241).
• Their turnover rate is nothing to write home about, with a turnover percentage of 16.5 (#245).
• The teams shoot well from outside against Chattanooga with a rate of 35.4 percent (No. 259).
• They don’t generate many blocked shots (3.6 percent rate, No. 360)

OG’s pick:

Win/loss record: 7-2

Indiana should clean up against Chattanooga. On paper, the Mocs don’t have any defensive metrics that should cause any real problems for the Hoosiers. Once again, they like to shoot a lot of threes, but their success rate so far this season has me betting on Indiana by a wide margin.

PICK: Indiana 89 – Chattanooga 63

For complete coverage of IU basketball, click HERE.

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The Daily Hoosier – “Where Indiana fans gather when they’re not at the meeting.”

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