My Two Cents: Rare to Get 4-Straight Big Ten Blowouts, So Just Take Minnesota Win

No one should be surprised that Indiana didn't get that fourth-straight Big Ten blowout win at Minnesota. It's hard to do. You have to go all the way back to 1976 to find an Indiana team that won four league games in a row by 13 points or more. Here is today's fun Indiana basketball history lesson.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Indiana was on a heater, with Trayce Jackson-Davis fueling the fire with insane numbers night after night. Prior to Wednesday night's game at Minnesota, the Hoosiers had won three straight by 13 points or more — and looked great doing it.

Four straight routs seemed a certainty against a depleted Minnesota team that had only seven scholarship players available. The Hoosiers were 11.5-point favorites at tip-off, and surely they could get to that lucky No. 13 and keep my blowout statistic alive.

But, no, of course, it didn't happen.

Indiana won 61-57, pulling it out in the final minute. The streak of 13-point wins ended, but that's really not shocking. That just doesn't happen. Big Ten road games are so unpredictable, as is playing in 95-year-old Williams Arena. Heck, I watched a Bob Knight-coached team lose here by 50!

And you're curious, right? When was the last time Indiana won four straight league games by 13 points or more?

Amazing, you have to go all the way back to 1976, the undefeated season some 47 years ago that is the greatest year in Indiana basketball history.

In the final four regular season games, the Hoosiers beat Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Ohio State, winning by 20, 29, 13 and 29. The Hoosiers, 18-0 in the league that season, only did it once. 

The greatest domination of the Big Ten actually came a year earlier, in the 1975 missing-banner season. Here's how good that team was. They won their first 14 league games by 13 points or more, and 16 of 18 total when it was all said and done.

Something, right? Good history lessons are a must. And, wow, that's a great reminder that the 1975 team really should have gone unbeaten too and won another banner.

Let's take a look at some of these recent fun runs we discussed. During this current streak, the Hoosiers had won all three games by 13 points or more before Minnesota. That in itself hadn't happened in 10 years, since Indiana's really good 2013 team that featured Cody Zeller, Victor Oladipo and others.

From Feb. 10 to Feb. 16 in 2013, Indiana won games against Ohio State (81-68), Nebraska (76-47) and Purdue (83-55). Here are some fun nuggets from that streak:

• Feb. 10, 2013 — No. 1 Indiana 81, No. 10 Ohio State 68: Victor Oladipo had 26 points, Cody Zeller had 24 and Christian Watford had 20 in the Hoosiers' big win in Columbus.
• Feb. 13, 2013 — No. 1 Indiana 76, Nebraska 47: Zeller scored 16 points in 18 minutes and Watford and Oladipo had 13 each in the easy win. The Hoosiers held Nebraska to just 18 first-half points.
• Feb. 16, 2013 — No. 1 Indiana 83, Purdue 55: Will Sheehey had 22 points on 9-of-9 shooting in the Hoosiers' blowout win in Bloomington. Zeller and the Hoosiers held Purdue center A.J. Hammons to just six points.

It has been almost four years since the Hoosiers had won four straight Big Ten games period, which borders on amazing. That happened late in the 2018-19 season, in Archie Miller's second year, and at the time, doing so shocked everyone because that Hoosiers' team wasn't beating anybody.

During that season, the Hoosiers won their first three Big Ten games but then proceeded to lose 12 of their next 13. On Feb. 22,  they were 4-13 in the Big Ten and 13-14 overall. Playing in any kind of postseason seemed unlikely. They finally got back on track with an double-overtime 75-73 win over Wisconsin at Assembly Hall

Then the Hoosiers got crazy hot, beating No. 6 Michigan State, Illinois and Rutgers. They lost the final regular season game to Ohio State — something of an NCAA Tournament play-in game for two teams with similar resumes — but had done enough to at least earn an NIT bid. They beat St. Francis (Pa.) and Arkansas before losing to Wichita State in the NIT quarterfinals. 

Let's stroll again. Here's that four-game winning streak:

• Feb. 22, 2019 — Indiana 75, No. 19 Wisconsin 73 in 2-OT: Freshman Romeo Langford led the Hoosiers with 22 points and won the game with a layup in the final second of double overtime. Justin Smith had 12 points, and guards Al Durham and Rob Phinisee had 11.
• March 2, 2019 — Indiana 63, No. 6 Michigan State 62: Amazingly, when Indiana lost 12 of 13 Big Ten games, the only win was at No. 6 Michigan State. And then, in March, they beat them again. Michigan State finished 16-4 that year, tying Purdue for the league title. Indiana cost them the outright crown. Justin Smith led the way with 24 points.
• March 7, 2019 — Indiana 92, Illinois 74: Juwan Morgan had 20 points and nine rebounds in the Hoosiers' 18-point blowout win in Champaign. It would take them four years to win in Champaign again, which they did last Thursday behind Trayce Jackson-Davis' 35 points.
• March 10, 2019 — Indiana 89, Rutgers 73: Morgan had a huge 26-point game as the Hoosiers rolled to a 16-point win. Langford added 20 points and Devonte Green added 16 off the bench. 

Next up for Indiana is Ohio State on Saturday night in Simon Skjodt, where they'll be looking to win their fifth straight Big Ten game. When was the last time that even happened? That's easy. The 2016 team that won the Big Ten under Tom Crean actually did it TWICE. They won five in a row at the end of the season to clinch the league title, and the streak ended with a regular-season finale loss to Michigan.

But earlier in that same season, Indiana won seven straight Big Ten games to open league play. That streaked ended with an overtime loss at Wisconsin  — the Hoosiers never win there — and I remember that being a terrific game. Yogi Ferrell had 30 that night for Indiana.

It's going to be interesting to see how long the Hoosiers can keep this streak alive. They'll be favored over Ohio State (11-9, 3-6 in the Big Ten) on Saturday night, and then they have their game of the month on Tuesday night at Maryland. The Terrapins have been mostly good at home, but that is clearly a winnable game for the Hoosiers, who won there a year ago as well.

That would be six straight heading into the first of two wars with No. 1-ranked Purdue on Saturday, Feb. 4 in Bloomington. Purdue is 20-1 right now, the best start in school history, and 9-1 in the Big Ten after winning at Michigan on Thursday night.

Just keep on winning. I never mind the history-books research time.

Trayce Jackson-Davis is averaging 27.3 points per game during Indiana's four-game winning streak. (Photo courtesy of IU Athletics

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• GAME STORY: Trayce Jackson-Davis led Indiana with 25 points and 21 rebounds, and got a huge offensive rebound and basket in the final minute to give the Hoosiers a 61-57 win at Minnesota on Wednesday. It was the first 20/20 game for an Indiana player since D.J. White in 2008. CLICK HERE
• WOODSON OUT WITH COVID: Indiana basketball will be without head coach Mike Woodson on Wednesday night at Minnesota as he recovers from COVID. CLICK HERE
• WHAT YASIR ROSEMOND SAID: For the first time in his college coaching career, Indiana assistant Yasir Rosemond had to call all the shots on Wednesday night at Minnesota after head coach Mike Woodson couldn't go because of COVID. He helped guide the Hoosiers to a 61-57 victory. Here is the transcript and video from his postgame press conference. CLICK HERE
• WHAT JACKSON-DAVIS SAID: It was another epic night for Indiana senior Trayce Jackson-Davis, who had 25 points, 21 rebounds and six blocked shots in the Hoosiers' 61-57 victory over Minnesota. Here is the video and transcript of his postgame press conference. CLICK HERE
• LIVE BLOG: Relive all the action in real time in Tom Brew's live blog straight from press row at Williams Arena. It was a nail-biter, for sure, but in the end the Hoosiers got their fourth-straight win. CLICK HERE
• WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS ALLEY-OOP: Trayce Jackson-Davis showed impressive athleticism to catch Jalen Hood-Schifino's alley-oop and slam it home in the second half against Minnesota. Watch the video highlight here. CLICK HERE
• WATCH HOOD-SCHIFINO'S REVERSE LAYUP: Indiana freshman point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino beat the Minnesota defense with an impressive up-and-under layup in the first half. Watch the video highlight here. CLICK HERE
• WATCH KOPP'S THREE-POINTER: Miller Kopp knocked down a pair of three-pointers to give Indiana an early lead over Minnesota on Wednesday. Watch the video highlight here. CLICK HERE
• INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is the full Indiana men's basketball schedule for the 2022-23 season, with dates, gametimes, TV information and more, plus links to all the stories for games played so far. CLICK HERE
• JACKSON-DAVIS SCORING LIST: Indiana senior Trayce Jackson-Davis continues to move up the Hoosiers' all-time scoring list. Here's the latest on where he is now, and who he's about to pass. We've got all 54 guys who've scored 1,000 points for more in their IU careers. CLICK HERE