Brian Otskey is an RTC contributor. He filed this report from Indiana’s victory over Georgia on Monday night at the Barclays Center. Follow him on Twitter @botskey.

Three thoughts from Indiana’s closer-than-expected victory over Georgia in Brooklyn tonight.

1. Jordan Hulls and Victor Oladipo provided Indiana with the lift it needed in the second half. After the game, Tom Crean said his team had a lot of energy sources tonight. Of those, nobody provided a bigger lift to the Hoosiers than Hulls and Oladipo. Hulls looked hesitant to shoot early in the game but got himself into a rhythm after halftime. The senior gunner from Bloomington knocked down four of six triples and sparked Indiana in transition. Oladipo, who blossomed into a major contributor for the Hoosiers last season, was a high flyer around the rim with a couple of athletic dunks and was a force defensively. Crean said his team had a tough time amping up the pace and getting out in transition, but Indiana was able to do that over the final 10-12 minutes of the game.
2. Cody Zeller wasn’t Cody Zeller but Indiana was able to overcome it. Zeller struggled all night after being saddled with early foul trouble and wound up taking only four shots. Without the Big Handsome in the middle, it’s clear that Indiana is a different team. The Hoosiers struggled mightily in the first half in running their offense and not having their seven-footer in the middle to run things through was the primary reason why. Zeller scored only six points, the second-lowest point total of his Indiana career. Indiana needs him on the floor to run its offense at the level Crean expects, but Zeller also has to demand the ball more. That was an issue at times last season. Bank on a better night for the sophomore stud tomorrow against Georgetown.
3. Georgia slowed the game successfully in the first half but couldn’t keep it up. While it wasn’t pretty to watch, Georgia did a great job slowing the pace and turning it into a half-court game. Unfortunately for Mark Fox and the Bulldogs, Hulls and Oladipo were able to fuel Indiana’s transition game in the second half. One key reason why the pace quickened was Georgia’s awful shot selection. Fox admitted in the post-game press conference that his guys had some “immature possessions,” but that’s putting it mildly. Georgia’s shot selection, particularly those of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, got worse as the game progressed. Fox said Caldwell-Pope was “a little wound up” and it showed. He’s clearly Georgia’s prime offensive threat, but taking 15 shots, most of them highly inefficient, is not the way to win games.

Bonus thought: Indiana fans turned Barclays Center into Assembly Hall East. IU loves Brooklyn? It sure seemed like it as droves of Hoosier fans made their way to New York for this game. Expect them to be back in even stronger numbers tomorrow evening for the championship game of the Legends Classic. A job well done by the folks in red, one of the very best fan bases in the entire country.

Kevin Doyle is an RTC correspondent, you can find him on Twitter @KLDoyle11. He filed this report after Friday night’s game between St. Joseph’s and Notre Dame in New York City.

An emotionally drained Phil Martelli entered the media postgame at the Barclays Center in the wee hours of Saturday morning, and before even addressing the media with his opening statement, he commented: “That was a November game? It sure seemed like a lot more than that to me.” Just minutes later, a deflated Mike Brey shared similar sentiments as he addressed the media: “What an unbelievable November game.” The two veteran coaches who have roamed the sidelines in hundreds of these early season games before couldn’t have been more on point. It was, indeed, quite the November game that saw St. Joseph’s earn a come-from-behind overtime victory over Notre Dame, 79-70. It was a game that felt like it belonged in March, rather than a November tournament in Brooklyn. It would be easy to scrutinize certain aspects of the contest, but sometimes the game is best left as is. No need to tarnish what was an exceptional two and a half hours of college basketball with overblown analysis .

Phil Martelli’s Hawks Got a Great Early Season Win Friday Night (AP)

You could write of Notre Dame’s ineptitude on offense in the final nine minutes of the game that saw the Irish squander an eight-point lead only to lose by nine, or how they settled for shots from the perimeter and seemingly refused to attack the imposing St. Joseph’s frontcourt after finding success there all game long. You could even make note of St. Joe’s inability to extend its defense out to the three-point line on several occasions, allowing Notre Dame to maintain a slim lead for much of the game. But, in just the third game for Notre Dame and second for St. Joseph’s this young season, why pick apart minor details that overshadow the bigger story of the night: a fine college basketball game between two future NCAA Tournament teams. No need to cloud Langston Galloway’s display of toughness as he came out for mere seconds after his tooth was knocked clear from his mouth as a Notre Dame player inadvertently hit him during a loose ball scrum. A play and response like this is something that assuredly would happen in March, and perhaps that’s why Friday evening’s game in Brooklyn didn’t exactly have a November feeling to it. Played in an NBA arena with a late-arriving and quiet crowd for the opening minutes, it took some time for the fans to become a part of the game—just like you might imagine an early-afternoon game on that Thursday in March feels like.

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1. Friday was supposed to be about the games, but perhaps the biggest news all last week came out of NCAA headquarters where it declared UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad ineligible to play “due to violations of NCAA amateurism rules,” citing his travel and lodging on unofficial visits to two schools — reportedly Duke and UNC — in addition to the already discussed relationship between his family and financial advisors. Perhaps given the timing of the announcement, for which the NCAA probably figured it would receive criticism, they also mentioned how long it took the Muhammad family to produce the necessary documents (a full three months) meaning that the NCAA took a little over one week to come to a decision and within a few hours of completing the necessary interviews. It should be pointed out that this ruling does not mean that Muhammad is done for the season, as the NCAA did not specify the duration of his ineligibility and UCLA plans to appeal the ruling. As we said before we are not that surprised by this decision, but expect this to play out over the next few weeks. Hopefully Muhammad stays at UCLA long enough for a final decision to be made.
2. As for the actual games, there were quite a few interesting storylines over the weekend, but the one that stood out was the cancellation of the two naval ship games on Friday night due to issues with condensation. The only outdoor game that was actually completed was the Sunday afternoon match-up between Syracuse and San Diego State and even that one had to be moved from Friday due to inclement weather. As we have said on this site before, the naval ship idea is nice as a morale boost for the troops and brings some good publicity to the sport when it is pulled off correctly, but as this weekend demonstrated there are too many confounding variables to make it a viable repeatable event. As much as we hate to say it just one year after the Carrier Classic was one of the highlights of last season, but the outdoor ship games need to go. If you want to do something to honor the troops on Veterans Day weekend, do something like what Michigan State and Connecticut did in Germany and play in front of them indoors — an airplane hangar works out just fine.
3. On Friday we ran a column featuring the winners and losers of the week. If we were doing another one today, Tom Crean would have to be at the top of the winners list as he not only added Noah Vonleh, the #8 recruit in the class of 2013, but he also signed a contract extension that runs through 2020 and pays him $3.16 million per year in base salary. As big as the Vonleh signing is (he might end up being Cody Zeller’s replacement if Zeller opts to enter the NBA Draft after this season), the contract extension should be a huge recruiting tool for Crean particularly as he recruits against more established coaches at the other top schools around the country. Kentucky fans might still mock the Hoosiers and their Sweet Sixteen rings, but the way things are looking we could have a very competitive interstate rivalry over the next decade even if the schools can’t come to an agreement to play each other.
4. Butler announced that it was starting a public fundraising campaign to get to the $16 million it needs to renovate Hinkle Fieldhouse. The school has already raised $11 million on its own, but needs to raise an additional $5 million to meet its goal. As much as we love Hinkle we understand the need to raise money to renovate it and help Butler stay competitive with the other high-level programs it competes against, but we are having a hard time with the naming opportunity section. For a place that seems essentially a temple/church of basketball, naming every nut and bolt in the place seems a little strange. Having said that if one of our generous benefactors wants to name something after us we would be willing to lend our name so long as it isn’t something particularly offensive, like a urinal.
5. Over the years we have commented on more than one occasion about the Taylor King saga as the former McDonald’s All-American bounced around from school to school, but we never knew much about his background. Jeff Goodman was able to get access to Taylor and his family to produce an excellent piece about the issues that King was dealing with including an overbearing father and a marijuana problem. King is currently in Taiwan trying to make a comeback while getting his his life together. It seems like we often hear about players failing to live up to their potential and writers and fans inevitably make fun of them (hello, Reeves Nelson), but as this case illustrates there is usually a lot more going on in the background that we never know about at the time.

1. The preseason top 50 players for the Wooden Award has been announced and nine Big Ten players were included on the list. The full list can be found here but clearly the B1G dominates the list which should come as no surprise because there are five teams ranked in the Top 25 from the league. Michigan, Indiana and Ohio State have two players each on the team, while Michigan State’s Keith Appling, Illinois’ Brandon Paul and Penn State’s Tim Frazier round the up the rest of the nine. Paul and Frazier might not lead their teams to the NCAA Tournament but both of them are expected to stuff the stat sheets and should average at least 15 PPG this season.
2. Speaking of Indiana, Tom Crean is hoping that the suspensions of Hanner Perea and Peter Jurkin will be reduced after the NCAA hears their appeals. Both freshmen were suspended for nine games for accepting benefits from a booster. After losing Derek Elston for a few weeks due to an injury, Crean needs their help in the frontcourt to protect and complement Cody Zeller. The Hoosiers won’t struggle too badly without them but a long suspension will derail their plans to improve by conference season with a full rotation of players. Indiana’s game against North Carolina in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, for example, will be tough but they have enough talent to overcome the Tar Heels without these two freshmen.
3. The college hoops season tips off today with Michigan State battling Connecticut at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. This is a big game for Tom Izzo not just professionally but also at a personal level. One of Izzo’s relatives, Michael Izzo, works at the commissary office and will meet the head coach along with his family. Izzo is also happy that the troops overseas will get to see an exciting match-up between two historic programs in college hoops. As for the game itself, Michigan State’s Gary Harris will showcase his talents for the first time on the national stage and the Spartans will look to lock down the Connecticut backcourt of Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright if they want to pull of an opening win today.
4. Ohio State is considered a top 10 team in the country mainly due to the talents of Deshaun Thomas and Aaron Craft. Not only do the Buckeyes have two potential All-Americans on their roster but they also have great depth at the wing position. Thad Matta will wait until tonight’s tipoff to decide who starts at the small forward position for the season opener against Marquette. Sam Thompson and Laquinton Ross are the finalists for that spot and both are great choices due to their gifted athleticism. Ross was highly ranked out of high school and is supposed to have great offensive skills while Thompson is a very tough defender. Lenzelle Smith Jr. will play at the scoring guard position alongside Aaron Craft in the backcourt.
5. Minnesota’s Tubby Smith has to be glad that the season is finally here after all of the off-court troubles he’s had to deal with over the last couple of months. But on the flip side, he will also be under intense scrutiny to perfrom and the fans will expect him to show some results on the court. He is owed $2 million this season and needs to prove that he is worth such a big paycheck. Trevor Mbakwe is definitely confident that the Gophers will prove their worth on the court and he has a great supporting cast as well. Rodney Williams can get to the basket in several different ways and Andre Hollins will be great on the perimeter. Smith needs to win consistently over the next two months to divert all of the negative attention back to winning actual basketball games and prove that he has control of the program.

No. 1 will start the year down two. As silly as the rule may be, the top-ranked Hoosiers will open their regular season on Friday without heralded freshmen Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin. The two have been suspended by the NCAA for the first nine games of the year after it was discovered that their former AAU coach, Mark Adams, provided them with thousands of dollars in plane tickets, meals, housing and personal items. The NCAA said in a statement that the two players were indeed allowed to accept those benefits from Adams’ non-profit organization that was formed to help international players obtain travel documents and to help cover costs to travel to the U.S (Mosquera-Perea is a native of Colombia, and Jurkin the Sudan). But Adams was considered an Indiana booster at the time, because he donated $185 to the school from 1986-92. Boosters can not provide benefits to players. Mosquera-Perea must pay back $1,590 and Jurkin will have to repay $250 (both to a charity of their choice), according to the Associated Press.

IU’s Freshmen Class Took an Early Hit Today (credit: scottphotography.com)

The two freshmen — part of Tom Crean’s No. 5-ranked class, according to Rivals.com — were expected to contribute immediately, although unlikely to start. Mosquera-Perea was Rivals’ No. 43 overall recruit in this year’s class, and Jurkin was unranked. The latter scored four points in 11 minutes in the Hoosiers’ exhibition win against Indiana-Wesleyan on November 1, while Mosquera-Perea was in uniform but did not play due to left foot injury that has been bothering him for most of the summer and fall.

Tom Crean was asked about the situation following the exhibition victory and said this: “What I can say about that is that we go through a lot in a program,” he told Insidethehall.com. “There’s situations that are always going to arise and every one of them has got a process to it. And we’re in the middle of that process. We just are. That’s the extent of it. They’re two great kids that are trying to get better every day and it’s not like it’s anything that we’re dealing with that just came up. It’s been a process for some time. And that’s really where we’re at with it.”

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College basketball coaches are consistently under the microscope throughout the year. Talent on paper does not always translate to wins and when it doesn’t, the fans demand an explanation. The Big Ten has five teams ranked in the preseason Top 25 but the entire league from top to bottom is considered by many as the best in the nation. The joy of looking good on paper will only last a few more days for each team because once the season tips off, the coaches in the conference will have to answer pointed questions about team chemistry, injuries and player rotations. Every coach feels pressure, but the following are five coaches from the Big Ten who need to show results and have to meet fairly high expectations this season. Any issues on or off the court will be heavily scrutinized and they will feel the pressure for different reasons throughout the season.

• Tubby Smith: Even though Smith’s contract was extended through the 2016-17 season over the summer, his job security is not guaranteed after recent issues off the court with Trevor Mbakwe and Saul Smith. Even though Smith can’t be blamed directly for Mbakwe’s legal troubles, his son’s DWI is a bad mark on his ability to control the program. Minnesota’s athletic director has to be concerned with the negative press that the program has received over the past few months. Keep in mind that this program went through a period of probation from violations committed under former head coach Clem Haskins in the late ‘90s. It took years to recover from those penalties and Smith was brought in to lead the Gopher program back to relevance. Even though he has been able to recruit quality talent to Minneapolis, he has not been able to compile much consistency during his tenure. The injury bug has bitten his teams over the years but certain players did not mesh with the program and Smith has not been able to implement the proper amount of discipline to foster good team chemistry. Both Royce White and Devoe Joseph were expected to contribute for a couple of seasons but they left the program on a bitter note. At some point, Smith needs to have a season where he wins 24 games, competes for the conference title, and make a serious run to reach for the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. He has a talented squad this year and if his team continues to find turmoil and not make the postseason, he might be in trouble.

Throughout the preseason, the Big Ten microsite will be rolling out the featured breakdowns of each of the 12 league schools. Today’s release is the Indiana Hoosiers.

Where We Left Off: The Hoosiers had what many figured would be this year, last year. (That confusing enough for ya?) Meaning, Indiana overreached moderate expectations for a young squad that was expected to round into a Top-10 squad this season with a more mature Cody Zeller and a highly-touted recruiting class to be mixed in with a couple veterans. But when Zeller and Tom Crean revived Assembly Hall with thrilling home victories against then-No. 1 Kentucky and then-No. 2 Ohio State (not to mention a victory against Crean’s mentor, Tom Izzo, and No. 5 Michigan State), the basketball world realized that Indiana is finally back. And they are here to stay. The Hoosiers are the consensus No. 1 team in the country, with Zeller a near unanimous preseason All-America selection and a favorite for college basketball’s player of the year. Then, couple seniors Jordan Hulls and Christian Watford with Rivals.com’s fifth-ranked incoming freshman class, and this team is loaded from top to bottom. The Hoosiers ended last season with a Sweet Sixteen loss to eventual champion Kentucky, but Indiana has its sights set on much more this year.

Cody Zeller is the face of the Hoosiers this season. And for good reason.

Positives: When talking about the positives, you have to start with Zeller. He’s the best big man in the country heading into his sophomore campaign, after averaging 15.6 PPG and 6.6 RPG as a freshman. He has good footwork, runs the floor exceptionally well, and has a great nose for the ball. There’s no reason the Indiana offense shouldn’t move through him on every possession. And that brings us to the roles of Hulls and Watford. As seniors on team that will get a lot of its scoring from underclassmen — namely Zeller and freshman Yogi Ferrell, and though Victor Oladipo is a junior, he doesn’t exactly have three years of solid game experience — Watford and Hulls should have the know-how and the presence of mind to get the ball in and out of the post and through Zeller every trip downcourt. This depth and balance of scoring talent and Big Ten experience will do wonders for the Hoosiers this season.

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Jesse Baumgartner is an RTC columnist. His Love/Hate column will publish each week throughout the season. In this piece he’ll review the five things he loved and hated about the previous seven days of college basketball.

Five Things I Loved This Week

I LOVED….Tom Crean getting his due. After stepping into a situation that fits right into a Halloween house of horrors, Crean should rightfully take a full, oh, 20 minutes and bask in the satisfaction of planting Hoosierville right back on top of the college basketball world. Seriously, this is pretty remarkable. It’s not like Indiana had just been down for a few years before he stepped onto the scene – other than the freak run to the NCAA finals in 2002, this program hadn’t made the Sweet Sixteen since 1994. And to deal with sanctions and penalties on top of everything else…. soak it up Tommy, because they’re coming for you now.

Tom Crean Has the Nation’s #1 Team in the Preseason Polls (Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images).

I LOVED…. finding about this awesome tradition at John Brown University, as the fans pelt the court with toilet paper following the team’s first home basket of the year. For all hype that fan bases at the big schools get, this might top them all in the originality column.

I LOVED…. how John Calipari continues to make us learn at least five new names every year. His latest freshmen class looked fine in its debut, and I’m excited for another season to see how sustainable his one-and-done championship model really is. Maybe he’s figured it out and will see more vindication this season. Or maybe we’ll be left wondering again how realistic it is to build chemistry and tourney success in six months. Chalk me up as one guy hoping for the latter.

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1. The injury bug has stung the Wisconsin Badgers this preseason. After losing Mike Bruesewitz for a few weeks with a leg injury, they have now lost one of their returning guards, Josh Gasser, for the season. Gasser tore his ACL during practice on Saturday. Gasser averaged 7.6 PPG and 4.2 RPG while playing 34.1 MPG last season and Bo Ryan indicated that he would start in the backcourt. Bruesewitz should be back by mid-December and his senior leadership will be a great asset for a young Badger squad but Gasser’s absence will be felt. Traevon Jackson and George Marshall will be called upon to step up in the backcourt and assume the point guard role as Ryan regroups before the season begins.
2. Minnesota assistant coach Saul Smith will return to the sidelines after his DWI and temporary suspension. Gophers’ athletic director Norwood Teague said that Smith has been reinstated in terms of payroll as of last Friday but will not return to his job until November 13. Teague reiterated that this type of behavior will not be “taken lightly,” but didn’t think it was an offense that should cost Smith his job. According to the university, Smith’s court hearing will be on November 9. Gopher fans just want the season to get started and see their talented squad in action as Minnesota is considered as the next best team in the conference after Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin (per the preseason polls).
3. Tom Crean recently received a huge commitment from Troy Williams, a top 50 recruit in the class of 2013. Williams, a 6’6 wing, plays for Oak Hill Academy and let Crean know about his decision over the weekend. The other finalists on his list of schools were Alabama, Arkansas, Louisville and North Carolina. The high school senior was in attendance for Hoosier Hysteria last weekend and was impressed by what he saw in Bloomington. Indiana will lose Christian Watford (12.6 PPG, 5.8 RPG) at the wing after this year, but Crean continues to set himself up with another good recruiting class upcoming.
4. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has never been one to remain quiet about his thoughts with the media. Izzo recently discussed the AP and Coaches preseason polls in the context of MSU’s primary rivals, Indiana and Michigan. IU comes in at #1 while Michigan is #5 and the Spartans are ranked at #14 in both of the major preseason polls. Izzo also talked about the role of image and national perception in the college hoops world and believes that it is an important ingredient to success. He added that there is no reason for him to like his rivals (specifically Michigan) but he can “respect them.” The rivals face off twice during the Big Ten season – on February 12 in East Lansing and on March 2 in Ann Arbor.
5. Tom Izzo, Bo Ryan and Tubby Smith have been coaching for years in the business. Even though Thad Matta is only 45, his impact on the coaching ranks has been very impressive as he already has had several assistants move on to bigger opportunities at other programs. Eleven Warriors explores Matta’s coaching tree after Big Ten Media Day. Matta’s once-assistant John Groce, for example, will now be coaching against him at Illinois. Matta’s assistants include Butler head coach Brad Stevens and Arizona head coach Sean Miller, both of whom are considered rising coaches in the business. The Big Ten is known for its coaches with long tenures such as Bobby Knight and Gene Keady. If Matta stays in Columbus for another decade or so, his coaching tree will continue to expand and his footprint on Big Ten hoops will only continue to grow.

1. The Hoosiers’ depth is one of the biggest reasons for their preseason hype and they will need it during the first two months of the season. Indiana forward Derek Elston will miss several weeks of the regular season due to a torn meniscus. Even though Elston only averaged 2.4 RPG last season, he is supposed to be an integral part of Tom Crean’s bench this season. Elston would have backed up Cody Zeller and maybe even played some minutes toward the end of certain games to keep the All-American stay out of foul trouble, but the underclassmen will need to step up now. Hanner Mosquera-Perea will be one of the key freshmen who will need to become a complement to Zeller in the frontcourt during the first few weeks of the year.
2. Tubby Smith has had to deal with a lot of trouble over the last week or so. Dealing with his son and Gopher assistant coach Saul Smith’s DWI is only the latest of his issues. The Minnesota athletic director has made it clear that he rather than Smith would decide the appropriate punishment for Saul Smith’s arrest from last weekend. The younger Smith is currently on unpaid leave until the administration reveals more details about its decision regarding his job and the AD, Norwood Teague, has repeatedly punctuated that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated. Smith is scheduled to appear in the court on December 3 and may face very a charge like fourth-degree DWI which could potentially jeopardize his career in Minneapolis.
3. Great athletes take rehabiliatation very seriously and want to get back to practice as soon as possible. Michigan State’s Branden Dawson is no different, as he has been trying to recover as quickly as possible from his March ACL injury. During his recovery, Dawson has developed a very good relationship with the Spartans’ trainer, Quinton Sawyer, and credits him for an efficient recovery process. Tom Izzo and the trainers believe that Dawson has put in the effort and is ready to come back “from a mental standpoint.” But it will take some time for him to get back into game shape. Freshman guard Gary Harris will need to assume the defensive stopper’s role until Dawson is back to 100% in the Spartan lineup. Assuming that Dawson will be recover completely by mid-January, MSU will be a force once again in early March.
4. John Beilein’s offensive system requires several efficient shooters from beyond the arc. The ball movement needs to be crisp as it leads to open looks as the players are consistently asked to move without the ball. Last season, Zach Novak (41% 3FG) and Stu Douglass (34% 3FG), understood the offensive schemes and were very good shooters from the wing. After their departures, another wing will need to move into that designated role of gunner and it very well might be freshman guard Nik Stauskas. Stauskas may not receive as much recognition as fellow rookies Mitch McGary or Glenn Robinson III, but UMHoops explains why he could play an integral role in the success of the Wolverines this season.
5. Bo Ryan’s Badgers always introduce a new player every season who makes the leap from a nobody to a key contributor. Without consistent production from new players filling in for the departure of stars like Jordan Taylor, Ryan couldn’t have produced all those consecutive winning seasons in Madison. Center Frank Kaminsky might be that player this season as he is expected to have an increased role in the offense. The 6’11” sophomore has spent the offseason trying to lose weight and work on his conditioning with the trainers. He averaged only eight minutes per game last season but will certainly be an important complement to Jared Berggren (10.5 PPG) in the Wisconsin frontcourt. He may not be expected to contribute much offensively but his size will be very important if Wisconsin expects to compete in a conference that features numerous superb big men such as Cody Zeller and Trevor Mbakwe.