IU Indy (formerly IUPUI) has a new head coach and a new philosophy, but it barely took the betting market a second to figure out what the hell to do with the Jaguars.
The LIU vs. IU Indy total opened at 161 on Wednesday night, and by Thursday morning, it jumped instantly to 180. It's now reached as high as 185. This is kind of line movement reserved for situations where sportsbooks totally miss something, like when the 2021 WNBA All-Star Game total moved 60 points because they changed the rules.
From Action Labs odds dashboard:
But maybe there's a good reason for it.
Ben Howlett was hired from Division II West Liberty and brought what they call "The System." They play a full roster of guys, full-court press on almost every possession, shoot a ton of 3's, and seemingly either turn opponents over, foul, or give up a free basket.
From a great interview with Howlett and his former players by Basket Under Review:
"[Former West Liberty coach Jim] Crutchfield’s system was unlike anything that anybody else was running in college basketball. He gave players freedom to make decisions, didn’t pigeonhole them into positions, and emphasized a high-pressure, fast-paced press that would take teams out of their element."
It's frantic, tiring, and results in an insane number of possessions per game.
“Nobody understands what they sign up for,” former West Liberty guard Steve Cannady told Basket Under Review. “They know, but they don’t know what goes through it and how it works.”
In their opener against Ohio State, a 118-102 Buckeyes win, IU Indy:
- Committed 36 fouls, and Ohio State shot 43-of-52 from the line
- Forced 17 Ohio State turnovers
- Shot 12-of 38 from 3-point range
- Played nine players at least 14 minutes (Ohio State only six). Nobody played over 30 minutes for IU Indy
- The total opened at around 160 and ended with 220 total points
IU Indy is a bottom-20 Division I team in most public power rating sets, including ours, but they'll be a fun watch, and the betting market is starting to take notice.
Our Mike Calabrese got the best of the widely available numbers on the over at 180 this morning.
