To begin the 2012-2013 season, IU won its first 11 games.
The current Hoosiers are on a nine-game win streak, dating back to a Dec. 5, 2015, win against Morehead State at Assembly Hall.
IU will test its win streak at Minnesota on Saturday against a team who has lost six games in a row.
There have been a few common themes in IU’s current win streak. Perhaps the most important is the quality of the opponents who have played the Hoosiers.
The current combined record of the nine teams is 77-74. Only five of those teams play in a power conference. The other four teams were a part of “buy games,” where IU pays a school to compete in Bloomington.
Rutgers, Nebraska and Wisconsin have also struggled this season, posting a combined record of 25-29.
But regardless of the competition, the Hoosiers have still won nine games in a row and played well.
Most winning games were won by a significant margin. In total, the Hoosiers have outscored their opponents 768-588.
IU has shot better from the field than its opponent in every game except IU’s 80-73 win against Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic.
The Hoosiers have also received more bench scoring than its opponents in every game but two: the 92-59 win against Morehead State and the 85-60 win against Ohio State.
In total, IU’s bench has outscored opponents’ benches 213-136. Recently, much of this has come from freshman forward OG Anunoby. For the last four games, Anunoby averaged 9.25 points per game and four rebounds per game.
While the streak has been achieved against subpar teams, that is not going to change anytime soon.
For the next five games, the Hoosiers will face Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Northwestern’s record is 15-3, but is only 3-2 in the Big Ten. The other three teams have a combined record of 24-27 this season.
