The 2011–12 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represented
Indiana University in the
2011–12 college basketball season. Their head coach was
Tom Crean, in his fourth season with the Hoosiers. The team played its home games at
Assembly Hall in
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...
, and was a member of the
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...
. They finished the season 27–9 overall and 11–7 in Big Ten play. They advanced to the second round of the
2012 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament
The 2012 Big Ten men's basketball tournament was held from March 8 through March 11 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. This was the first tournament to feature 12 teams of the expanded Big Ten, with 2011–12 Nebraska Cornhuskers men's ...
before falling to Wisconsin. They received an at-large bid in the
2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament where they advanced to the ''Sweet Sixteen'' before falling to eventual champion
Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
.
Preseason
Coach Tom Crean signed a three-man class in 2011.
Season
On December 10, 2011, top-ranked Kentucky traveled to Bloomington to take on unranked Indiana. Indiana fans sensed a resurgence in the program and possible upset, with students lining up outside the arena 10 hours before tipoff to get good seats. The game remained close and hard-fought, with five lead changes in the final 121 seconds. At the last second,
Christian Watford hit a 3-pointer, giving the Hoosiers a stunning 73–72 upset. Victor Oladipo had 13 points and five Hoosiers wound up in double figures. Watford's shot sent Indiana fans storming the court and crowding around players. Kentucky's loss was their only one of the regular season and prevented them from matching a record last set by Indiana's 1975–1976 team.
Video of Indiana fans reacting to the shot around the country went
viral. ESPN commentator
Dick Vitale, who was covering the game for the network, said it was the "best game of the year" and that "
e atmosphere there was unreal, as I felt the building shaking after Watford hit the shot." According to Bob Kravitz, the win marked "a day when Hoosier Hysteria was restored to something akin to its former glory."
On December 31, 2011, the Hoosiers knocked off 2nd ranked Ohio State and in doing so became the first IU team in history to knock off the top 2 team ranked teams in the same season. On February 28, 2012 they again beat a Top 5 team by beating No. 5 Michigan State, and became the first IU team since the undefeated
1975–76 team to beat 3 Top 5 teams in the same year.
The Hoosiers earned a number four seed in the
2012 NCAA tournament and defeated
New Mexico State in the second round. After defeating
VCU in the third round, the Hoosiers however would go on to lose to eventual champion
Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
in the Sweet Sixteen 102–90, as the Wildcats avenged their lone regular season loss.
Roster
Schedule
, -
!colspan=9, Exhibition
, -
!colspan=9, Regular Season
, -
!colspan=12, Big Ten Regular Season
, -
!colspan=9,
Big Ten Conference tournament
, -
!colspan=9,
2012 NCAA tournament
Rankings
"The Movement"
The 2012 class consists of
Yogi Ferrell, Hanner Perea, Jeremy Hollowell, Peter Jurkin, and Ron Patterson.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Indiana Hoosiers Men's Basketball Team
Indiana Hoosiers
Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball seasons
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
2011 in sports in Indiana
2012 in sports in Indiana