Mike Woodson knows all about Allen Fieldhouse. He wants Indiana to ‘seize the moment’

Many college men’s basketball teams have tried, but few have been able to defeat the Kansas Jayhawks in tradition-rich Allen Fieldhouse.

“I mean, they play well at home,” second-year Indiana coach Mike Woodson said of the No. 8-ranked Jayhawks (9-1), who have won 11 straight games in the fieldhouse entering Saturday’s 11 a.m. tipoff against the No. 14 Hoosiers (8-2). KU is 5-0 at home this season.

“If you look at their record over the last 16, 17 years or so, they haven’t lost very many games at home,” Woodson added.

KU in fact is 835-116 all-time in the 65-year-old fieldhouse. In the 20-year Bill Self era, the Jayhawks have won 297 games in Allen and lost 16, which calculates to a 94.9 win percentage.

“I just try to get our players to understand that, ‘Hey, you’ve got to seize the moment.’ This is a big-time game, it really is. Nationally televised (ESPN2). You’ve got a chance to go in and do something that a lot of teams hadn’t done in years there. It’s not a lot of times that they’ve lost there,” Woodson stated.

The Hoosiers actually are 2-1 all-time in Allen. KU won 86-83 in overtime, courtesy of a Jacque Vaughn three that beat the final buzzer on Dec. 22, 1993. Indiana won at the fieldhouse 72-55 on Dec. 5, 1972, and 74-70 on Dec. 4, 1974.

“We’ve just got to go in and play with some confidence. That’s going to be a big key. Compete for 40 minutes,” Woodson said. “Do it on both ends of the floor and see what happens.”

Woodson said in order to attain victory: “We can’t come out and start a game like we did against Arizona and dig a hole and expect to win. That was tough the other night. We fought back and did a lot of good things. Against good teams you’ve got to be in the game early, give yourself a chance.”

Arizona led the Hoosiers 27-8 after nine minutes and 46-36 at halftime en route to a 89-75 victory last Saturday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The Hoosiers’ other loss this season was 63-48 to Rutgers on Dec. 3 in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Indiana defeated Xavier 81-79 on Nov. 18 in Cincinnati, North Carolina 77-65 on Nov. 30 in Bloomington, Indiana, and Nebraska 81-65 on Dec. 7 in Bloomington.

This could be the Hoosiers’ biggest test of the nonconference season.

“Well, they’re well-coached. I’ve known Bill (Self, KU) for many years. I watched his team all the time when I was coaching in the NBA because of our relationship,” said Woodson. A former standout shooting guard at Indiana who played 10 years in the NBA, Woodson, 64, has been a head coach of the Atlanta Hawks (2004-10) and New York Knicks (2012-14) and an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers.

“He’s a hell of a coach. His teams always play hard. They do on both ends of the floor,” Woodson added of Self’s teams.

Of the KU roster, Woodson said: “They’ve got (Jalen) Wilson and the kid Bird — not Bird but Dick — who can really score the basketball. For a freshman, he’s really, really good.”

Woodson perhaps for a moment confused KU’s Dick for NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird, who like Dick had the ability to both hit the three and drive to the goal.

Indiana is led by senior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis who averages 16.8 points and 8.4 rebounds a game. Freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino (8.7 ppg) has missed the last three games because of back spasms.

He has practiced some this week.

“You’ve got to be patient with it,” Woodson said of back injuries. “ Then I think the player itself will lead you in the direction that he wants to go. From a medical standpoint, I think he’s fine in that regard. But, again, when you can’t do the things that you’re used to doing on the floor, move around like you normally do, that’s a problem. That’s what he was experiencing.

“The last few days he’s been on the floor shooting, moving around. Got a good workout on our off day yesterday. So now we’ll see can he handle the pounding a little bit today in practice, then see how he feels tomorrow.”

Coming off the bench for Indiana is Tamar Bates, a 6-5 former Piper High standout who averages 8.8 points a game. Bates is a former winner of the prestigious DiRenna Award, which is presented to the top high school male and female basketball player in the Kansas City area.

“He’s playing well for us,” Woodson said. “When I brought Tamar in, I brought him in to be a starting 2. Last year he had his ups and downs on some of the things that he was dealing with. This year, he’s starting to grow as a player. I mean, he’s doing some things. I thought when we started our journey at the very beginning, he was one of the best players on the floor.

“He’s had his moments, but he’s had some good games that you say, ‘Hey, he’s starting to figure out some things.’ We just got to keep him in a good place and keep him ready to play.’’’