The 2015–16 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team represented

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

in the

2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 13. The first early-season tournaments to begin were the Puerto Rico Tip-Off and the Charleston Classic. The season ended with the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tour ...

. Their head coach was Tom Crean, who was in his eighth season with the Hoosiers. The team played its home games at

Assembly Hall An assembly hall is a hall to hold public meetings or meetings of an organization such as a school, church, or deliberative assembly. An example of the last case is the Assembly Hall (Washington, Mississippi) where the general assembly of the s ...

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 ...

, as 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 ...

. This season marked the 40th Anniversary of the 32–0 and National Championship 1975–76 Hoosiers team, a feat still unrivaled. To commemorate the anniversary, players' jerseys featured a commemorative patch on the back of the jersey. The Hoosiers also held a public recognition of the undefeated team during halftime of the home game against Wisconsin on January 5, during which the announcement was made that a statue of the seniors and starters will be erected outside the south entrance of Assembly Hall. A new banner was also revealed honoring the '76 team as NCAA's #1 All-Time March Madness Team. Tom Abernethy and Bobby Wilkerson, two players from the team, were inducted into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame. IU's season-opener victory against Eastern Illinois was a milestone game, as it marked 1,000 home wins in Indiana basketball history. IU finished the regular season by winning their 22nd conference title, tying them with in-state rival,

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

, for the most conference titles. Indiana finished the season 27–8 overall, 15–3 in the Big Ten to win the Big Ten regular season title outright. They received the #1 seed in the 2016 Big Ten men's basketball tournament, where they made an early quarterfinals exit by losing to

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The Hoosiers received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Indiana defeated

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

and

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 ...

to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the third time in five years; however, in the Sweet Sixteen they fell to the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

, 101–86.

Previous season

The 2014–15 Hoosiers went 20–14 overall and 9–9 in the Big Ten Conference (tying for seventh place). Much of the Hoosiers' difficulties were caused by a lack of defense and post presence. The Hoosiers improved over the 13–14 season, in which they did not appear in any postseason tournament, by being selected to play in the NCAA Tournament as a #10 seed in the Midwest region. They made an early exit as the #7 Wichita State Shockers knocked them off in the second round. Following the season, assistant coach

Steve McClain Steven James McClain (born August 15, 1962) is an assistant basketball coach at Tennessee. He was most recently head coach at the University of Illinois Chicago. Prior to UIC, he had spent five seasons on the staff of Tom Crean at Indiana Hoosie ...

was hired as the new head coach at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Tom Crean named Rob Judson, who spent the 2014–15 season as Indiana's Director of Basketball Operations, as McClain's replacement.

Preseason

Departures

Recruiting class

20150401 MCDAAG Thomas Bryant boxing out

On April 4, 2015, McDonald's All-American and Jordan Brand All-Star, Thomas Bryant committed to IU. With this commit, IU landed their fifth McDonald's All-American in a row, as well as secured a 6'10" rim-protector, which was something drastically missing from the previous season. Bryant made the announcement live on ESPN during the Dick's National Tournament. In addition to the three high school recruits, Indiana received a commitment from

graduate transfer Max Bielfeldt. The senior forward is eligible immediately to play for the Hoosiers. A late addition of junior

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

transfer, Josh Newkirk, filled IU's last 2015–16 scholarship. Due to transfer rules and rehabilitating a knee injury from May, Newkirk will sit out the '15–'16 season. He will have two remaining seasons of eligibility left.

Roster

Schedule

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Player statistics

Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team 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 ...

2015 in sports in Indiana 2016 in sports in Indiana