Indiana Hoosiers Must Start Emmitt Holt to Stay Competitive in Big Ten Play

The Indiana Hoosiers don't have the biggest team in the Big Ten Conference, and that's been apparent so far this season. However, if the Hoosiers are going to compete with other teams in the conference down low, they're going to need to make a change in the starting lineup by replacing Hanner Mosquera-Perea with freshman Emmitt Holt.

After the team narrowly escaped with a win against the No. 22 Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, it became quite clear that a change is needed down low. Less than two minutes into the game, Mosquera-Perea picked up two early fouls and was sent to the bench. The junior eventually fouled out, picking up just four points, two rebounds and one block in only eight minutes of play due to constant foul trouble.

Meanwhile, Holt showed once again that he can make an impact on both sides of the floor. Playing just 14 minutes on Saturday, the freshman picked up five points on 2-for-4 shooting while adding seven rebounds and two blocks.

Now with 12 games under his belt, Holt has shown the ability to make smart defensive plays down low without committing fouls. In those 12 games, he's recorded 13 blocks compared to just six personal fouls, and Jeff Rabjohns from Peegs.com credits Holt's timing and instincts for this.

The same cannot be said for Mosquera-Perea, who continues to struggle down low. Playing in all 16 games for the Hoosiers, the junior has picked up 25 blocks compared to 42 fouls.

Head coach Tom Crean already discussed the possibility of starting Holt after the ugly 70-50 loss to the Michigan State Spartans, according to Justin Albers from Scout.com. In fact, Crean was quite candid about Mosquera-Perea after the loss, saying:

"

[Hanner's] a work in progress. I guess I gotta start going with that line because that's really what he is. That's why I don't walk into our press conferences before games or after games raving about the latest thing Hanner did because it's still new to him. For two years, he didn't work very hard here, alright? At all. He's worked a lot harder, and he's got to have that commitment level. And I have to believe that he will. But there will be some guys chomping at the bit to grab that spot tomorrow morning.

"

Holt has shown the effort that Crean is looking for in the limited minutes he's played. He's still just a freshman, but Holt continues to look more comfortable as his role expands, and some of the plays he makes don't always show up on the stat sheet.

Offensively, the argument can be made that Holt is just as effective down low. The traditional numbers might not show it, but when looking at both players' numbers per 40 minutes, Holt stands out as the more productive player.

	FG%	PTS	TRB	BLK	TOV	PF
Hanner Mosquera-Perea	.620	14.1	6.8	3.0	2.0	5.0
Emmitt Holt	.719	16.3	10.6	3.5	1.6	4.1

As the Hoosiers prepare to take on the likes of Wisconsin, Maryland and Michigan in conference play, they'll need a more reliable starting center down low to guard the likes of Frank Kaminsky and Jake Layman in the paint.

Right now, that appears to be Holt, and ESPN Insider's Greg Rosenstein seems to agree.

With a 12-4 record, the Hoosiers have a chance to make the NCAA tournament if they can continue to compete in the Big Ten. But with all of the size in the conference, the only way they'll be able to do that is with Holt starting at center instead of Mosquera-Perea.

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