Hoosiers look to bounce back from 2 losses

Sophomore guard Kyle Hornsby said the Hoosiers like to think they're "supposed to" beat everybody. Last year, IU was "supposed to" beat Indiana State in the championship game of the Ameritech/Indiana Classic and lost 63-60, giving the Sycamores their first win in the series since 1924. It was the first time since the tournament began in 1974 that the Hoosiers did not win the championship. The two teams will meet again at 8 p.m. today in the Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Ind. \nThe Hoosiers (2-2) enter the contest after back-to-back losses in the National Invitation Tournament. The Sycamores (2-1) earned back-to-back wins in the second and third rounds of the Puerto Rico Shootout. Interim head coach Mike Davis said the Hoosiers, who are 15-3 overall against ISU, have had a difficult time maintaining their focus.\n"We've got to come in and play," Davis said. "If we can dig in, and that's a big question mark, like the second half of the Temple game, we'll give ourselves a chance. But we can't come in and get down by 18 or 15." \nDavis said he plans on going with a smaller lineup for tonight's game, but would not specify what changes would be made. He has been depending on freshman forward Jared Jeffries and junior forward Kirk Haston. Both are expected to start, but Jeffries, who occasionally plays the role of point guard, will be kept in the low post. Haston's strength against ISU has been rebounding. As a freshman, Haston scored 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Last year, he scored eight points and had 12 rebounds. Haston leads the team in rebounding (41) and field goals (34).\n"I want to go big, but that's not working," Davis said. "I think I put so much pressure on Jared Jeffries to bring the ball up the court, do this and do that, and that's not fair to him. I'm not going to put him in that situation. I had a long talk with him yesterday and I'm going to keep him inside." \nDavis said he plans on going with three guards for most of the game. Junior guard Dane Fife said it doesn't matter who is in the lineup, as long as they can help the team win. \n"We just have to go out and beat Indiana State, regardless of who plays," Fife said. "We're going to have to trust the coaches and trust whoever's out there. That's the bottom line. I don't think three guards make a difference; it's whether they play hard or not." \nLast year, ISU earned its first NCAA Tournament invitation since Larry Bird was in uniform. The Sycamores finished first in the Missouri Valley Conference and received their first at-large bid in school history. This season, ISU must compensate for the loss of guard Nate Green, who averaged 13.8 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game. Green, who was named MVC Player of the Year, ranked in the league's top six in scoring, assists, steals and blocked shots.\nThe Sycamores' four other starters return. Senior guard Michael Menser is the Sycamores' top returning scorer with 11.1 points per game. Menser, a 5-foot-11 senior, was first in the MVC last year in three-point field goals made per game (2.84), shooting 46 percent. Menser and 6-foot-6 senior forward Matt Renn, who averaged 10.8 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game last year, are the team leaders this season. Renn earned all-tournament honors in Puerto Rico with 37 points and 22 rebounds in the three-game tournament.\nAlso returning for the Sycamores is junior guard Kelyn Block, who averaged 10.6 points per game last season. Junior center Djibril Kante is coming back from a bulging disc in his lower back, which hampered him most of last season. \nThe Hoosiers struggled with free throws in New York against both Texas and Temple, shooting 19 of 35 against the Longhorns and six-of-11 against the Owls. \n"It's not finished until you make the free throws. That's the key thing," Davis said. "That tells you where the mindset is. Until we step up and make some, it's going to be that way. \nDavis said the mindset of the team is its biggest problem right now. He said he's been tough on the players during games, especially in New York, and that they're not used to seeing him in that light. He said he plans on backing off a bit.\n"There's too much on their minds. We've got to come back and we've got to refocus. It's harder for us to refocus. It's the mindset of the team … miss a free throw, throw the ball away, it just snowballs.\n"It seems like we have a panic, and not just the team, but everyone around us. I'm disappointed in the loss, but we're 2-2 and we played four really good teams. We just got off to a bad start."\nIDS reporter David Uchiyama contributed to this story