Hoosiers brace for Iowa rematch

Steve Alford has done the homecoming thing before. He's entered Assembly Hall as the enemy. \nLuke Recker hasn't. \nSince transferring from IU to Arizona to Iowa, the Auburn, Ind. native hasn't been back to Bloomington to battle his former school. \nThat will change at 7 tonight when Recker and his Hawkeyes meet IU in Assembly Hall. \nAlford, the former IU All-American and national champion, doesn't have much advice. \n"We're in a little different situations," said Alford, who lost his first and only return to Assembly Hall as Iowa's coach. "It's something that Luke's going to have to handle. It's not going to be easy. He knows there's going to be a lot of adversity in the stands. He has to be tough-minded and control what he can control."\nRecker stumbled against IU (14-7, 7-2 Big Ten) in the first meeting of the two teams this season. IU junior guard Kyle Hornsby shadowed Recker and held him to 12 points of 5-of-13 shooting. Hornsby defended Recker because senior Dane Fife, who IU coach Mike Davis touts as the Hoosiers' top defender, picked up two early fouls. \nFife did the same at Iowa last season, and Recker led Iowa (15-8, 4-5) to a come-from-behind win. \nDavis said he isn't sure who he'll start against Recker, who is averaging 17.7 points per game (15.5 in Big Ten play). \n"Hornsby did a great job on him last time," Davis said. "I don't want Fife to pick up two quick fouls. Fife needs to play a whole half against Iowa one time."\nIn the previous match-up, IU's interior defense nearly shut down Recker's right-hand-man, senior forward Reggie Evans. IU senior forward Jarrad Odle went toe-to-toe with the 6-foot-8, 245-pound Evans, holding him to a season-low seven points and nine rebounds. \nSince then, the Hoosier inside defense has sputtered at times. Against Ohio State, IU allowed the Buckeyes to grab 14 offensive rebounds and shoot nearly 50 percent. In Saturday's loss to Minnesota, the Gophers shot 55 percent and out-rebounded IU 19-16 in the second half on their way to erasing an 11-point halftime deficit. \nOdle has criticized his own defensive performance and is taking it upon himself to pick up the slack against Evans, who averages 16.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game and has led the Hawkeyes in rebounding in 15 of their last 16 games.\n"I didn't play great defense against Minnesota," Odle said. "I just have to come in and take it to (Evans) just like I did the first game, maybe try to get him into foul trouble and make him work for every point he gets."\nThere's a chance fatigue could hamper IU's efforts, thanks to a schedule that has it playing its third game in six days. IU took Sunday off and worked out for about two hours Monday. Davis said he's been playing his three starting guards -- Hornsby, Fife and junior Tom Coverdale -- too much, and is aiming for 30 minutes or less per game per player. \nFife and Coverdale are averaging just more than 31 minutes per game, and Hornsby is at 24. Coverdale played 39 minutes Saturday and he, Hornsby and sophomore forward Jared Jeffries all logged 35 or more minutes in the first contest against Iowa. \nThat loss sent Iowa on a tailspin toward the bottom half of the Big Ten standings. They now sit tied for sixth with Illinois and Michigan and have back-to-back games against two of the league's top three teams -- IU and Minnesota. \nStill, Davis is concerned and adamant about the potential at Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 0-4 on the road in the conference, but beat then-No. 2 Missouri in Columbia by 18 and are off a 15-point win over Penn State Saturday. \n"Iowa and Illinois are the best two teams in the conference talent-wise," Davis said. "They're a tough team. They're more than capable of coming in here and beating us if we don't play."\nThe spotlight, though, isn't on Iowa's record or their recent road struggles. It's on Recker, and Davis, Odle and Alford all expect a wild atmosphere and rowdy welcome for the former Hoosier, who played his last game for IU in Assembly Hall Feb. 27, 1999, against -- you guessed it -- Iowa. \n"It should be an emotional game for him," Davis said. "He played here and he played well the two years he played here. I'm quite sure he's going to get excited and try to score 25, 30 points in this game. But, he's a smart player. He's not going to come in and force things."\nOdle is just hoping his former teammate doesn't feed off the negative energy.\n"I'm sure he'll come in fired up and ready to play," Odle said. "It seems like any time somebody gets booed like he's going to (tonight)…they're going to play better. We have to make a conscious effort to stop him"