Team heads into 4-game road test

Over the past three games, the IU men's basketball team found it could protect its home court. Now, facing four tough teams on the road, they have to find a way to overcome home court advantage. The last time the Hoosiers tried this feat, the 81-69 loss at Ohio State, it proved disastrous. But the Hoosiers had three games to regroup. This time, there is no break.\nThe No. 14 Hoosiers start their tour this Saturday against Purdue in Mackey Arena. The game is set for 4:37 p.m., and airs on ESPN-Plus. From there, the Hoosiers travel north to Michigan State, south to Louisville and back up again to Northwestern.\nA daunting task, but according to the Hoosiers, not impossible.\n"I didn't know we had four in a row, but we got to win, I guess," junior guard A.J. Moye said. "Man, that's tough. If we tough it out and play with greediness and determination, it's going to be very hard for teams to beat us. If we fight, we shouldn't lose."\nWith intra-state rival Purdue (11-4, 3-1 Big Ten) up first, the Hoosiers goal is to play harder than the first meeting between the two teams this season. In a non-conference game on neutral ground, IU barely escaped with a victory in the RCA Dome on Dec. 14. \nIn the 66-63 Hoosier win, Purdue held the lead going into the half, and off-and-on during the game. Following the break, however, the teams would go back and forth until just over eight minutes was left in the game when IU took and held the lead.\n"No, I'm not surprised (on Purdue's Big Ten play)," IU coach Mike Davis said. "After the way they played us in Indianapolis at the RCA Dome, I said that was a very good basketball team. I'm not sure if they have lost a game since we played them. They are playing well."\nPurdue dropped its first Big Ten game Wednesday night to No. 18 Illinois in Champaign, Ill. The Boilermakers lost 75-62 to the Fighting Illini.\nPrior to Wednesday's loss, Purdue had been on a six-game win streak that had put them atop the conference. The Boilermakers had solidly beat Northwestern and Michigan State in Mackey Arena and barely got past Penn State in State College, Pa.\nPurdue's senior guard Willie Deane earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors last week after he averaged more than 19 points and eight rebounds during the first two Big Ten wins. Against IU the first time, Deane scored a team-high 21 points.\n"At the beginning of the year, I would have been surprised (about Purdue)," senior guard Tom Coverdale said. "But after watching them play and seeing how hard they play, I'm not surprised at all. They play harder than any team in the league and whenever you do that you are going to win some games."\nRecently, the Hoosiers have proved they can play tough as well. After Davis' biting remarks following the loss at Ohio State, IU proved they weren't the "soft" team they were being made out to be. This was exemplified last Tuesday night in the rematch with Ohio State.\nFresh off victories over Northwestern and Illinois, the Hoosiers jumped out to an early lead and hung on for the decisive 69-51 win over the Buckeyes. Not backing down to the toughness Ohio State brought, the Hoosiers saw Coverdale receive stitches and warnings following confrontations with Ohio State's Brent Darby. Senior forward Jeff Newton received a technical foul and later fouled out, and junior center George Leach racked up five as well.\n"It's just the whole mentality and mindset of the team that has changed," Coverdale said. "We knew we had to change or we knew we weren't going to win any games."\nFreshman guard Bracey Wright, the team's leading scorer, has watched the team change from the bench where he is sidelined because of an irritated nerve in his back. Prior to and after the Hoosiers practice on Wednesday, Wright rode a stationary bike and took jumps shots in his first steps toward returning to the court.\n"We are hoping to have him back, but you don't want to push it and have him be out for the whole year," Coverdale said. "The sooner he gets back the better. But if he's not there, we just have to keep the frame of mind we've had and keep playing well without him"