IU's season rests in final games

At halftime of the Hoosiers' game against the Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday night, IU's 1953 National Champion basketball team will be honored in a ceremony commemorating their 50th anniversary. \nAnd while they are standing at center court accepting their standing ovation, the 2003 team will be in the locker room preparing for the second half of a game that may make or break their tournament hopes. \n"Everyone's focused," freshman forward Sean Kline said. "We know what our mindset has to be, and we know what we have to do which is win the next three games. It's pretty much do or die at this point -- win the next three games and make a run at the Big Ten tournament title and we're fine."\nThe Hoosiers quest for a NCAA tournament bid has come down to the wire and in order to get a bid into the field of 64, they will most likely need to beat their final three conference opponents, beginning tomorrow night with the Hawkeyes.\nAfter dropping two straight games at home last week to IU (16-10,6-7 Big Ten) and the league-leading Wisconsin Badgers, Iowa (14-10, 6-7) will enter tomorrow night's game with a fresh road win under their belts.\nOn Tuesday night they recovered from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Ohio State 71-64 in Columbus, Ohio. \nIowa junior center Jared Reiner was the key contributor in the win as he scored all 16 of his points in the final 7:29 of play and also pulled down 10 rebounds.\nSenior guard Chauncey Leslie was the only other Hawkeye to finish with double figures, scoring 13 points and handing out seven assists. \nThe win tied them with the Hoosiers for seventh place in the Big Ten standings and makes Saturday's game a must win for both teams. \nThe Hoosiers, who had not won a road game since New Year's Eve, appeared revitalized during their 79-63 victory at Iowa Feb. 19.\nFour of IU's five starters tallied double figures in the game and perhaps most importantly, senior guard Tom Coverdale reemerged as the team's floor general. \nHe broke out of a four-game funk to score 17 points on 6-10 shooting, knock down five three-pointers and dish out six assists.\nDespite the strong performance, Kline said the Hoosiers watched film on last Wednesday's game at Iowa and realized they have to make some defensive adjustments for the rematch.\n"Offensively we were clicking pretty well, there weren't many times when we didn't execute," he said. "But defensively we had some lapses and let shooters get wide open looks, and we've got to limit those."\nThe Hoosiers had to sit through a six-day bye week after their win in Iowa City and were not able to carry their momentum into Tuesday's 80-54 loss at Illinois.\nThe Illini's Assembly Hall has always proven to be tough place to play. The frenzied "Orange Krush" student section seems to take up the entire arena and once a visiting team gets down, they generally stay that way.\nSince Bill Self took over head coaching duties at Illinois three seasons ago, the Illini have lost only one game and that home-court advantage proved too much for the Hoosiers.\n"Realistically, they've drilled everyone that's been in there in the last couple of games," coach Mike Davis said. "So it wasn't a surprise to me … Playing in an environment like that, it's tough to win."\nThe Hoosiers will have a chance to nurse their sore egos this coming week, as they face two of their last three opponents in Bloomington.\n"It's tough to get your spirits back up when you lose by 26, but you have to," freshman guard Bracey Wright said. "We still have a chance to make it so with each chance we have, everything has to be as positive as possible"