Rematch with Illinois

The IU men's basketball team is set to take the floor at 9 p.m. tonight in Assembly Hall against the University of Illinois.\nUnfortunately for the Hoosiers, it's not the Assembly Hall that is home for them. Instead, IU travels to Champaign-Urbana to face the No. 18th ranked Fighting Illini (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten) in the like-named stadium. \nThe game, which is set to be aired on ESPN, is a rematch between two of the 2002 co-Big Ten season champions. IU and Illinois first faced each other this season on Jan. 18 in Bloomington. At the time, the Hoosiers were ranked in the top-20 and the Illini were enjoying a top-10 ranking.\nBut since upsetting Illinois with the 74-66 win, the Hoosiers won just three of the nine following games. The No. 20 Illini, despite faltering a bit in the polls, picked up a 7-2 record preceding the game in Bloomington. Illinois is perfect at home, which could mean trouble for the Hoosiers who just picked up their first Big Ten road win.\n"They are a real tough team to beat at home and they played great against Michigan State (in the 70-40 Illinois win) the other day at home," freshman guard Marshall Strickland said. "We're just going to go in there and fight. We're getting better too, so it will be a good game."\nThe Hoosiers enjoyed nearly a week off before heading to Illinois. Last Wednesday, IU traveled to Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes and picked up the Big Ten road win that had been eluding them. It was the first time in five tries against conference foes that IU was able to get and maintain a lead for a victory.\nEven with the win against Iowa, the Hoosiers still are in a pressure situation regarding post-season play. The NCAA selection committee stated earlier in the season that teams below .500 in their conference would be quite questionable in terms of being selected, national title game runners up or not. The Hoosiers are 16-9 overall, 6-6 in the conference and have three games left after tonight's. To be in safe standings regarding the NCAA tournament, IU has to win two of the remaining games. \n"We want to be another Final Four team this year," junior center George Leach said. "We worked extremely hard this summer, in Maui, everywhere. We play hard and we don't want to let that get away from us."\nFirst, the Hoosiers have the arduous task of defeating Illinois on their home court, a feat no Big Ten team has been able to accomplish this year. \nThe last time the two teams met, IU was without freshman guard Bracey Wright who was sidelined because of a reoccurring back injury. With Wright out, senior forward Jeff Newton took over the offense for the Hoosiers. \nNewton scored a career-high 28 points, 19 of which came in the second half. Newton also had eight rebounds and five blocks while shutting down Illinois' leading scorer senior forward Brian Cook. Cook, who averages more than 19 points per game, scored 15 points and watched four of his shots get blocked by Newton.\nNearly a week separates last week's win and tonight's game which gave the Hoosiers a chance to rest, but also a chance to forget the intensity they had against Iowa. \nIU coach Mike Davis expressed concern about the six-day break.\n"The way we played the other night, I want to play again quick," Davis said last Friday. "It is tough, but it helps us to be a better team and give us these days to improve. It gives Bracey (Wright) some rest with his back and George (Leach) broke his nose again, so it gives him some rest. It is a good opportunity to get better"