IU preps for Mizzou

For the second time in a week, the IU men's basketball team will take on a nationally ranked opponent, as they face the No. 4 Missouri Tigers at 4 p.m. Saturday at Assembly Hall.\nTuesday, No. 18 Wake Forest gave IU more than it could handle when it defeated the Hoosiers 100-67.\nNow, the Hoosiers (2-2) are preparing for another big game against the Missouri Tigers (2-0), who are coming off a 70-61 victory over Coppin State Tuesday.\nIt will be IU's first game back at Assembly Hall since its victorious season opener against UNC-Greensboro Nov. 21.\nIU coach Mike Davis said he is confident in the home games the team will face this year, but that winning on the road will be the key. He added that the 2-2 record right now is what he thought the team would have.\n"It's no panic," Davis said. "The panic is the fans who want us to be 4-0, but we just want to continue to get better and get better on the road."\nDavis said the team often loses concentration on the road, and that if the members stay together as a team and not listen to what people are saying about the team, they will be successful.\nThe IU men's basketball team is the only team in the nation this year that will face six straight NCAA Tournament teams in its non-league schedule. \nIU and Missouri have met 16 times before, and IU leads the series 9-7. \nStill pacing the IU team is sophomore guard Bracey Wright. Wright scored a season high 27 points in the contest at Wake Forest and in the Xavier game Nov. 29. The Wooden Award candidate said it is his job to get everyone on the team ready for the Missouri game.\n"I've got to make sure when (Missouri) make runs, that we stay in the game with our heads and stay focused," Wright said.\nWright will look to stop the number of turnovers IU has seen this year in its games. He personally had five turnovers at Wake Forest, and the team total was 22.\nWith senior center George Leach out with a knee injury indefinitely, Davis was forced to change his starting lineup. Freshman forward Patrick Ewing Jr. took Leach's starting spot in the Wake Forest game in his first-ever collegiate start.\nEwing played 25 minutes, scored eight points and had three blocks. \nIU also improved its free-throw shooting percentage in Tuesday's contest with Wake Forest. IU was 19 of 22 (.864) from the charity stripe, and Wright has made 11 consecutive free-throws. \nSenior guard A.J. Moye has not started in the last two games because Davis said he likes the energy Moye brings off the bench. Moye posted a season-high seven rebounds at Wake Forest.\nThe 6-foot-3-inch Moye said the Missouri game is the only thing on his mind right now and that the improvements the team is making are becoming more apparent everyday. \n"We're focused more so than we've ever been this year," Moye said. "We really want to go out and get a win."\n-- Contact staff writer Natalie A. Trout at natrout@indiana.edu.