Another chance to bolster bid

For the past five months, four letters have hovered over the Hoosiers' basketball program, looking for a place to land. \nLate tonight, N-C-A-A might find a clearing in Bloomington as IU travels to No. 23 Wisconsin in the second-to-last game of the regular season -- a game some say holds the Hoosiers' tournament hopes in balance. \nWith a win tonight -- giving IU 10 Big Ten wins -- an at-large bid to the "Big Dance" seems almost inevitable, but a loss could keep IU on the bubble for yet another day.\nComing off of an upset of then-No. 10 and current No. 14 Michigan State Sunday, the Hoosiers have a solid case to argue to the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, which makes its 65 picks March 13.\n"I feel that if you win 10 wins in this league -- this is a great league, and I don't think we get enough credit for this league," said IU coach Mike Davis. "To talk about three teams going from this league is a disrespect to the Big Ten."\nGoing into Madison, Wisc., IU is tied with the Badgers for third place in the conference. Tonight will be Wisconsin's third game in six days and the Hoosiers' second game in three days. \nPlaying so many games in such a short amount of time might benefit the Hoosiers, Davis said.\n"We have a short turnaround, and Wisconsin has a short turnaround, but my good friend (Don) Fischer told me that in the Big Ten Tournament, you have to play back-to-back games if you win. So, that's the message I'm giving to my basketball team," Davis said.\nThe argument for the Hoosiers seems stronger tonight than it did Jan. 5, when IU lost at Northwestern in their Big Ten opener. \nFour of the teams IU played during their six-game losing streak have a chance to win their conferences, Davis said, referring to North Carolina in the ACC, Kentucky already clinching the SEC, Connecticut in the Big East and Charlotte in Conference USA. Plus, Oral Roberts, who IU beat on New Year's Eve, has a chance to win the Mid-Continent Conference. \n"There is a big difference in this basketball team now than the basketball team you saw back in November and December," Davis said. "But there's a reason for that. The basketball team you saw back in November and December was playing North Carolina and Connecticut. So, we've played five teams -- five teams that's going to win their conference. Who else has done that? That's unbelievable when you've played five teams that can win their conference, and that's what we did, and that's why it took us so long to become a really good basketball team."\nLast time these two teams met, Jan. 8 in Bloomington, junior guard Bracey Wright scored 30 points and led IU to a 13-point win. \nTonight Wright enters the Midwest foe coming off of winning the Big Ten Player of the Week honor Monday with his performances in wins against Purdue and Michigan State. \nThis time around, Wright said it's important to start strong in the hostile Kohl Center.\n"We really got to play with a lot of emotion, a lot of intensity," Wright said. "We just have to go in there and jump on them early and take the crowd out of it for a while and build a nice lead and play from there."\nWright's back court mate, junior guard Marshall Strickland, said IU needs to go away from their traditional half-court sets tonight.\n"I remember we were able to pressure them a lot," he said. "They want to play slow, they want to play their rhythm. I think if we can speed them up, then we'll do well in the game."\nAfter the Hoosiers beat his Spartans in overtime Sunday, MSU coach Tom Izzo said IU should not be punished for playing the schedule they did given other teams who played cupcake schedules, and the Hoosiers could make the NCAA Tournament. \n"Indiana is a good enough team," Izzo said. "Mike Davis is nuts, like Tom Izzo was. He just played a schedule that he wanted to play. He played a schedule that challenged his team. He gave the people of Bloomington and Indiana University what they wanted, and he got hit on for a little bit."\nWith the Hoosiers paving the way for a tournament berth, tonight's game can solidify their spring break plans one way or another. \nBut Wright thinks with their play in the Big Ten season and Sunday's win against Michigan State, the Hoosiers proved they're tourney worthy.\n"I think we showed how well we can play and that we deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament," he said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu.