IU hopes to avoid recent history against Indiana State tonight

Believe it or not, the Hoosiers actually entered last week's game against Duke with more recent series success than they do entering today's game against Indiana State.\nIU had won the previous two meetings against the Blue Devils before losing by eight Wednesday, whereas the Sycamores have won two of the last three meetings with IU and gave the Hoosiers all they could handle last season in a 56-52 Hoosier win. \n"With Indiana State, they're going to come at us," junior guard Errek Suhr said. "They do every year because they're Indiana boys, and they're playing against the team they grew up wanting to be on."\nThe last time the Hoosiers traveled to Terre Haute, Indiana State sent them back to Bloomington with a one point loss, 58-59. The year before, 1999, the Sycamores upset IU 63-60 in Assembly Hall. But this year, Suhr believes the circumstances are different.\n"I think this year we're a different type of team," he said. "We're fast, and we're uptempo, and we play hard all the time."\nIU coach Mike Davis concurs with Suhr's sentiments and said IU needs to focus on playing its own game in order to combat ISU's emotion and intensity. Davis cited the many upsets occurring around the country where experienced mid-major schools take down nationally ranked programs.\n"This year, everybody could work with their team from day one," Davis said. "So if you have an older team, it doesn't matter if you're a mid-major or a high major, if you work with your team from day one you're going to have a head start."\nDavis went on to say that because teams are allowed to start practicing sooner, the level of play early in the season is better than ever. For an experienced team, the extra practice can do wonders on the court -- regardless of its conference.\n"You can see the chemistry," junior guard Rod Wilmont said. "Guys are really good with each other because they don't have anybody leaving early."\nThe undefeated Sycamores (3-0) aren't quite as experienced as some of the most threatening mid-major schools, but they do return 6-foot-5 guard David Moss who averages 24 points per game and shoots nearly 60 percent from the floor. Davis said Moss is a natural scorer, but he also leads ISU in assists and is second on the team averaging 5.3 rebounds per contest.\nIU touts a 20 point-per-game scorer of its own in senior Marco Killingsworth, who is riding some recent success that earned him Big Ten Player of the Week. Killingsworth won the award two weeks ago as well, making him the first Hoosier since Steve Alford to win the award twice in three weeks.\nIU will try to hand the Sycamores their first loss at 7:05 p.m. tonight in the Hulman Center at Indiana State. \n"They're not the same as last year," Davis said. "They're better this year than last year. We think we're better this year than last year. It's just a matter of who plays well"