IU looks for 5th straight home win

Now at the season's halfway point, IU goes into Saturday's match-up against Purdue a completely different team than when it started.\nThe No. 11 Hoosiers (11-3, 3-1 Big Ten) will walk into Assembly Hall a team severely altered by injury -- much like the Boilermakers (7-9, 1-4).\n"We went from being a very deep basketball team to only having enough to practice today," IU coach Mike Davis said.\nThe injury bug most recently bit IU during Tuesday's 62-60 win against Illinois. \nJunior guard Rod Wilmont tweaked a calf muscle when senior guard Lewis Monroe collapsed to the floor on a bump from Illini guard Dee Brown. Monroe landed on the back of Wilmont's calf, leaving him wincing in pain. The redshirt junior did return, but he spent Thursday's practice icing his leg and is a game-time decision.\nSenior forward Marco Killingsworth -- the Big Ten's second-leading scorer -- played with back spasms and a sore knee against the Illini. The senior transfer also spent Thursday's practice icing his ailments and is probable for Saturday's game. He was quick to show reporters how unfazed he is.\n"I'm straight. I'm straight," he said as he ran in place. "Coach just didn't want me to go."\nSophomore forward D.J. White could potentially be out for the season, and seldom-used freshman forward Cem Dinc will be out for two to three weeks with a shoulder injury. Senior forward Sean Kline is able to play, but has some soreness in his knee.\nFreshman center Ben Allen and freshman forward Kyle Taber are the only two Hoosier big men who are completely healthy. Allen is listed as the starter in the middle.\n"We're just trying to get Ben to come along and Kline to come along as fast as possible," Davis said. "I thought Kline did well when he came in the other night. He ran the floor hard, defensively he did some things."\nIn his first year, Purdue coach Matt Painter's biggest problem has been keeping his team healthy.\nGuard David Teague is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and his backcourt mate Tarrance Crump has to sit out this season with a suspension.\nPainter lost a conference player of the year candidate in forward Carl Landry, who successfully petitioned the NCAA for a medical redshirt five games into the season. Landry suffered a torn ACL against Minnesota last February and the injury has yet to fully heal.\nSome light started to shine, though, when forward Nate Minnoy began to see more playing time as a replacement. Minnoy began to make a case for conference freshman of the year, averaging 11 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, but the freshman forward went down for the season with a torn medial collateral ligament against Northwestern.\nAfter all the injuries, forward Matt Kiefer is the only Boilermaker averaging double figures, at 12 points per game. Despite the Boilermakers injury-ridden start to the season, sophomore forward Robert Vaden said the Hoosiers are not taking them lightly.\n"We prepare in practice as if we were playing the best team in our conference," Vaden said. "It shouldn't be like, 'we're going to practice light because we're playing Purdue."