Davis wastes no time in motivating team for Iowa

MADISON, Wisc. -- Forget Vegas. What happens in the IU locker room stays in the IU locker room.\nFor more than half an hour IU coach Mike Davis kept his team in the Kohl Center locker room after a 72-54 loss to Wisconsin -- its second worst of the season. As has been the case all season, what was said after the game wasn't shared outside closed doors.\n"I was thirsty," Davis said sarcastically after the extended stay. "I was grabbing some water. We didn't have any in the locker room, so (Wisconsin) coach (Bo) Ryan sent out and got me some water. There's a certain type of water I like to drink."\nWednesday night's loss ranked among the worst games of the season for the Hoosiers, as the team shot a season-low 29 percent from the field and 19 percent from three. \nThought recent skepticism has risen about the IU coaching staff (a group of students representing www.firemikedavis.com threatened to petition outside the Connecticut game), junior guard Earl Calloway said changes need to be made from the bottom up, not the other way around.\n"We've got to redefine us as a team," he said. "The coaches are giving us great plans, great strategy and great pregame. As the players, we've got to go execute what they do. They give us the right things, we've just got to get it out there on the court."\nA general consensus among the players who spoke after the game was a necessity to use the loss as a motivational tool for Saturday's game against Big Ten pace-setter Iowa. The Hoosiers have seen firsthand evidence of what teams are capable of doing when pushed against the ropes -- such as Michigan State, Minnesota and Wisconsin -- and they hope to do the same again the Hawkeyes.\n"We need to keep this as a motivational tool," Calloway said. "You can't forget a 20-point loss."\nThe Hoosiers head back to Bloomington for two more days of practice before a Saturday showdown with the Hawkeyes. IU now sits in seventh place in the Big Ten, but the Hoosiers have yet to lose a conference game in Assembly Hall.\nIU won't begin its technical work until today's practice, but much of the mental preparation has already begun.\n"(Coach Davis) said a lot of things," senior guard Marshall Strickland said. "We're just going to be ready for Saturday"