Can the Hoosiers rebound?

The IU men's basketball team hopes to rebound Saturday afternoon against the Michigan Wolverines, and in more ways than one.\nBesides chasing down missed shots and crashing the offensive glass, the Hoosiers will also look to rebound from their recent loss to Illinois. The Hoosiers lost 51-43 to the Fighting Illini on Tuesday night in Champaign, Ill., which ended IU's five-game winning streak.\nIU coach Kelvin Sampson has stressed all year the importance of his players being able to hang their hats on something. That something, he hoped, would be the Hoosiers' defense and rebounding.\n"We're creating some habits around here," Sampson said in December 2006. "(We're) trying to get our kids to be good at something. A lot of coaches talk about an identity. We're starting to get one: defend and rebound."\nEarlier in the season, during the nonconference portion of their schedule, the Hoosiers had little trouble out-rebounding the competition. However, in their last three games, the Hoosiers have struggled at times on the boards. \nOn Jan. 16, the Iowa Hawkeyes out-rebounded the Hoosiers 33-32, including a 13-10 advantage on the offensive boards. Last Saturday, the team experienced its worst outing on the boards when Connecticut out-rebounded the Hoosiers 38-22, which included a staggering 19 offensive rebounds. Then, Tuesday night against Illinois, the Hoosiers won the battle of the boards 28-27, but were out-rebounded again on the offensive glass 10-9. The Hoosiers' inconsistency has caused a drop in rebounding production, especially in the Big Ten.\nThey are currently ranked sixth in the conference in rebounding defense and seventh in rebounding offense.\n"That's one thing that my freshman year I knew I had to work on was rebounding," junior forward D.J. White said in October 2006. "Getting balls just out of my area and just going to get them. That's what I tried to do when I came back was to do that a little bit. You know with Coach Sampson you have to rebound."\nIn addition to White, senior guard Rod Wilmont averages six rebounds a game while junior forward Lance Stemler averages 4.3.\n"Every coach has their own style, and we have to get adjusted to it. It's rebounding and defense," White said of Sampson's coaching philosophy. "We work on it every day, and we should be proud of those\nareas."\nFortunately for IU, history is on its side Saturday. The Hoosiers have won 10 straight against Michigan and the last 10 held in Assembly Hall. The last time the Wolverines won at Assembly Hall was Jan. 24, 1995. Also, so far this season the Hoosiers have not suffered consecutive losses.