IU takes break from Big Ten play

The IU men's basketball team found some different ways to win in the Big Ten during the past couple of weeks. \nFollowing their loss at Ohio State on Jan. 2, the Hoosiers reeled off four straight conference wins against Michigan State, Purdue, Penn State and Iowa. The squad's strategies for squashing the competition, need to stay at the back of each player's mind, at least for a few days.\nThe Hoosiers (13-4, 4-1 Big Ten) will face the Connecticut Huskies (13-4, 2-3) in a non-conference showdown at 3:45 p.m. Saturday at the Hartford Civic Center. \nDuring a press conference Thursday, IU coach Kelvin Sampson said he's not upset about having to play the Huskies; however, the game throws the team's regular schedule off a bit, especially since IU hits the road on Tuesday to play Illinois. \n"A normal week for coaches is you play on Saturday, you play on Wednesday, you play on Saturday, knowing that your day off usually comes on Sunday," Sampson said. "This week we've got Thursday and Friday -- and I'm appreciative of that -- but if we take Sunday off then we only have one day to prepare for Illinois. So that's where you're sort of at the mercy of the schedule. But you know what, everybody has to do that sometimes."\nLast season, IU's loss to the Huskies triggered a five-game losing streak that knocked the Hoosiers out of the top-25 rankings. This season the Huskies are 12-1 at home. IU has won eight of its last nine games, including four straight.\nSampson said he sees some similarities between this year's IU squad and the Huskies, including one he says is also common to the rest of the NCAA.\n"When you look around college basketball, it's almost like everybody's young," Sampson said. "You think about Xavier (Keeling) and Joey (Shaw) and Armon (Bassett), Mike (White) and Lance (Stemler). We can talk about our veterans but we have a lot of freshmen and first-year guys that have to carry a load for us. Connecticut got put in a tough situation because look at the guys they should have back."\nThis year's Huskies squad boasts eight freshmen and five sophomores, with just one junior and one senior. Come Saturday though, those numbers won't hurt Connecticut in the least, Sampson said.\n"Every kid on their team is capable of scoring 20 points," the first-year IU coach said. "They have that kind of talent, but it's young. But with young talent, you never know when it's going to click. Saturday may be the day it all comes together. They are certainly capable."\nSampson said he has been most impressed by the "hard-nosed" Huskie sophomore Jeff Adrien, who averages 13 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Adrien and 7-foot-3 center Hasheem Thabeet -- who averages more than four blocks a game -- could provide some frontcourt problems for the Hoosiers. But Sampson is more concerned with the Huskies' fast\nbreak ability.\n"Connecticut teams always thrive in transition," he said. "When you prepare for them, you have to be good at transition defense. You have to make them play half court against you. If you get into a track meet, we have no chance. We aren't built that way."\nEven though Saturday's game is non-conference, the Hoosiers -- much like their coach -- aren't taking it any differently than a Big \nTen contest.\n"It's going to be a good test for us, going on the road," junior forward D.J. White said. "The Penn State win gave us a lot of experience on the road. If we're fortunate enough to make the NCAA Tournament, then we'll be playing teams of this caliber. So it's just another test for us"