Hoosiers look to rebound after loss to Boilermakers

No sooner than the No. 24 IU men's basketball team lost to Purdue on the road Thursday were the Hoosiers faced with the prospect of yet another Big Ten road game. \nLess than 48 hours after their loss in West Lafayette, IU will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday to face Michigan. \nThe game is the second of four remaining road games on IU's schedule. The Hoosiers play three of their next four on the road, including trips to Michigan State (Feb. 24) and Northwestern (Feb. 28). \nSnowy conditions throughout Indiana prevented IU from making the trip to West Lafayette on Wednesday -- robbing the Hoosiers of a day of practice and rest before the journey to Ann Arbor. Now IU will be forced to recover from the short rest, loss and travel in an attempt to win a road game in the Big Ten, a scarce commodity in the conference this season. \nThe Hoosiers are 2-6 on the road this season. In Big Ten play, IU has just one win in four tries on the road, their lone win coming at Penn State on Jan. 13. (IU also won a non-conference away game at Connecticut since conference play began).\nIU coach Kelvin Sampson has been asked several times this season what allows home teams such an advantage and just as many times Sampson said the same thing: they just do.\nThe Hoosiers will hope that principle doesn't apply to the Wolverines. \nIU handled Michigan easily at home Jan. 27. The Hoosiers jumped out to a lead of 13-1 in the first half and never surrendered the deficit on the way to a 76-61 win. IU thrived on a spread shooting attack, and IU forward D.J. White was able to fill the post for 15 points and seven rebounds thanks to that space. Three other Hoosiers -- senior guard Rod Wilmont (15), freshman guard Armon Bassett (11) and junior forward Lance Stemler (11) -- all reached double digits. \nIU was able to limit the low post production of Michigan senior Courtney Sims in the teams' first match up. Sims was held to 12 points on 2-for-6 shooting, thanks in large part to double teams and rotations from IU's half court defense. \nSims is one of four seniors in Michigan's starting five, but despite that experience the Wolverines have struggled to put together an NCAA tournament-worthy resume. Michigan (17-9, 5-6) is 0-for-4 against teams ranked in the Associated Press Top-25. \nSaturday's game is scheduled to start at 4 p.m.