After layoff, Hoosiers to face Wildcats tonight

For IU basketball fans, the past four years have been filled with restless anticipation of a return to the NCAA Tournament.

These four years of watching the tournament from home pales in comparison to the Northwestern Wildcats’ 73 years of never hearing their name called on Selection Sunday.

The Wildcats (15-9, 5-7) will look to add to their postseason play resumé at 6:30 p.m. today as they head to Assembly Hall to take on the No. 18/20 Hoosiers (19-6, 7-6).

The Hoosiers are coming off their longest break since the start of Big Ten play and also have their first winning streak in more than a month.

IU had the first of two “byes” in its Big Ten schedule this past weekend, as the Hoosiers have not played since beating Illinois 84-71 on Thursday.

The extra preparation time was needed for a team with such a diverse defensive playbook as the Wildcats do.

“They execute (the offense) really well,” junior guard Jordan Hulls said. “We’ve had a good week of practice preparing for it, and we know we have to be really locked in on the defensive end because of how well they do execute.”

Without a true post player, Northwestern will play a variety of defenses along with using up a bulk of the shot clock on the offensive end.

“Not only do they have a great system, but they have a great group of players,” IU Coach Tom Crean said of the Wildcats. “They truly never put a guy out on the floor that can’t hit a 3-point shot, and that really creates challenges.”

The defensive task for the Hoosiers will be the challenge of defending two of the Big Ten’s top four scorers.

Senior John Shurna leads the Big Ten in scoring at 19.9 points per game, and the 6-foot-9-inch forward also has made the most 3-pointers of any player in the conference.

“He’s got a jump shot that’s a little strange, but it goes in almost 50 percent of the time,” junior forward Derek Elston said. “If you do jump, he’s very skilled enough to shot fake, go right around you and get to the rim.”

In the team’s meeting in Bloomington this past season, Northwestern took a 10-point halftime and staved off an IU comeback that saw the Hoosiers tie the score twice in the second half.

Former Northwestern point guard Michael Thompson had 22 points in that game, but he has been replaced by freshman Dave Sobolewski, who leads the Big Ten Conference in assist to turnover ratio.

Tonight’s game pits seven of the Big Ten’s top 14 3-point shooters against each other, with Northwestern leading the conference at nine 3-pointers made per game.

Northwestern has had IU’s number in the past three seasons, winning five of the six matchups between the two schools, but the Hoosiers have made it clear that they are living in the present.

“Twenty wins and doing it at home is just a momentum builder just because of what we’ve had to deal with in the past,” Elston said. “I just feel like it will be very uplifting to hopefully get the win, and if we do, being a Big Ten win at home, that’s just something I know we as a team will appreciate each other doing it, and I’m pretty sure the fans will appreciate it the same.”