Hoosiers look to halt Wolverine home-court dominance

There’s something Michigan has yet to do this season.

The Wolverines have yet to lose a Big Ten game at the Crisler Center.

The IU men’s basketball team will try to put a blemish on Michigan’s 5-0 home record in conference play when the teams face off at 6:30 tonight in Ann Arbor, Mich.

However, IU Assistant Coach Steve McClain said the Wolverines play like the same team no matter what gym they’re in.

“I haven’t seen them play any different on the road than they have at home,” McClain said. “They’re not a team where on the road they play this way and at home, they play this way.”

Michigan’s (16-6, 6-3) home record didn’t help them in the team’s first meeting when IU (17-5, 5-5) beat the Wolverines 73-71 in Assembly Hall on Jan. 5. But since that game, the Wolverines have gone 4-2 in conference while the Hoosiers suffered a three-game losing streak and found themselves behind Michigan in the Big Ten standings.

One of the reasons for the Wolverines’ resurgence was freshman point guard Trey Burke, who has garnered Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors four times this season.

While IU held Burke to 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting, IU sophomore forward Will Sheehey said his passing ability is what sets him apart.

“I know that point guard can get into the lane, he can distribute and that’s something a lot of freshman point guards can’t do,” Sheehey said. “They kind of need to sit back and watch for a couple years, but he’s doing a great job.”

IU’s freshman starter, forward Cody Zeller, has won the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award five times. McClain said that Zeller’s importance to IU is similar to Burke’s to the Wolverines.

“They’re both getting a lot of attention,” McClain said. “They both play major parts of their team’s success, and they both seem to handle the success they’ve had very well.”

McClain said that, besides Burke, Michigan boasts a veteran-laden squad that has shown signs of maturation since last season.

“They’ve got guys that understand what this league is all about. They’ve been through it,” McClain said. “Trey Burke is a freshman like Cody (Zeller) is a freshman, but those other four guys they’re putting out there have been through this league.”

Zeller, who is coming off a career-high 26 points in a 103-89 win against Iowa on Sunday, figures to be part of the game plan again.

Junior forward Christian Watford said they learned from the first meeting that getting Zeller involved against a smaller Michigan team will be crucial.

“They have a hard time guarding Cody in the post so we’re just going to play through him and see what happens,” Watford said.

Michigan’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Tim Hardaway, Jr., struggled from the outside in the first meeting. Hardaway shot 7-of-19 and shot 0-for-7 from 3-point range, but scored 19 points.

Watford said that, just like last time, shutting down Hardaway and Burke will be key to IU pulling out a win.

“Those players have gotten a lot better since then, and they kind of play a little different,” Watford said. “We’re just going to try to take some of their strengths away and make everything difficult for them.”