IU prepares for Purdue crowd

For more than 100 years, the best college basketball players in Bloomington and West Lafayette have faced off in an annual rivalry that IU Associate Head Coach Steve McClain called one of the best in sports.

“I don’t know how many you can find where it’s truly the biggest game,” McClain said. “I think every level has something like that, but when you think of this state, it’s about one game.”

But from 2009 to 2011, Purdue got the best of IU, winning five straight matchups while the Hoosiers worked to rebuild the once-storied program.

After a sweep of the series last year, the No. 3 Hoosiers will face a much younger Purdue team tonight in West Lafayette, with the Boilermakers starting three freshman after the heart of the program, including Robbie Hummel, JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore, graduated during the past two years.

McClain said Purdue’s freshmen have stepped up as the season has progressed, taking on a much larger role and leading the Boilermakers to a 4-3 record in conference play after starting the season on a 4-6 skid.

“I think when you look at them, there’s no question they’re playing a lot of young guys, and their vets, (D.J.) Byrd and (Terone) Johnson, also are really stepping up and playing well for them right now,” McClain said. “You can tell they’re getting games under their belt and getting better every time they play. There’s no question when you look at their last five or six games, you see a team that’s getting better every time they walk on the court.”

For the Hoosiers, the coaching staff decided to bring in a couple IU basketball legends, Joe Hillman and Brian Evans, to talk with the players Tuesday afternoon and explain, among other things, just what it’s like to play against a rival like Purdue, especially in Mackey Arena.

“Those guys have obviously been there and done that,” junior forward Will Sheehey said. “They’re obviously a huge part of the tradition and whatnot. They have the wisdom. They’ve been there.

“We have our game plan, and the coaches do too, but that’s just icing on the cake for guys like that to come in and talk to us.”

But when the players take the court at 8:30 p.m. to face the Hoosiers’ biggest rival for the first time this season, senior guard Jordan Hulls said past experience or words of wisdom from Hillman and Evans can only take IU so far.

He and his teammates have to execute the game plan and stay within themselves, Hulls said, and not get too caught up in what will be a raucous Boilermaker crowd.

“We’ve just got to stick together,” Hulls said. “You know it’s going to be a crazy environment. It always is between us two. It’s a big game for us. You’ve got to let them know that it’s going to be a very physical, hard-fought battle.

“It’s a rivalry game, so you can just throw everything out the window with what people may say. It’s going to be a hard-fought game. You’ve got to bring it no matter who you’re playing.”