When Collin Hartman was asked if he’d rather face Michigan or Northwestern on Friday, he laughed and exchanged a look with teammate Troy Williams before giving a simple answer.
“It doesn’t matter,” Hartman said. “It doesn’t matter at all.”
It shouldn’t, at least — the Hoosiers are the No. 1 seed and earned a doublebye in the Big Ten Tournament after winning the Big Ten regular season title.
“We’re going to come out the same way, with the same mindset,” Hartman said. “We’re going to be the same team.”
Though it may not matter to the Hoosiers, IU will face Michigan, the tournament’s No. 8 seed, which outlasted Northwestern in overtime Thursday.
The Wolverines were no match for the Hoosiers earlier this season in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a game in which IU used a 28-0 run to win 80-67. For Michigan, the stakes are much higher as they try to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. IU is almost guaranteed a top-4 seed in the tourney, but a Big Ten Tournament championship could move them as high as a 2-seed.
While the Hoosiers finished with a perfect 17-0 record in Assembly Hall this year, they haven’t proven they can win big games on the road, with away losses to Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan State.
But Friday, they return to an arena where their season was turned around.
It was Dec. 19, 2015, when the Hoosiers erased a 16-point, second-half deficit to the Fighting Irish at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. It was their first meaningful win of the season.
Just weeks after an embarrassing loss to Duke, it was just what IU needed.
“It showed us what we can do when we just stick with it, stay together, keep doing the right things,” Williams said. “That proved that as long as we stay with it, we can still find a way to come out with the win.”
“Staying with it” has been the theme of what has turned out to be IU Coach Tom Crean’s best season in Bloomington.
While the Notre Dame win might’ve started the turnaround, Crean said he believes it’s happened one game at a time.
“Anytime you win awards as a group, or anytime you win a championship as a group, there are a lot of reasons,” he said. “I know we’re looking for the ‘when did this turn, when did that happen’ — it happens over a period of time.”
Because IU has already faced Michigan once this season, Crean said his team is more focused on preparing itself.
He said they’ll review before facing the Wolverines on Friday, but they still have improving to do. Those improvements, as they often have this season, start with senior guard Yogi Ferrell.
“When he’s jumping on that, there’s no reason for anyone else not to,” Crean said. “That’s why I feel good about our week.”
