No more room for slip-ups

The state of IU's NCAA Tournament hopes has become as precarious as a walk through the icy Arboretum. While it is possible to make it into the postseason safely, there is just as good of a chance for the Hoosiers to slip up and embarrass themselves.\nSaturday was another example of what has been killing IU on the road all year -- a spurt by the home team where the Hoosiers are held scoreless. When these spurts occur, IU goes from having a lead or trailing by a few points to getting taken out of the picture altogether. At Purdue, it involved going over four minutes without scoring. At Louisville, it was the infamous final 7:55 of the game without a field goal.\nAgainst Wisconsin, IU's scoring drought was not very prolonged, lasting little over two minutes. But in that period of time, the Badgers were able to rattle off 11 points and turn an eight-point halftime deficit into a three-point lead. And while there was still over 17 minutes left to play at that point, one could not help but feel that the rest of the game was merely icing on the Badgers' cake.\nSure, it didn't help that the officiating in the game was sketchy at best. In the first half, every bit of contact was called a foul, while at the end of the game players were mugged and nothing was called. But it didn't matter. If IU had stemmed Wisconsin's tide at the start of the half, they would have won.\nWhile Wisconsin is a good team, and losing to them is by no means embarrassing, it does put the Hoosiers in a bad spot. They have dipped to eighth in the conference with a 5-6 record (15-9 overall). Therefore, Wednesday's game at Iowa is no less than a must-win situation.\nWorking to the Hoosiers benefit is the fact that the only team in the Big Ten slumping at a similar rate is Iowa. The Hawkeyes, after starting off the season surprisingly well, have lost five of their last seven games. Adding to the importance of this contest is the fact that IU's next game is at No. 14 Illinois, which does not figure to be a victory.\nOf course, going to Iowa City is no walk in the park. The Hawkeyes have beaten Illinois and Michigan State at home. And IU hasn't won a conference road game in 366 days.\nIf IU is to win at Iowa, they'll have to remedy their drought problem, which is beginning to resemble the Dust Bowl in its magnitude. There are solutions to this plight, of course. It helps that one was being employed against Wisconsin in the emergence of Marshall Strickland as a scorer. Strickland can create his own shot off the dribble and passes well. Combined with Bracey Wright and Jeff Newton, the Hoosier offense has the potential to score with anyone in the country if it is properly executed.\nIn a situation where the opponent is making a big run, the coaching staff should not hesitate to call timeout, either. By the time IU called timeout in the second half against Wisconsin, they were already trailing. That is probably too long of a wait -- you want to stem the tide while you are still in the driver's seat.\nAnother key is for Tom Coverdale to bust out of his slump. I have been on the Coverdale bandwagon long enough to be its driver (or at least to ride shotgun). But there is no denying that TC's shooting has been colder than Bloomington's temperatures this month. Since there are other scorers on this team, it shouldn't be such a big problem. However, he has also made some poor decisions passing the ball in recent games. (He didn't have any turnovers Saturday, so maybe that problem will be remedied).\nIU must also get better production from the bench. The bench contributed a paltry two points against Wisconsin. Yes, it's good for Sean Kline to see some minutes. It's not good when he picks up five fouls in five minutes.