Big Ten Tourney starts for IU

A new season will begin today. \nAll of those two-point home losses are gone. The Hoosiers (13-14, 7-9 Big Ten) have a chance to forget all of that and make a run to a postseason berth.\nEighth seed IU starts the Big Ten Tournament at noon Thursday against ninth seed Ohio State (14-15, 6-10) at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.\nThe Hoosiers need to win the Big Ten Tournament if they hope to reach the NCAA Tournament. They need at least two wins to guarantee a National Invitational Tournament bid.\n"We believe we can win," sophomore guard Marshall Strickland said. "We just need to go out there and play as hard as we can and play like it could be our last game, every game."\nOhio State and IU split their meetings this year, each winning on the opposing court. IU lost by three, 59-56, Feb. 21 when the OSU big men went to work.\nBuckeye senior center Velimir Radinovic scored 23 points and had 10 rebounds. Sophomore forward Terence Dials had 16 points and 10 rebounds. \n"You know they're going to go to the post, so fight the post," IU coach Mike Davis said. "I can't fight the post for them. It's no surprise. When you watch tape, we know exactly what they're going to do. You've got to keep fighting."\nThis will be IU's second trip to Conseco this season. The Hoosiers defeated Xavier 80-77, Nov. 29. The in-state venue could bring in extra fans, but junior guard Ryan Tapak said it will take more than just the fans.\n"It's not about anything outside of the five guys on the court playing for Indiana," Tapak said. "We're going to have more fans. Even at our away games, we've had a lot of fans, so we have the support. We probably have more support than anyone in the country.\n"We've played at Conseco a lot. It's going to be a friendly environment. It's just a matter of executing."\nSenior center George Leach said he thinks IU can make a run at the title.\n"But it starts first with buying into the system," Leach said. "If we come out here and we bust our butts on defense and get the offense right, then I think we can go real far. But if we don't do that, then we'll lose."\n-- Contact staff writer Tyler V. Hoeppner at thoeppne@indiana.edu.