PAST AND PRESENT HOOSIERS

MINNEAPOLIS -- IU men's basketball coach Mike Davis' plan to steal a Big Ten game on the road didn't go too well Wednesday night, but the Hoosiers have another chance Saturday in the second half of their first two-game road trip of the season.\nThe Hoosiers travel to Iowa City to take on Iowa coach and former IU star Steve Alford and his No. 23 Iowa Hawkeyes at 4 p.m. at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in a battle of the Big Ten's leading and third-highest scorers. \nDavis' squad comes in tied for third place in the Big Ten at 4-2 in the conference and 9-8 overall, while Iowa sits tied for fourth in the league with a 2-4 Big Ten record and 14-5 overall. \nJunior guard Bracey Wright leads the Hoosiers into Iowa City with a conference-leading 19.1 points per game and knows how crucial a road win is in the battle-tested Big Ten.\n"Anytime you go on the road it's going to be tough, no matter who you play," Wright said. "This game is real big for us. After this weekend we have Penn State at home, then (No. 1) Illinois on the road. So it could be real big to get this road win."\nThe game will be on ESPN, live to a national audience, but should not phase the young Hoosier squad, as they have already been exposed to the country with televised games against North Carolina, Connecticut, Kentucky, Notre Dame and Purdue. \nLast season when the Hoosiers and Hawkeyes met, Iowa guard Jeff Horner hit a bank shot in the lane with seconds left to give the visiting Hawkeyes a double-overtime win in Bloomington.\nBut IU has won the past two games in Iowa City, giving Davis an even record at 4-4 against the Hawkeyes.\nAlford, though, hasn't been as fortunate. In the three meetings he has coached between his alma mater and his current team, he has only been victorious once.\nIowa comes into the IU game fresh off an overtime loss to Northwestern on Wednesday. In that game, Hawkeye forward Greg Brunner set a career-high with 28 points.\nLeading the Hawkeyes is dynamic wingman Pierre Pierce, who is averaging 17.4 ppg, third in the Big Ten.\nAll eyes will be on the Wright-Pierce match-up, but that doesn't concern the Hoosiers' leading scorer.\n"I don't know him that well but I knew of him when we both played (Amateur Athletic Union basketball)," Wright said. "I know that he is a really good player, but we don't have a back-and-forth thing going on during the game."\nComplementing Pierce is an Iowa front line of 6-foot-7-inch Brunner and 6-foot-11-inch center Erek Hansen, both of whom will keep IU freshman D.J. White's hands full. But size doesn't matter to White, who said the Hoosiers just need to keep battling night in and night out.\n"We want to win," White said. "That's all we are thinking about. We need to go into a game with a lot of focus. It's going to be a hard fight for 40 minutes."\nPossibly matching up against the stronger Brunner, who can be an offensive threat for Iowa, White said guarding men on the perimeter doesn't phase him.\n"It might surprise the other team, but I think it's good for us," White said. "I use my long arms to try to disrupt the offense. That's what we try to force on defense. I just try to give a strong defensive presence."\nHaving won all their home conference games thus far, the Hoosiers say it is critical for them to win a road game and understand it's not as easy as they think.\n"It's hard to play on the road," Wright said. "It's a foreign environment for the visiting team and you only have a few days to prepare for another gym. It's a war every time you go on the road."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu.