CHAMPAIGN, ILL. -- Sunday, IU basketball saw a sight that hadn't happened in 15 years -- four freshmen starting.\nThe usual three Hoosier starters of D.J. White, Robert Vaden and A.J. Ratliff were joined by fellow freshman James Hardy, who took injured junior guard Bracey Wright's place in the starting lineup.\nIn 1990, former coach Bobby Knight started freshmen Calbert Cheaney, Matt Nover, Chris Lawson and Greg Graham.\nThe Hoosiers were led in scoring by two of the four freshmen as White and Vaden each scored 12 points. Ratliff had five and Hardy six.\n"What better growing-up pill to give them than playing on the road against the No. 1 team in the country in an environment like this," coach Mike Davis said. "I started Hardy to give those guys a little taste of what it felt like to go against the best team in the country so they can have a great memory of the team that they need to be."\nDavis specifically pointed out Vaden's contribution in taking on an increased scoring role.\n"Today was the first time he's really been in that situation," Davis said. "I think he can score a lot of points for us."\nHardy said getting his first career start was a great feeling.\nA Bright Future\nAfter battling back from a 13-point loss, the IU freshmen saw in Illinois what they want to be like in the near future.\n"I learned so much by playing in this game," Ratliff said. \nDespite Illinois' talent, just the combination of playing in front of a hostile crowd, on national television and against the No. 1 team in the country, gave the young Hoosiers an education.\n"I feel we can." White said of being like Illinois in the future. "Right now we're young. We're still learning a lot of things. There's still a lot of things we can learn." \nRatliff said he sees the future every day with his classmates, and looks at the Illinois game as a measuring stick.\n"I think we played well. We kept our intensity up, we kept our poise against them," Ratliff said. "I want to play like them."
Super Bowl Showdown\nWith Sunday's Big Ten match-up precluding the Super Bowl, Davis said jokingly that he was going to consult the Eagles' Terrell Owens' doctor after the Super Bowl to see how to get Wright back sooner.\nWright has a sprained left ankle. Owen's injury is more serious with a severely sprained deltoid ligament. \nAsked after the game who he thought would win the Super Bowl, Illinois guard Dee Brown made it simple.\n"The Patriots -- big," Brown said.\n-- Contact Staff Writers John Rodgers and Josh Weinfuss at jprodger@indiana.edu and jweinfus@indiana.edu.
