Hoosiers' diminished frontcourt to deal with Aztecs' front two

SALT LAKE CITY -- The San Diego State Aztecs hail from the Mountain West Conference, but they look familiar to the Hoosiers of the Midwest. \nAnd even 1,500 miles away from Bloomington, the IU players see themselves fighting a familiar battle Thursday night, despite being emerged in the Rocky Mountains surrounding the Jon Huntsman Center. \nWinning the often-fought battle on the boards will again be essential. \nJunior guard Rod Wilmont sees the Michigan State teams of the present in SDSU, citing the necessity to box out on every possession -- similar to what the Hoosiers had to do to earn a victory from MSU. Senior guard Marshall Strickland sees the rebounding habits of the Spartan teams of the past and agrees with Wilmont's assessment. And senior forward Marco Killingsworth -- IU's sole post player -- will have to deal with it all. \n"They go to that offensive glass every time," Killingsworth said. \nLeading that SDSU charge is Marcus Slaughter, a 6-foot-9, 220-pounder capable of getting a double-double on any evening. Slaughter, the MWC Tournament MVP, averages 16.6 points and 11 rebounds per game. Slaughter has grabbed 319 total rebounds on the season, with 120 coming on offense, compared to Killingsworth's 73 total offensive boards. \nMohamed Abukar is his frontcourt mate and isn't as much of a presence on the glass. He is a similar scoring threat, though, averaging 13.8 points to accompany his 4.5 rebounds per outing. \nTo compliment their presence, the Aztecs have guard Brandon Heath on the perimeter who, playing off of Abukar and Slaughter, has shot 41 percent from three-point range on the season. Heath, the MWC Player of the Year, leads the squad in scoring with 18.5 points per contest. \n"They have enough to be better than us because Slaughter and Heath are very good basketball players," IU coach Mike Davis said. "It is going to be a tough basketball game for us." \nMaking it tougher will be the question mark surrounding sophomore guard Robert Vaden. Vaden is still day-to-day and hasn't been participating in practice after tweaking his ankle last week against Ohio State. In the team's open practice on Wednesday afternoon he participated in preliminary drills but sat toward the end. \n"I want to play, and hopefully the doctors and trainers will let me play," said Vaden whom Davis called a game-time decision. \nDuring Wednesday's press conference, Davis answered a question about the similarities between this year's squad and the 2001 team that made the much-storied run to the championship round. \nHe compared the way his squad lost that year in the conference tournament to this year's tourney defeat. In 2001, the Hoosiers suffered a close loss to Iowa in the final game after having multiple opportunities to steal the victory. Last week, IU fell in the closing seconds to OSU after two failed attempts from Wilmont and Killingsworth during the final possession. \nDavis then drew on the similarities between Killingsworth and former Hoosier Jared Jeffries. \n"We had a lot of guys around (Jeffries) who could really shoot the basketball," Davis said. "And these guys we have on our team now, we have Marco Killingsworth, when he's going he's one of the best. And we have guys who can really shoot the basketball"