SALT LAKE CITY -- The Hoosiers' top three have looked, as of late, a little bit like "the walking wounded", as a reporter referred to them in a question during Friday's press conference. \nSophomore forward Robert Vaden sprained his ankle against Ohio State and had an ice bag taped around it after Thursday night's game. He wore a different sized shoe on that foot to account for the swelling, but he seemed unaffected as he played a team-high 36 minutes and hit the game-winning shot. \n"(The ankle) feels good," IU's second-leading scorer said. "It feels better than it did yesterday before the game so I should be ready tomorrow. It's actually smaller than it was yesterday." \nThe Hoosiers' third-leading scorer, senior guard Marshall Strickland, sprained a ligament in the AC joint of his shoulder during the second half of Thursday's game. Strickland was in the middle of receiving a handoff when he collided with 6-foot-10, 245-pound Mohamed Camara of San Diego State. Strickland iced the injury and then returned to put up an uncharacteristic air ball from the corner. \nHe had an ice bag taped around his left pectoral muscle after the game. \n"I hurt my shoulder pretty good," said Strickland, who scored two points in the second half and missed all three of his final 3-pointers. "I'm still questionable right now. I got a couple of more hours of rest, but we'll see how it feels." \nSenior forward Marco Killingsworth struggled at first Thursday night, playing only nine of the first 20 minutes, but he regrouped to put together an 18-point outing, despite the concerns raised about how the 270-pounder might respond to the Utah altitude. After the game, the familiar ice bag was wrapped around his shins. \n"I'm cool," he said with a smile. \n
Calloway turning heads
\nJunior guard Earl Calloway's recent play has led IU coach Mike Davis to forecast him as a future second or first all-conference team member. \nCalloway has strung together a slew of good performances, scoring 18 against SDSU and notching a season-high six steals. The Juco transfer flirted with a triple-double the game prior against OSU, scoring seven points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out six assists while committing only a single turnover. After that game, Davis said if Calloway stuck to his training regimen over the summer, he could be potentially be a first or second teamer. \nHis performance Thursday night warranted questions from the press when Gonzaga coach Mark Few spoke at Friday's press conference. \n"That was scary to watch," Few said of Calloway's performance. "Their perimeter quickness, those guys' ability to spread you out so much… there so quick to drive and get to the basket. That's a big concern for us and you can't just let Killingsworth go one-on-one in there -- you have to pick your poison a little bit." \nKillingsworth called his teammate a "problem" for opposing teams. \n"He was going so fast," Killingsworth said. "Man I said, 'I knew Earl was fast but I didn't know he was that fast.' He was pushing us to another gear." \n
Morrison, Few expect no vacancy in Gonzaga head coaching
\nGonzaga coach Mark Few's name has found itself in the discussion of potential IU coaches -- as it typically does when a top head coaching job opens somewhere. \nTop Bulldog Adam Morrison addressed the constant speculation surrounding his coach's job during Friday's press conference. \n"The only time I think the program's ever felt that he was going to leave was when the Washington job opened," Morrison said. "I don't think there's any job out there that can be better than the situation he has now. He has a 10-year contract. He likes Spokane. He just built a house -- what else could you want? Gonzaga's a great place. There's always rumors about all of our coaches." \nFew shared Morrison's sentiments. \n"First of all it's not my doing ... talk is cheap," Few said. "I'm in a great place and I enjoy where I'm at, and we've got a great thing going right now, so I just kind of let that creep through the cracks"
