Mental game

IU coach Kelvin Sampson is likely to forgo filling out an NCAA tournament bracket this season. After all, with his Hoosiers set to receive a bid to the tourney, picking his own regional could get a bit awkward. \nBut he does have his fair share of bracketology strategies. The first? Research the guards.\n“If I were advising you guys on who to pick in the tournament and you were a little confused about who would win a certain game, I’d tell you to research the point-guard position,” Sampson told members of the media earlier this week. “Whichever team has the best point guard has the best chance to win. ... College basketball is a guard’s game. You better have great guards.”\nWith IU’s senior point guard Earl Calloway back in the lineup, Sampson’s set of guards – and his overall lineup – looks all the more formidable. The Hoosiers begin postseason play at 9:10 p.m. Friday against Illinois at the United Center in Chicago.\nHit with a slightly separated shoulder in the second half of the Purdue game Feb. 15, Calloway was forced to watch from the bench the next three games, in which the Hoosiers lost on the road to Michigan and Michigan State. \nAt Northwestern on Feb. 28, Calloway scored two points and lost two turnovers in only nine minutes – minutes his coach said were “nine too many.” \nBut last Saturday at home, Calloway returned to the lineup and played as though he had never been injured. He scored 15 points and dished 11 assists as the Hoosiers trounced Penn State 94-63. \n“Earl has accepted that his shoulder is going to hurt him,” Sampson said. “In the Northwestern game, you could tell that his focus was not in running our offense or competing, but he was favoring his shoulder. It was good to get him out there in that game, because he went out there and realized that his shoulder didn’t get hurt anymore. ... A lot of it is mind-set.”\nBesides anchoring the IU offense, Calloway’s return frees freshman guard Armon Bassett to play the off-guard role he is more familiar with. Bassett played point guard in Calloway’s absence, but said he preferred to play in his original spot. \n“A lot of times, when you have the ball every possession, there’s a lot of pressure,” Bassett said. “Definitely it was good experience, but it will be nice not to have that pressure on offense all the time.” \n“You can see the difference (Calloway) makes in our team,” Sampson said. “You think about the games he missed. With a healthy Earl, we’re so much better at the point of attack. There’s a lot to be said for a senior point guard versus a freshman point guard at this time of the year.”\nThe set of opponents Calloway, Bassett and company will see Friday night wasn’t decided until yesterday, when Illinois topped Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. \nThe Hoosiers received a first-round bye.\nNow IU is charged with playing what could effectively feel like an away game in Chicago. IU split the season series with Illinois, losing 51-43 in Champaign, Ill., but winning 65-61 in Bloomington, largely thanks to post defense and late Bassett heroics.\nAt 2-6 in Big Ten road games this year, the prospect of playing the Illini in Chicago might not sound as inviting as a typical neutral court game, but IU junior forward D.J. White didn’t seem worried. Facing the Illini length – including forwards Sean Pruitt, Warren Carter and Brian Randle – didn’t seem to have White concerned, either.\n“We have a tough team,” White said. “I’ve played against length all year – that’s something I know myself and my team can overcome.”