Stemler returns home as IU heads into 1st road game

Heading into the IU men’s basketball team’s first true road game of the season, Lance Stemler might know more than anybody what to expect from the Southern Illinois Salukis. \nAfter all, he grew up just 45 minutes away from SIU Arena, and as a freshman at Bradley University, Stemler walked on to the floor and faced the Salukis and their passionate student section, “the Dawg Pound.”\nStemler is now co-captain of an IU team that went 3-8 on the road last year, and has tried his best to prepare seven new players (five freshmen and two junior college transfers) for the hostile environment. \n“You can tell them, but until they get in it, I think it’s hard to understand,” Stemler said during a press conference Thursday. “This home court, they’re good there. And their fans are tremendous, too. ... They’re like any other good student section – they do their research. They know what to talk about.”\nStemler has heard a lot of negative comments as a Hoosier. He was booed by some of his home fans last season and again during IU’s season-opening 99-79 win against Chattanooga Nov. 12. Stemler said the team has to be more focused to execute offensively with a loud Southern Illinois crowd \nscreaming at them.\n“You do the best you can to try and block out what they’re saying,” he said. “I really don’t pay attention to the fact that they’re saying something about my mom, or whatever it might be.”\nFor the record, Mrs. Stemler will be sitting in the stands when the No. 15 Hoosiers take on the Salukis, as will Lance’s father and a handful of Lance’s friends and family from his home, Columbia, Ill. \nCoach Kelvin Sampson knows the Salukis present a tough challenge to a young IU team. Southern Illinois has a 15-game home winning streak and are 80-3 in Carbondale, Ill., since the 2001-02 season. \n“I think it’s tough to beat Indiana at home,” Sampson said during the press conference. “It’s tough to go into an opposing team’s gym. If they’re a really good team, I think it’s tough to beat them, unless you’ve got a really veteran team. ... So it will be interesting to see how this team plays on the road.”\nFor the second game in a row, the Hoosiers will be playing without freshman guard Jordan Crawford. He has been suspended until IU’s Dec. 8 home game against Kentucky for breaking an unspecified team rule. \nCrawford averaged 12.6 points per game in 25.0 minutes per game this season. \nSampson said Thursday he is still unsure if freshman guard Brandon McGee will be able to play Saturday. McGee missed IU’s 83-79 Tuesday win against Georgia Tech because of an illness. Sampson said McGee had an abscess drained from his tonsil on Wednesday and is still recovering. \nWithout Crawford, McGee and senior guard A.J. Ratliff, who is academically ineligible until Dec. 15, the Hoosiers were forced to use just three guards against Georgia Tech. \nThe Hoosiers and Salukis tip off at 9:30 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised on ESPNU.