Hoosiers look to join elite company

D.J. White, Eric Gordon and Co.’s, most recent victory, a 65-43 drubbing of Iowa on Wednesday, put the IU men’s basketball team in elite company.\nThe last time the Hoosiers had a start this good, they won the national title. And they didn’t lose any games, either.\nWednesday’s win moved the No. 7 Hoosiers to 17-1 on the year and 6-0 in the Big Ten, their best start since the 1975-76 team began its season 18-0 en route to an undefeated season and IU’s third national championship.\nOnly four other IU teams had starts as good or better than this year’s Hoosiers – the 1975-76 team (18-0), the 1974-75 team (18-0), the 1942-43 team (18-0) and the 1938-39 team (17-1).\nThe 1990-91 IU team started 16-2.\n“Well, I’m going to state the obvious, they are a good team,” Iowa coach Todd Lickliter said.\nAfter his team improved to 17-1, IU coach Kelvin Sampson reflected on the milestone. \n“I’ve only been here parts of two years, but I just focus on getting this team better in the areas we need to get better in,” Sampson said after the Iowa game.\nDuring those two years, Sampson has never lost a game at Assembly Hall, the best home record to start any IU coaching career.\n“Taking over a new program, the first thing you have to do is establish your culture, how it is you want your team to be,” Sampson said. “The thing that makes this program so special, I keep saying it because I mean it, is the fans. You look up and there is 16,000 to 17,000 people here every game. Every game it’s like that. It is a special place because of the fans.”\nDespite the quick start, IU’s \nrecord is not as impressive as it could be, thanks to a weak non-conference schedule. IU has yet to defeat a team ranked in The Associated Press Top-25 poll. The Hoosiers traveled to Southern Illinois – who at the time was ranked No. 22 in the Coaches Poll – and knocked off the Salukis 64-51 on Dec. 1. Since then, Southern Illinois has stumbled out of the polls and fallen to a 9-10 record. \nDuring IU’s undefeated run in the 1975-76 season, IU bested five teams ranked in the top 25 in the first 18 games – including two top-10 teams in its first three. \nIU won’t challenge a ranked opponent until next week when it travels to No. 11 Wisconsin. \nThe Hoosiers might face only two ranked teams for the rest of the regular season – the Badgers and No. 10 Michigan State. IU has two games – one home and one away – remaining with each team. \nDespite the soft schedule, Sampson has been impressed with the progression of his team and is happy with the historic start. \n“Defense, decision making, shot selection ... there is not an area that we haven’t improved in,” Sampson said. “The way we run our offense now, it is familiarity. When you have a lot of kids that are accustomed to being the go-to guy, it takes them awhile to filter into a role. We play our roles better now than we did earlier.”