Sampson's record stout at home

If you’re a passionate fan and you’ve attended a men’s basketball game since Kelvin Sampson was given the keys to the program, you’ve probably experienced a smorgasbord of sensations from your Assembly Hall perch.\nMaybe your palms became sweat-soaked with nervousness whenever the Hoosiers were down at halftime. Maybe your eyes lit up with excitement whenever you noticed an open cream-clad player in the corner. Maybe your heart skipped a beat during that instant between a referee’s blown whistle and the signaled call.\nWhatever you’ve felt during a game, the final, overriding sensation has been a given the last two seasons: the unalterable joy of victory.\nThat’s because the Hoosiers have won their last 28 contests at home, a streak that dates back to the final hours of the Mike Davis era. IU currently holds the fourth-longest home-court winning streak in the nation behind Notre Dame (31), Brigham Young (40) and Memphis (41).\nSunday’s win against Penn State marked Sampson’s 26th-straight home win, a stat that pushes the IU coach ahead of the legendary Branch McCracken for most consecutive home wins to begin a career at IU.\nWhatever criticisms have been made about Sampson’s coaching tenure, establishing a home-court advantage has not been one of them. Last season, the Hoosiers went 15-0 in Assembly Hall and even garnered a memorable 71-66 upset of No. 2 Wisconsin. \nSampson credited the fans for creating a winning atmosphere in his first year at Assembly Hall.\n“The fans got us through some of those games,” Sampson said. “We were not a great team last year. We were a team that played with some great emotion, we played hard and these fans really appreciated it.”\nThis season, the streak has appeared in danger of being snapped on several occasions. IU has rallied from small second-half deficits in its last two home games, versus Illinois and Penn State. And who can say they were really that surprised?\n“We just believe every time that we step on the court we should win – that’s protecting our home,” senior forward D.J. White said. “There’s a sense of pride that we have.”\nSampson said he has the feeling that Hoosier fans expect to win. It would be wise, however, for IU fanatics to avoid taking home wins for granted. \nIU regularly lost at home during the years leading up to Sampson’s arrival – sometimes to clearly inferior teams. Does Charlotte ring a bell, anyone? And however intimidating a venue like Assembly Hall might be for the opposing team, the story of the against-all-odds underdog has been written over and over in college basketball. Over the weekend, No. 1 North Carolina, a team that had scored at least 90 points in 12 of its 18 wins, fell to Maryland on its own court. You can bet unalterable joy was the last thing Tar Heels fans were feeling afterward.\nThe Hoosiers have several intriguing home games remaining on their schedule, including today’s game against Iowa. If Penn State proved anything, it’s that you should think twice before chalking up a sure “W” on the schedule against any Big Ten opponent (except maybe Northwestern). As Sampson said, though: The fans expect to win.\nThus far, he’s been happy to oblige. \nHines’ Prediction - \nIU: 77, Iowa: 63