Tough three-game home stand will test Hoosiers

The Big Ten basketball championship could be decided at Assembly Hall.\nThough no champion will be crowned during the upcoming three-game Hoosier home stand, the conference race will become clear after Wisconsin, Michigan State and Purdue visit Bloomington over the next \nseven days.\nThe IU men’s basketball team has an opportunity to take a commanding lead in the standings if it can defend its home court and beat the three other teams contending for the Big Ten championship. IU (20-3, 9-1) trails conference leader Purdue (20-5, 11-1) by a half-game in the standings.\nFirst up for the No. 13 Hoosiers is No. 15 Wisconsin, which defeated IU 62-49 Jan. 31. Senior forward D.J. White said the team is looking forward to the three-game stretch.\n“We’ve got three of the best teams in the league back-to-back, so we have to be ready to play no matter if it’s at Assembly Hall or wherever,” White said.\nThe Hoosiers are in a position to win the conference title thanks to two close road victories last week over Illinois and Ohio State. The Hoosiers were fortunate enough to escape Champaign with a victory after Illinois forward Shaun Pruitt missed three free throws, any of which would have given the Illini the victory.\nIU coach Kelvin Sampson said the two road wins were a good building block for the rest of the season.\n“We actually talked about that after the (Illinois) game,” Sampson said. “We dodged a couple of bullets there – some missed free throws. I think the fact that we found a way to win was a positive message to our team.”\nThe Hoosiers have struggled at times to play consistently on both ends of the court, but in recent games IU has had more consistent offensive and defensive production. \nThe team has been unable to find a reliable third scorer, with the duo of White and freshman guard Eric Gordon, the two leading scorers in the Big Ten, shouldering the load. Sophomore guard Armon Bassettand freshman guard Jordan Crawford have scored in key situations the last two games and could possibly fill that void for IU.\nThe defense has found success by playing more zone defense instead of Sampson’s traditional man-to-man system. The head coach is happy with \nthe results.\n“I think our team is coming together – we are progressing as a unit,” Sampson said. “We have been slow to develop this year for odd reasons, but different reasons actually. Now that we are hitting a really tough part of the season, it is encouraging to see our kids starting to play better now.”\nWith the three other Big Ten contenders coming to Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers need to keep up its improved play to win its first Big Ten championship since 2002.\n“I am very excited,” White said. “For one, playing for a Big Ten title of course. Two, just being back home at Assembly Hall for three games. I think it will be electric in Assembly Hall.”