POSTGAME:
IU loses a long, plodding game today at Carver Hawkeye, 81-75.
The Hoosiers continued their rebounding woes in the second half and ended up with a -17 rebounding differential. Predictably, Sampson emphasized rebounding in his postgame press conference, and was none too happy with his team's effort in that aspect of the game.
There's not much more to say here and we have to hit the road, so look for something more in depth either much later tonight or tomorrow, as well as our stories for Monday's edition of the IDS.
Oh, and yeah: GO BEARS.
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HALFTIME:
IU and Iowa are tied after the first half 37-37.
It was a bit of a jittery, uneven first half (or maybe that was just me, hopped up on Red Bull), with IU jumping out to an early lead thanks to some hot shooting from Rod Wilmont but surrendering that lead in spurts throughout. The guard made his first four 3-pointers but missed his final three. Wilmont's play was complemented by A.J. Ratliff, whose 13 points have come thanks to an efficient 4-5 from the field, including 2-2 from the three.
IU is having an uncharacteristically tough time on the boards; Iowa is leading 23-10 overall and 11-3 on the offensive end. IU will have to shore that up - or shoot even better than their already solid 50 percent from the field - if they want to leave with a home win today.
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Ah, Iowa. There's nothing quite like driving seven hours through the armpit of Illinois (yes, that means Champaign, too) just so you can open your doors to a wind chill of 20 below. As a native Iowan, let me tell you - it never stops being special.
Anyway, we passed my sleepy river hometown and barreled on through to Iowa City, and we've set up shop here on media row at the painfully bland Carver Hawkeye Arena. It's funny that, as a kid, I used to consider this building a place of worship. Now it's more like a mausoleum.
But enough nonsense about my home state; let's talk some basketball. The Hoosiers, as you're well aware, are coming off a hu-yuge home win over Wisconsin Wednesday. Iowa is playing some of the best hoops of their season; they just won a tough road game at Michigan and played Wisconsin tough at home. For some weird reason, the Hawkeyes are extremely tough in this building (10-2 this year), and are play far more efficient basketball than when they lost at IU on Jan. 16.
Your projected starters: IU: F D.J. White F Lance Stemler G Rod Wilmont G Armon Bassett G Earl Calloway
Iowa: F Tyler Smith F Cyrus Tate C Kurt Looby G Adam Haluska G Mike Henderson
Well, the Carver Hawkeye Arena scoreboards are playing ACDC's "Are You Ready," and people are clapping semi-enthusiastically. I think that means it's time to play some basketball. Back at the half.
