IU coach Tom Crean has raved about the fans of IU basketball all season.
Regardless how this game turns out, my guess is that he'll have a little to say about them after this next one.
Wednesday will see Purdue come to Assembly Hall for the first time in the Crean era.
IU only played Purdue once last season, with that coming up in West Lafayette.
This time, though, the Boilermakers will travel to Bloomington with the first opportunity to gain consecutive wins against IU since 2000.
On Wednesday, IU players were preparing for the No. 8 team in the country by fielding questions about whether they hated Purdue or not.
Indiana guys Jordan Hulls and Derek Elson spoke to the media, making the responses a bit more interesting.
Neither was willing to use the word "hate", but each communicated a degree of dislike for the people up north in West Lafayette.
"I wouldn't say hate," Elston said. "I can definitely say I don't really like them."
Hulls was a bit more calculative. He said he wouldn't say "hate" publicly and simply spoke about the rivalry.
"Derek and myself and some of the other Indiana guys, we all know how big of a rivalry this is," he said. "I'm sure the guys on Purdue know that as well, so it's just going to be a great matchup."
No matter how monotone they might have seemed in interviews, Crean said his players were hyped for the Thursday game against Purdue.
"I would say that our guys are really excited to be playing their first Purdue-Indiana game inside of Assembly Hall," he said.
