No. 2 Indiana v. Northwestern mini-preview

Unfortunately, there was no proper press conference today due to the team's travel schedule, but I do have a few quotes and nuggets in information to share.

• The timing of this game is interesting given styles of play. Longtime Northwestern Coach Bill Carmody is a disciple of legendary coach Pete Carril, the man behind the Princeton offense. It is a not-too-distant cousin of Bo Ryan's Swing offense that gave IU fits on Tuesday. The game should quickly show what IU has been working on in practice since the Wisconsin loss, and whether or not that was time well-spent.
• Absent of familiar faces such as the injured Drew Crawford and graduated John Shurna, senior guard Reggie Hearns, a Fort Wayne native, leads Northwestern with 14.1 points per game. Even as a guard, he is second on the team with 4.7 rebounds per contest as well. "Reggie is a guy who is a senior and feels like it's time to step up and he definitely did that the other night at Illinois and has shown the ability to step up and have big games," IU Associate Head Coach Steve McClain said.
• Dave Sobolewski is the only other double-figure scorer IU will see Sunday. A sophomore guard, Sobolewski has seen a jump in several offensive numbers this season despite actually playing fewer minutes thanks to improved percentages. "He played a lot of minutes last year, so he got a year of understanding and running the Northwestern system, so he can direct everyone," McClain said. "He can tell people when they are in the wrong spot and he's such a good driver, he's a good reader and he finds a way to get to that rim. So you've got to do a great job on him or he can have a big night."
• Like Wisconsin, Northwestern is fresh off a win against Illinois heading into its tilt with the Hoosiers.

More spare quotes after the jump:

McClain:

• On Northwestern: "I think anytime you play a Northwestern team, you understand their system, what their system brings to the game. This is a team that continues to get better. They've had to go through the injury phase and new guys getting into the system. There's no question, they showed at Illinois the other night that this group looks like they're getting more and more comfortable in the system and running the system to what it gives them to each individual. They are a team that's coming off a big win at Illinois. You look at their wins on the road - at Illinois, at Baylor - they've been to some tough places and came away with wins, so going to their place, we know it's a game where you've got to go in and be sharp defensively."
• On playing two games in a week: "You can prepare both mentally and physically for it. It helps your players. I think the other side of it is that this league has already shown that playing at home isn't a given that you're going to win and going on the road doesn't mean you can't win. I think that's what this league has always been about and we've got enough guys that should understand that every team is one big win from feeling good about themselves and Northwestern is coming off a big road win at Illinois, feeling good about themselves coming home. I know this, our veteran guys will be prepared to go in and know that you're going to be at your best in this game."

Jordan Hulls, senior guard

• On Northwestern: "Their different offensive schemes - a lot of back doors that we have to be aware of. They can all shoot, so they definitely make it a little bit different in that regard, just different than most teams in the style of play that they run in transition."
• On Welsh-Ryan Arena: "It's a little bit of a different environment. It's a smaller gym, but it gets pretty rowdy in there. You just have to have the same mindset that you have when you play in every other gym and play together, communicate and make sure we're doing all the things we can do to win."
• On recent practices: "It's been really competitive with a different edge. We're just trying to build back that mindset that we need in order to win and focus on defense and rebounding."

Victor Oladipo, junior guard

• On Northwestern: "It's hard because they are a very good team, especially on their home court. They run that offense where they move a lot and they won't stop moving, so we have to come with our defensive hats on and be prepared and stay focused on both ends of the floor."
• On practice: "We've been emphasizing a lot of things and getting back on track and playing Indiana Basketball. The last couple of games, we've been losing that and we're just getting back into the groove of things and doing a great job of that."