Howard @ Indiana preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 19, 2011 ) Howard 50, Indiana 107

Indiana looks to bounce back from an ugly loss in its season opener when it hosts Howard on Sunday in the first contest of the Hoosier Tip-Off Classic. The Hoosiers were blown out by Indiana State by 31 points on Friday, while the Bison are coming off a nine-point road loss to George Washington.

Coach Archie Miller's squad did get solid efforts from sophomore center De'Ron Davis (team-best 14 points) and junior forward Juwan Morgan (13), outscoring the Sycamores 32-16 in the paint. The outside attack was hurt by the absence of Collin Hartman, the team's best 3-point shooter who injured his groin in practice on Thursday and could be out for a while, as Indiana was just 4-for-18 from beyond the arc. Defense was a problem as well, as the Sycamores shot 65.4 percent from long range and 59.2 percent overall. Howard is led by the duo of RJ Cole (23 points against George Washington) and Charles Williams (21), who combined for five 3-pointers in the season-opening loss.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT HOWARD (0-1): The craziness of the college basketball season is here, and no team may have as crazy a beginning to the season as Howard, which started in Washington, D.C. on Friday and will play in the state of Washington on Tuesday. A stop in Bloomington, Ind. to face the Hoosiers is sandwiched between those contests, and coach Kevin Nickelberry has to try to keep his team competitive by attempting not to wear out his players. With that in mind, expect a deep rotation of Bison players to be used against Indiana after Nickelberry got nine players on the court for at least nine minutes in the opener versus George Washington.

ABOUT INDIANA (0-1): Miller admitted in the preseason that he expected the team's offense to be a work in progress early in the season, but he came to the Hoosiers with a reputation of always having a tough defensive team, so the 90 points put up by Indiana State in the opener was a big surprise. After the game, Miller talked about his team being soft mentally, which certainly was a way to send a message to his players that he expected more intensity. The Hoosiers will be able to stay in games if they can improve defensively, so look for Miller to work on putting his best players in that regard on the floor - or at least the ones that are giving the kind of effort he expects.

TIP-INS

1. Indiana senior G Robert Johnson is 15 points shy of becoming the 51st player in school history to score at least 1,000 in his career.

2. The Hoosiers were able to get to the foul line often against Indiana State, taking 33 free-throw attempts compared to the Sycamores' 18.

3. The Hoosier Tip-Off Classic is a round-robin tournament that also includes South Florida, Arkansas State and Eastern Michigan.

PREDICTION: Indiana 80, Howard 62