Thursday, February 28, 2008

The long, long drought in East Lansing.

The four day break between games should allow the Hoosiers some opportunity to rest and regroup, and also allows me to roll out the preview of the latest version of "IU's biggest game of the year," Sunday's trip to the Breslin Center to take on Michigan State. While I didn't plan the post this way, it turns out that IU's last win at Michigan State was 17 years ago today, a 62-56 win on February 28, 1991. IU's oldest player, Lance Stemler, then was a couple of months past his sixth birthday. IU's youngest player, Eli Holman, was a month short of his second birthday. The only constants are the uniforms, the warmups, and Dan Dakich on the bench.
IU now has lost 13 in a row at the Breslin Center, and has won there only once since the facility opened in November 1989. Since that win, here are IU's Big Ten road records:
Illinois: 6-9
Iowa: 6-9
Michigan: 8-8
Minnesota: 4-9
Northwestern: 11-3
Ohio State: 7-8 (4-3 at St. John Arena, 3-5 at the Schottenstein Center)
Penn State: 10-3 (3-0 at Rec Hall, 7-3 at the Bryce Jordan Center)
Purdue: 5-10
Wisconsin: 6-8 (5-1 at the UW Fieldhouse, 1-7 at the Kohl Center)
This is IU's second-longest road losing streak against any Big Ten opponent. IU lost its first 19 trips to West Lafayette from 1901-1922 before winning there in 1922-23. MSU remains a formidable opponent, but IU certainly should break through at Breslin some time.

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