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Indiana visits Iowa in Big-10 conference opener

Jan 2, 2008 - 2:21 PM No. 12 Indiana (11-1) at Iowa (7-6) 9:05 pm EST

IOWA CITY, Iowa (Ticker) - Indiana will open up conference play in a place that Big-10 schools have not had much success over the past two seasons.

Twelfth-ranked Indiana takes its seven-game winning streak into Iowa where the two schools will meet in their Big-10 Conference opener on Wednesday.

The Hawkeyes are 15-1 on their home floor in conference play over the past two campaigns and have beaten the Hoosiers three straight times at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

But Indiana has been rolling so far this season, leading the Big-10 in scoring with 83.3 points per game and a margin of victory at 21.2 points. The Hoosiers have not won eight games in a row since they opened the 2002-03 campaign with eight straight wins.

The big reason for the Hoosiers success has been freshman phenom Eric Gordon. The 6-3 guard, who is scoring a conference-leading 23.4 points per game, had 22 points in Saturday's win over Chicago State and made all 14 of his free throws.

The Hawkeyes have been inconsistent to begin the campaign. After winning the first four games of the season, Iowa lost four straight. The Hawkeyes are coming off a 57-50 victory Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday, which snapped a two-game losing skid.

Justin Johnson and Tony Freeman are the only two Iowa players who average in double figures, scoring 14.7 and 13.0 points per game, respectively. Iowa is also ranked last in the Big-10 in scoring, netting just 57.7 points per game.