Scouting: Illinois @ Indiana

Illinois (10-5, 2-0) at Indiana (7-7, 1-1)When: 7 p.m. at IU's Assembly HallTV: BTNRadio: WIND 560-AMThe skinny: The Illini gun for their first 3-0 Big Ten start since 2004-05 against an Indiana squad that hasn't been nearly the punchline everyone expected. Yes, the Hoosiers suffered a bad home loss to Loyola (Md.) and neutral defeats to Boston U. and George Mason. But those neutral losses aren't much different from Illinois' neutral losses to Utah and Bradley. Despite losing top scorer Maurice Creek to a season-ending knee injury, Indiana knocked off Michigan on Dec. 31 at home. Champaign native Verdell Jones III has stepped forward in Creek's absence with 21 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game. Similar to the Northwestern win on Dec. 30, Illinois ought to pound the ball inside to 7-foot-1 Mike Tisdale and 6-9 Mike Davis against IU's 6-9 Tom Pritchard and Christian Watford.