College basketball: Illini at Indiana

Posted February 09, 2012 12:00 am

Illinois (16-7, 5-5) at Indiana (18-6, 6-6)l

When: 7 p.m. Thursday at Assembly Hall

TV: BTN

Radio: WIND 560-AM

Skinny: Illinois certainly has its work cut out in the next couple of weeks. For a team that has not played well on the road this season against ranked opponents (losers of its last five), here's what the Illini face:

Ÿ Four of its next five games on the road, beginning Thursday at Indiana.

Ÿ Four of Illinois' five remaining road games are against ranked opponents, leading off with the 23rd-ranked Hoosiers.

Ÿ The combined homecourt record of three of Illinois' next four road opponents (Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State) is 43-1, starting with the Hoosiers' 13-1 mark this season in Bloomington.

But it's not all gloom and doom. Illinois is 3-1 against ranked teams this season, owning victories over No. 19 Gonzaga, No. 5 Ohio State and No. 9 Michigan State. The Illini's lone loss to a ranked team was a four-point setback against No. 4 Missouri.

Next: Illinois travels to Michigan on Sunday for a noon contest on CBS