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On March 14th, 2008, Indiana marched into what was then Conseco Fieldhouse as the No.3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. Led by freshman guard Eric Gordon and senior forward D.J. White, the Hoosiers were still reeling after the firing of head coach Kelvin Sampson and were under the interim guidance of Dan Dakich.

On that day, the Hoosiers took on No. 6 seed Minnesota, a team they had beaten just nine days prior on their home floor. Minnesota had played their way into the contest the day prior by defeating Northwestern, and were eagerly attempting to play their way into an NCAA Tournament bid. Minnesota's 07-08 team featured a more spread apart scoring attack, including valuable contributions from freshman Blake Hoffraber.

Playing in front of what was essentially a home crowd, the Hoosiers held a 58-57 lead with just 1.5 seconds remaining. The Gophers were 94 feet on the other side of the floor, needing a miracle to extend their conference run. Travis Bush ran up and down the baseline before firing a baseball-style pass down the floor.

Hoffraber, the freshman who was in the game off the bench, rose up and came down with the ball just inside the 3-point line. In one motion, Hoffraber came down amidst a swarm of white and gold jerseys, turned, and threw up a one-handed floater as time expired. Hoffraber's shot graced the net as it went through while the horn sounded, the scoreboard reading 59-58 Gophers as the horn sounded. A stunned Fieldhouse fell silent, and a suddenly dejected Indiana team and coaching staff walked off the floor.

Also on that Indiana coaching staff was Travis Steele, the current Miami (OH) head coach who was just an assistant at the time. Now, 12 years later in the same building under a new name, Steele's team walked off the floor on the undesired side of the final tally once again.

This time though, it was a much different feeling.

"I had some bad memories of this place," Steele said Sunday evening following Indiana's 86-56 win over Miami. "The last time I was in here was for the Blake Hoffraber shot."

Steele would go on to recount the moment from his own memory, accurate on every detail.

"Tough shot," Steele continued.

What followed, however, was a heartfelt collection of why coming back to Indiana for Sunday's game was so special to him.

"Indiana's a great place. Listen, when I grew up, I was an Indiana fan," Steele said. "One of my first memories of life, quite honestly, was watching the 1987 National Championship game. It's a historic program man, and I'm glad Coach Woodson is doing a phenomenal job with the program. I love seeing what he's building.

"It was an awesome moment for me to get back home, see my family and friends and bring my son."

Steele's son Winston isn't like a lot of other sons of coaches, though. Steele and his son took father-son bonding to the next level Sunday evening, with Winston having a special spot on the bench next to his dad.

"He had a blast, man. I almost checked him in the game at one point," Steele joked as his son stood outside the locker room, just a few feet behind. "He's pretty good, he's pretty good now. The NCAA can't create a violation for me on that one, he's my son.

"To be able to be here where the Pacers play, we went to the Pacers game last night versus the Magic, and with Indiana, I told him how historic the program is, he knows man. Indiana's a big-time program, and I have a lot of respect for everything that they do."

Right on cue, Woodson and a couple of Indiana staffers walked behind Steele, and the two shared a short moment before continuing on.

As for the game, Steele oozed praise for how the Hoosiers handled the challenge they threw at them Sunday night. Throughout his presser, he touched on everything from Indiana's inside dominance, their transition play, and the overall athleticism of the Hoosier players. Obviously, Steele would've rather had a different result on the night, but for his young and inexperienced program, it was just as much about getting the experience of playing a team like Indiana as it is anything else.

"We've got to take baby steps. We haven't won in 16 years at Miami, it's been a long time," Steele said. "I knew that before I took the job. We gotta get the foundation right, we've got to get the culture right. The talent will come with recruiting.

"I thought we stuck with our game plan as best as we could, you know, Indiana's a really good team. They'll make you pay, and they can win a lot of different ways, I can tell you that."

As Steele continues to re-establish himself and Miami's program, he's got a moment early on where he can look back to and a point to aim for.

Besides, sometimes all you need is a trip home.

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