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Thursday's game for Indiana is a chance for it to continue its season and also avenge an early season loss to Michigan. In an 80-62 loss in late January, it was not only the Hoosiers' worst loss of the season, it was also one of the most all-around disappointing efforts IU head coach Mike Woodson saw out of his team.

"After watching the film again, we did nothing right in that game, I mean, on both endings of the floor," Woodson said. "Our defensive coverages were awful. It was one of those games where I just thought we didn't show up to play. They took advantage of it on both ends of the floor."

Indiana had come in with a lot of momentum. It was 14-4 (5-3) and fresh off of a win over then-No. 4 Purdue. Michigan, was the opposite. It was just 8-7 (2-3), had lost three of four games and had a covid pause that caused it to miss two games as well.

The Wolverines, however, came in and controlled the game from start to finish, starting a downward spiral for the Hoosiers.

"Well, you would think after the big game we had against Purdue, everybody would be sky high," Woodson said. "I mean, I think we came out with great intentions to play hard, but we just didn't sustain it."

Michigan was led by big man Hunter Dickinson who had 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting and nine rebounds. He is Michigan's leading scorer this season, averaging 18.4 points per game, 8.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 blocks per game. He also shoots 56.3 percent from the floor and 31.5 percent from three. Against Indiana, Dickinson was 3-of-4 from three.

Dickinson missed Michigan's season finale on Sunday due to a stomach issue but is expected back on Thursday.

"I think that a big thing for us, I think our ball screen defense wasn't very well that game. Basically, when they came off screens, if our guards get hit, we were supposed to switch and we didn't switch, so it let them have wide-open shots, and he was hitting them," IU forward Trayce Jackson-Davis said. "That's going to be big for us, taking him (Dickinson) away, because he was hot from the three-point line that game, and he's been shooting the ball really well."

"Again, our bigs are going to just have to play him. I thought he had his way. He was very boisterous about it," Woodson added. "He came in and had a monster game. You're not going to beat that team if you don't slow him down."

6-foot-8 wing Caleb Houstan had 19 points including hitting a season-high five 3s in the first matchup. He is averaging 12.2 points per game while shooting 42.9 percent from three in the last 14 games compared to 9.7 points on 31.2 percent from three in the first 15 games. His ability to be a threat off of the catch as well as skilled enough to put the ball on the floor and attack either getting to the rim or in two-dribble, mid-range pull-up action is difficult for Indiana to defend.

Alongside Dickinson in the front court is freshman Moussa Diabate. The 6-foot-11 forward brings a lot of added versatility to the Michigan offense with his ability to face up and take opposing defenders off of the dribble from 15 feet and in. He had 10 points and seven rebounds against Indiana this season.

Terrance Williams and Brandon Johns combined for 15 points on 6-of-7 from the floor and 3-of-3 from three off of the bench. Those two outscored Indiana's five-man bench, 15-8.

In total, Michigan was 11-of-17 on 3s, outscoring Indiana 33-15 from deep, and shot 56.9 percent from the field overall. It also won the rebound battle 36-28.

"It wasn't pretty watching again yesterday (Monday), I tell you that. I think we just got to start fresh and regroup," Woodson noted. "Again, we hadn't had really any games like that. I mean, you think about it, we hit the first shot to start the second half, cut it to six. That was as close as we ever got again. You got to give Michigan a lot of credit, man. They came in here, made shots.

"The big fella was huge. We had no answer for it. We got to eliminate the shots that they made here and we got to do a better job on Dickinson."

Tip is scheduled for 11:30 am ET on Big Ten Network. The winner of this game will go on to play No. 1 seed Illinois in the quarterfinals on Friday morning.

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