The Journal Gazette, 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne IN

RALEIGH, N.C. – It’s been a week since Indiana suffered a heartbreaking 59-58 loss to Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.

The Hoosiers appeared to have pulled off a stunning comeback, only to fall on an amazing buzzer beater by the Golden Gophers’ Blake Hoffarber.

IU has had seven days to think about that ending and is looking forward to returning to the court today against Arkansas.

“(We are) very anxious,” senior forward D.J. White said. “That’s the second time we lost on a buzzer beater (Feb. 13 against Wisconsin was the other).

“It hurts. There’s nothing we can do about that but move on. We’re anxious, especially to start this tournament.”

The Hoosiers – who have lost three of their last four contests – don’t expect the loss to linger.

“Any time you lose, not only by a last-second (shot), you just want to get that bad taste out of your mouth,” sophomore guard Armon Bassett said.

Dakich’s challenge

IU interim coach Dan Dakich spent 10 minutes shooting free throws with fans before North Carolina’s practice.

He challenged each fan to a best-of-five competition. After defeating the first, he turned to the crowd and yelled, “That’s Indiana 1, North Carolina 0.”

At one point, he paused before selecting his next opponent. “I’ve got to make sure they aren’t in high school,” he jokingly said about not wanting to commit a possible NCAA violation.

“It’s kind of how I live my life. I have a lot of fun doing what I’m doing,” Dakich said. “I looked around at people, and (it) looked like they were getting bored waiting. No security kept us off there, so we went ahead and played a few contests, which was great.”

Familiar faces

White spent several days on the camp circuit with Arkansas’ Charles Thomas and Steven Hill in years past.

“I knew Charles and Steven through high school and some in college, just playing at different camps,” White said. “I think it will be an interesting matchup. They are very long and talented (in the front court). We have a lot of quickness and some shooters that can stretch out the defense.”

lpope@jg.net