The Indiana Hoosiers (2-0) will be paying homage to its 1953 NCAA championship team during the halftime of Thursday night's game versus the Sam Houston State Bearkats (1-1).

Although the No. 1 ranked Hoosiers are clearly in the title hunt themselves, head coach Tom Crean feels that his squad still has improvements to make before reaching their peak.

After prevailing against Bryant in the season opener on Friday via 97-54 margin, Indiana (2-0) appeared slightly inconsistent in Monday's 87-61 victory against North Dakota State. The Hoosiers were up by a mere 10 points early in the second half. However, Crean was expecting a more dominant showing at home against their much weaker opposition.

"There's conventional, there's unconventional and then there's tonight," Crean said, according to CBS Sports. "Your fundamentals, your technique, all your experiences, all those things are really, really important, but there's nothing bigger than energy and toughness. It's got to be there constantly."

Cody Zeller, a preseason All-American, put up 22 points and nine rebounds while sophomore standout Remy Abell and freshman Jeremy Hollowell scored 14 off the bench - a career high.

"We're going to see everything from different teams this year," Zeller said. "I know they're going to try different strategies, that they're going to try to outphysical me, outphysical some of our other guys, try to get us in foul trouble, so you've just got to keep your composure and keep on working."

Zeller, whose 62.3 field-goal percentage was the fourth best in the country last season, played Monday's game while sick. He expects to be back at full strength for the match against the BearKats.

Indiana has outplayed its opposition by a 28.3-point average during a 22-game winning streak at home when facing non-conference opponents. They'll attempt to extend their string of victory to Sam Houston State on Thursday.

The Hoosiers will do a tribute to players from the 1953 championship team during the Thursday's halftime.

CLICK HERE to watch Indiana vs. Sam Houston State via free live stream. Coverage of the game will begin at 7 p.m. ET.

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NCAA Basketball