Cody Zeller plans to be ready if Big Ten opponents make his job tough near the basket.

"I can shoot a little bit on the outside," Indiana's 6-11 freshman forward said Tuesday. "We're talking about moving a little more to the perimeter."

Zeller and his teammates are still improving.

"As he gets more comfortable, he'll keep expanding his game," Hoosiers coach Tom Crean said. "I'm comfortable with him on the perimeter creating for others. His ability to create already has been seen from the post.

"Our best players can get better. Cody epitomizes that."

Meyers Leonard is projected as one of the top centers in the 2012 draft, but Illinois coach Bruce Weber doesn’t want Leonard to become too caught up in his future.

"The chatter has worked on his head," Weber said. "Instead of worrying about today and getting better, there's too many people (he hears mentioning the NBA). He doesn't have the maturity now to deal with that."

Weber said Sunday that he and other coaches planned to talk to Leonard more about it after the nonconference season.

"We've talked about it since last year," Weber said. "That bothered him early last year. He just thought everyone said he's a pro so he was going to be a pro. You have to work at it."

The Naismith Hall of Fame announced that North Carolina’s Kendall Marshall, Ohio State’s Aaron Craft, and Kentucky’s Marquis Teague are among 64 point guards nominated for the 2012 Bob Cousy Award.

The annual award, named for Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtic Bob Cousy, recognizes college basketball's top point guard.

See below for the remaining list of 2012 Bob Cousy Award candidates:

• Randy Davis, Ball State
• Pierre Jackson, Baylor
• Keegan Bell, Chattanooga
• Andre Young, Clemson
• Andrew Lawrence, College of Charleston
• Brian Barbour, Columbia
• Shabazz Napier, Connecticut
• Chris Wroblewski, Cornell
• Antoine Young, Creighton
• JP Kuhlman, Davidson
• Ray McCallum, Detroit
• Seth Curry, Duke
• TJ McConnell, Duquesne
• Kenny Boynton, Florida
• Erving Walker, Florida
• Luke Loucks, Florida State
• Jeff Peterson, Florida State
• Tony Taylor, George Washington
• James Fields, Georgia State
• Brandyn Curry, Harvard
• Scott Machado, Iona
• Stephen Thomas, IUPUI
• Tyshawn Taylor, Kansas
• Tyreek Duren, La Salle
• Mackey McKnight, Lehigh
• Casper Ware, Long Beach State
• Peyton Siva, Louisville
• Damier Pitts, Marshall
• Will Barton, Memphis
• Joe Jackson, Memphis
• Malcolm Grant, Miami
• Trey Burke, Michigan
• Kaylon Williams, Milwaukee
• Dee Bost, Mississippi State
• Mike Dixon, Missouri
• Will Cherry, Montana
• Kendall Williams, New Mexico
• Lorenzo Brown, NC State
• Stallon Saldivar, Northern Arizona
• Reggie Hamilton, Oakland
• D.J. Cooper, Ohio University
• Jared Cunningham, Oregon State
• Tim Frazier, Penn State
• Zack Rosen, Pennsylvania
• Ashton Gibbs, Pittsburgh
• Lewis Jackson, Purdue
• Bryan Dougher, Stony Brook University
• Scoop Jardine, Syracuse
• Brandon Triche, Syracuse
• Wil Peters, Tennessee State
• Myck Kabongo, Texas
• Dash Harris, Texas A&M
• Hank Thorns, TCU
• Will Weathers, Troy
• Brad Tinsley, Vanderbilt
• Maalik Wayns, Villanova
• Erick Green, Virginia Tech
• Abdul Gaddy, Washington
• Tony Wroten, Washington
• Trey Sumler, Western Carolina
• Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin

Indiana is a perfect 10-0 on the season, but has struggled to enter the ball into the post at times.

Freshman power forward Cody Zeller is taking only 20.6 percent of Indiana’s shots while on the floor, fifth on the team of Hoosiers players using at least 20 percent of possessions.

Despite the lack of touches, Zeller leads the team in points per game (15.6) and ranks first in true shooting percentage (71.3 percent) -- which factors in threes and free throws – among Hoosier players with a usage rate greater than 20 percent.

Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger suffered a foot injury in the first half against South Carolina.

Sullinger limped to the locker room less than five minutes into the first half.

X-Rays revealed there is no fracture in Sullinger’s foot.

He returned to the court on crutches during the second half.

Indiana is 9-0 and off to their best start since the 1989-90 season

The Hoosiers’ field goal percentage from beyond the arc has increased from 35 percent last season (165th in Division I) to 46 percent, which ranks second nationally behind Creighton.

Largely due to its improvement from three-point range, Indiana has been outstanding on catch-and-shoot plays this season. The Hoosiers are shooting 76 percent and averaging 1.26 points per play in their catch-and-shoot offense, both first in the Big Ten.

Freshman Cody Zeller, who leads the team in scoring, rebounding and blocks, has made all nine of his field goals in transition, and he ranks sixth in the nation at 1.91 points per play.

Ohio State’s Aaron Craft remains the country's foremost all-around turnover creator. Craft is forcing 9.03 per 100 possessions.

Against USC-Upstate on Wednesday night, Craft had five box-score steals and one forced travel, harried a guard into throwing away a pass, and had the key knock away in a loose-ball scramble.

Ohio State team physician Grant Jones said there is a chance Jared Sullinger will return for Saturday’s game at South Carolina.

“It’s more likely going to be Saturday at the earliest that we can see his progress in terms of contact-type activities,” Jones said. “We’re going to make sure he’s fully recovered. The one thing we don’t want to do is put him back (on the court) too early, which could cause a setback, and if you get a setback now, that could mean a couple more weeks.”

Sullinger has not played since a Nov. 29 win over Duke due to back spasms.

Tim Hardaway Jr.  is adjusting to being the primary focus of opponents' defense.

"It's a process," said Hardaway. "And it's going to keep getting worse as the year goes on. Everyone's going to keep watching film to see how to play me.

"I've got to get used to it."

To combat the constant target on his back, Hardaway said he's spent more time watching film with Michigan coach John Beilein, who helps him break down every unique defensive look he's seeing.

"The schemes keep changing, and he's certainly seen that in high school enough, but this is a whole different thing," Beilein said. "But he is adjusting to it and becoming more comfortable with it.

"And we're becoming more comfortable (knowing when) we have to change. Sometimes he just has to be a decoy if they'll pay that much attention to him."

Jordan Taylor has no plans to become timid despite shooting just 30.2% from three-point range and 36.0% overall.

"I'm just going to keep shooting," Wisconsin's senior point guard said. "You've got to shoot until you get hot.

"Then if you get hot, keep shooting. But at the same time you've got to take good shots."

Taylor said he isn't hampered by the July 29 surgery on his right ankle, surgery that sidelined him for about 6½ weeks.

"No, I'm good," he said. "I'm good."