Hoosiers flex muscles on way to title

ATLANTA -- Senior Jarrad Odle called Oklahoma's effort to get physical with IU "punking." \nIU "punked" back Saturday, and "punking" is something the Hoosiers are used to doing thanks to a grinding schedule and rough-and-tumble Big Ten play this season. \nYet, IU heard all week that Oklahoma was stronger, bigger and more physical. \nIf toughness -- call it "punking" if you'd rather -- is measured in physical features, like wide bodies and chiseled muscles, IU isn't exactly the best in the nation. But through 36 games, the Hoosiers have proven they can push, pull and punk with just about anyone. \n"We're a tougher team than a lot of people give us credit for," junior guard Kyle Hornsby said. "We really play hard and fight hard."\nThe defensive statistics, which often reveal the grit of a team, aren't overly convincing. IU is holding foes to 41 percent shooting from the field, 36 percent from the three-point line and has out-rebounded its opponents in half of the games. \nNot bad numbers and better than most. The 41 percent field goal defense was second-best in the Big Ten, and IU is limiting NCAA Tournament counterparts to just 31 percent from the three-point line. \nBut the substance to IU's tough demeanor is in its heart, effort and timing.\nSophomore Jared Jeffries played through hip and ankle injuries much of the second half of the season and Coverdale is battling a twice-sprained left ankle that limited him to crutches most of the week leading up to the Final Four. \nSophomore A.J. Moye is crazy about diving on the floor, and junior Jeff Newton has a knack for swatting shots into the second or third row. \nAll of that circles around defense, IU's staple and the project of associate head coach John Treloar, who coordinates the Hoosier defense and operates on a simple credo: Play defense or watch someone else do it. \nIU went toe-to-toe with physical teams like Kentucky, Michigan State, Louisville and Illinois. Then, against the team that was dubbed the toughest of the tough, the Hoosiers had their best effort. \nIU held Oklahoma to 36 percent from the field, 11 percent from the three-point line (2 of 18) and erased an early eight-point deficit to out-score the Sooners 43-30 in the second half. \nMost of that behind the efforts of the lanky Hoosier frontcourts mates Newton (210 pounds) and junior George Leach (220 pounds). Jeffries called IU's frontcourt "frail" Sunday, but both he and Odle agree that the Hoosiers aren't timid. \n"We can muscle up with anybody," said Odle, who spent much of the off-season bulking up in the weight room. "We stood up to them and didn't back down. As you go with a team like that throughout a game, eventually, they're going to back down."\nPart of that toughness has developed via the underdog role often slapped on IU's back. The Hoosiers were picked by many to lose early in the tournament and weren't given much of a chance to beat Duke and Oklahoma. \nIU coach Mike Davis has called the Hoosiers "Cinderella," and the Hoosiers have said they accept the underdog role, although they consider themselves a contender to win any game against any team.\nOne of the experts who picked IU to fall to Oklahoma, ESPN's Jay Bilas, said Saturday he is impressed with the way the Hoosiers play. He expects the Hoosiers to be the underdog once again tonight. \n"Indiana plays like a men's league team. They know how to play," Bilas said. "If I were the Indiana folks, I'd want everybody to pick against me again. Why change now?"\nWhy stop "punking," either?