BIG TEN CHAMPS

Nine minutes into the men's basketball game against Northwestern Saturday, IU coach Mike Davis wasn't worried about his Hoosiers starting the game 2 of 10 from the field or a 17-6 deficit staring them in the face. \nHe was worried about hats. \nWith a share of the Big Ten championship on the line -- commemorative hats and T-shirts and the shiny, gold trophy awaiting an IU victory -- the Hoosiers struggled out of the gate. But they rebounded to beat Northwestern 79-67. \nAlready this season, IU had let opportunities to win an outright Big Ten title slip away. Saturday looked eerily similar. Assembly Hall wasn't loud, IU looked shaky and Davis started worrying.\n"I said 'I don't know who's going to buy all these Big Ten (championship) hats and shirts (if we lose),'" Davis said. "We have the trophy here. What would I say at Senior Night if we lose? Everything was going through my mind."\nA 13-2 first-half run pulled IU even and set in motion IU's first Big Ten title since 1993.\nNo. 25 IU (19-10, 11-5 Big Ten) grabbed a 33-32 halftime lead on a put-back from senior forward Jarrad Odle, then out-scored Northwestern (16-12, 7-9) 29-13 over the first 12 minutes of the second half on its way to victory in front of a sold-out Assembly Hall crowd of 17,456. \nWith the win and Illinois' win at Minnesota Sunday, IU secured the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten tournament and will meet Michigan State at 11:30 a.m. Friday in Indianapolis.\nJunior guard Tom Coverdale led IU with 20 points, and Odle scored 16 while grabbing 10 rebounds. Sophomore forward Jared Jeffries, in his most productive game since being hobbled by a sore ankle, dropped in 15 points and nine rebounds. Davis said Friday afternoon there was a 60 percent chance Jeffries would play Saturday, but Davis decided Friday night to let him play.\nTavaras Hardy led the Wildcats with a game-high 24, 18 coming in the second half.\nThe Hoosiers have to share the school's 20th Big Ten championship with Wisconsin, No. 18 Ohio State and No. 15 Illinois, marking the first time since 1926 the league title has been split four ways. But none of that mattered in the aftermath of Saturday's title-winning game. \nJeffries posed with the trophy on the floor after the game, and the trophy later sat front and center in the IU locker room.\n"(Sharing) doesn't mean anything to me," said senior guard Dane Fife, who scored eight points and tallied five assists. "Hopefully, they're going to get us some rings, and we've got a Big Ten championship trophy."\nFife, playing his final game in Assembly Hall, sparked IU's first-half run with two three pointers, both coming after the Hoosiers missed their first five three-point tries. Coverdale took the reigns in the second half, dumping in 10 consecutive points over a three-minute stretch. \nA pull-up three pointer gave IU a 45-37 lead with 16:27 left. Seven minutes later, Coverdale, who scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, sank a three pointer during an 8-0 Hoosier spurt that ballooned the lead to 17, the largest of the day. \nNorthwestern, which still has never won in Assembly Hall, put together a 13-2 run during the closing minutes to pull within six. Hardy hit back-to-back dunks and a three pointer to close the gap to 14. \nAfter Fife stole the ball two possessions later and got his layup attempt blocked, he pushed Hardy and was whistled for a technical foul. The foul allowed Northwestern to score six points on one trip down the floor and cut the lead to nine. \nIt was Fife's second altercation in the last two games. He got called for an intentional foul at Illinois Tuesday after yanking Fighting Illini forward Robert Archibald to the floor. \n"The guy blocked my shot, and I got a little embarrassed," Fife said. "It was stupid on my part, but I'm going to plead insanity."\nA three pointer by Long with 1:18 to go shaved IU's lead to six, but IU hit 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch, and the Wildcats missed their final four shots before Odle capped off the win with a one-handed dunk. \nIU shot 53 percent from the field in the second half and scored 46 points, only the fourth time this season the Hoosiers have equaled that mark in a half. IU scored just 59 points in a Big Ten-opening victory at Northwestern Jan. 2. \nThe Hoosiers also hit 20 of 28 free throws after taking -- and missing -- only two in the first meeting between the schools. Ten free throws in the first half kept IU in the game and helped ease nerves that shook the Hoosiers -- physically and mentally -- early.\nSome of the Hoosiers said they were beginning to wonder if they'd get that title.\n"You don't like to admit it, but there were some scary thoughts going through your head," Odle said. "We had to get our jitters out and realize we were playing a game like always and at the end of it, we were going to be champs."\nThey are, and IU now sits one Big Ten title away from tying Purdue for the most conference crowns in Big Ten annals. Of IU's 20 Big Ten championships, nine have been shared with at least one other team. The 11 Big Ten victories this season are the most any IU team has posted since the league moved to a 16-game schedule in 1998.\n"We probably should have won it outright," Davis said. "But I'm not disappointed, because I'd rather share with someone than not have a piece at all. If the Powerball was at 100 million dollars, and 50 people won, all 50 would be happy."\nSaturday, IU struck it rich.