Clash of the titans: Two of college basketball's most storied programs meet in Sweet 16

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Mike Davis has nay-sayers and he knows it. \nHis enemies flooded from the woodwork after IU stumbled to a 7-5 record in its pre-Big Ten schedule. They still haven't stopped harassing him as fifth-seeded IU prepares to battle top-seeded Duke in the NCAA South Regional semifinal tonight.\nBut to Davis and his Hoosiers, the 7-5 start -- which seemed to clear the Hoosier bandwagon and drain the high hopes from the team -- ignited IU's brash mentality, contributed to IU's deepest NCAA Tournament run since 1994 and seasoned the second-year Hoosier coach.\n"I wasn't disappointed in our record," Davis said. "The ones who were down were the ones who didn't believe in me as a coach and didn't want me as a coach."\nDuring the bumpy start, Davis lamented about IU's schedule-makers and the near-crazy travel schedule that had IU playing more games in Alaska than in Bloomington before January. Since then, Davis has praised the schedule and the results it's produced. \nThe nation's third-toughest schedule -- according to collegerpi.com -- helped IU win a share of the Big Ten championship and advance to tonight's Sweet Sixteen. Of the five early losses, four came to NCAA Tournament teams -- Marquette, Miami (Fla.), Southern Illinois and Kentucky, the latter two of which are still playing -- and Butler, which earned an NIT berth.\nStill, Davis is fending off the ghost of former IU coach Bob Knight and his fans. \n"Here we are Big Ten champs, and they're not happy about that," Davis said. "Here we are in the Sweet Sixteen, and they're not happy about that. Here we are back-to-back 20-win seasons, and they're not happy about that. I try to put those people out of my mind…"\nJust like IU has nearly forgotten about sputtering out of the gate. Since the 7-5 start, IU has complied a 15-6 record, including seven road victories and five neutral triumphs. That all started after IU dropped its first-ever Hoosier Classic game, a 64-66 heartbreaker to in-state counterpart Butler. \nFollowing the loss, Davis criticized the officials and was fined $10,000 by the Big Ten. But his post-game discussion with his team created a larger impact. Davis talked to each player, explained what he wanted and what he expected. \nIU responded immediately by winning seven of its first eight Big Ten games and setting up its first Big Ten title run since 1993. \n"We were down on ourselves," senior guard Dane Fife said. "After the Butler game, coach Davis got us all in our locker room and singled us out."\nThe 7-5 start was Davis' second in as many years in Bloomington. He tried a similar approach a season ago, when he publicly commented that he might not belong as the coach at IU. \nThat method led to a 10-6 Big Ten finish and a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to Kent State, which will play Pittsburgh in the second game in Lexington tonight. At that time, Davis wasn't sure he'd even be around for this season. \nSeveral weeks later, he was hired as the full-time Hoosier coach. A position he's used to promote strong defense, something that IU didn't use much of during its pre-conference games and a factor that has been front and center since. \n"It was an approach issue," junior guard Kyle Hornsby said of the losing skid. "Sometimes, we weren't very good at executing what they wanted us to do, especially on defense." \nIU is allowing just 62 points per game this season, the lowest total by a Hoosier squad since 1983-1984 and seventh-best mark in school history. IU has limited its opponents to fewer than 10 field goals in a half 19 times this season. \nBig Ten coaches have praised Davis' defense-first approach all season. The efforts haven't gone unnoticed on a national level, either. \n"There's a tenacity about their defense that's there for 40 minutes every game," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Watching the Indiana program, it's easy to see that their hard work has paid off. They're an outstanding team. We really respect what Mike and his staff and kids have done thus far."\nEven if -- as Davis said -- some people don't. \n"I know this summer, coaches were recruiting against me saying I didn't have any experience and I couldn't develop players," Davis said. "A lot of those guys are sitting at home right now"