Final hopes

Of the 26 teams IU played this season, the Hoosiers have only one with which to compare Oklahoma. \nNot Illinois. Not Louisville. Not Kentucky. \nAfter pondering the question several seconds, junior guard Kyle Hornsby started to speak. \n"The…closest I can come…to comparing them to anybody…might be…Duke," Hornsby said slowly. \nThe Sooners aren't a carbon copy of the Blue Devils, who IU upset in the South Regional Semifinal 74-73, but they are close. OU is strong, physical and any player on the floor can score. The Sooners play tight defense, can beat nearly anyone in a half-court game and can run and dunk with nearly anyone else. \nSounds like Duke. \n"They have athletes," IU coach Mike Davis said. \nAnd they have a deep bench, which might be the only thing separating OU from -- and possibly making Oklahoma (31-4) better than -- Duke. \nEleven different Sooners have started games this season, and eight players average more than 20 minutes per game. That depth allows Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson to play a fast-paced trapping and pressing defense at times, then slow down the next minute to utilize a half-court attack. \nDuke's quick pace and pressure forced IU into 10 turnovers in the game's first 12 minutes March 21, and the Hoosiers expect the Sooners to try the same type of tempo and game plan Saturday evening in the Final Four in Atlanta. \n"They're very quick, they've got good inside players, they have great perimeter players, they're physically strong," Hornsby said. \nSounds like OU has no weakness. \nWhat does it bring to the table? \n"A lot," senior Jarrad Odle deadpanned. "There's a lot of teams that have those athletics guys who run and dunk and do the things that we're going to have to get stopped."\nBut one Sooner drawback could play into IU's hands if the Hoosiers can put their stamp on the tempo of the game. OU averages 79 points per game in its 31 wins but just 68 per game in the four losses. \nFellow Big Ten team Michigan State stopped the Sooners in November, holding OU to just 55 points in a typical, grind-it-out Big Ten-type battle. But most teams can't do that. OU has scored 80 or more points 15 times this season and cracked 90 six times. IU has scored 100 points only once -- against Division II Alaska-Anchorage -- and topped 80 only five times. \nIU was able to dupe Duke into playing a half-court game, enabling the Hoosier to complete a 17-point comeback. IU hit only two three pointers in the game, showing the physical play during the Big Ten season paid off. The game plan for Saturday still isn't evident. \n"If they try to take away our wing, we'll backdoor cut. If they try to take away our inside, we'll take the outside shot," Davis said. "We have a very difficult system to play against."\nSo did Duke, and so does Oklahoma, which is keeping the Hoosiers on their toes and ready for a contest similar to the one they endured against the Blue Devils. \n"They play good defense, they have good guards, they are strong," Hornsby said. "They're a really good team"