Hoosiers, Badgers ready to settle score

Junior forward Kirk Haston said roommate and sophomore guard Kyle Hornsby has some of the ugliest feet he's ever seen. But how far the Hoosiers advance in the Big Ten tournament could depend on how Hornsby's right foot feels after spraining his ankle Saturday against Purdue.\n"Have you see those things? The other day he had his air cast on, and you could see his toes," Haston said. "I said, 'Kyle, you've got to put a sock over that thing. I mean, someday you may not have a girlfriend, and you won't be able to get a date.'"\nIU faces Wisconsin at 12:30 p.m. today at the United Center in Chicago in the first round of the Big Ten men's basketball tournament. Interim head coach Mike Davis said he expects Hornsby to start.\nThe sophomore guard has started in IU's last three games, which the Hoosiers have won by a total of 79 points. The first of those games was an 85-55 pounding of Wisconsin Feb. 24.\n"I don't really have an answer for what happened at Indiana," said Wisconsin interim head coach Brad Soderberg. "They were phenomenal. We have to find a way to negate their explosiveness on offense. And what scares me even more is after our game, they beat Minnesota by 30 and handily beat Purdue in West Lafayette. They're playing extremely well right now."\nWisconsin hasn't forgotten about the 30-point loss in Bloomington, but IU remembers a 49-46 loss to the Badgers in Madison to open the Big Ten season.\nToday's game between the Hoosiers and the Badgers is more than a rubber match. It's a fight to see who advances in the tournament and improves its seed in the NCAA tourney. \n"At this stage, it's one loss and out," Davis said. "I feel a lot better about this team than the first time we played Wisconsin."\nThe Hoosiers (19-11, 10-6 Big Ten) are a different team than they were in early January. They're confident, mature and experienced. Assistant head coach Julius Smith has watched the team grow, and during that growth, he said his job has become easier and easier.\n"It's like night and day," Smith said. "They're mature. They have unbelievable confidence. (Freshman forward) Jared Jeffries has grown up. Kirk Haston has grown up. We're maturing as a (coaching) staff ourselves. It took a long time to get this thing together, and I think we can play even better."\nDavis added sophomore guard Tom Coverdale to Smith's list of players who have greatly improved. Coverdale played 48 minutes last year, but as IU's point guard, he averages nearly 36 minutes and 10 points per game in conference play.\n"He's passing better, he's shooting the ball a lot better than he was. He's doing everything better," Davis said. "He's the coach on the floor and kind of has to settle things down. He has established himself as our point guard. He's playing just great right now."\nBadger senior guard Roy Boone averages 13.5 points per game for Wisconsin and sophomore guard Kirk Penney adds 11.6 points. But the Badger offense (18-9, 9-7) usually revolves around defensive leader and senior Mike Kelley, who had 56 steals during the Big Ten season. \n"He's always playing one step ahead of the play, while most guys play two steps behind," Davis said before the last match-up between the two schools. "He's definitely the best defensive player in this league"