Hoosiers decipher press, win with easy buckets

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- At times in Carver-Hawkeye Arena Sunday, Iowa's full-court press rattled IU. \nEarly in the second half, the Hawkeyes broke down IU's offense and charged to within five points after trailing by 11 at the break. With less than six minutes remaining in the game, Iowa's press helped the Hawkeyes trim a 16-point IU lead to nine in just more than a minute. \nIronically, though, it might have been Iowa's shaky press that cost the Hawkeyes the game, as IU evaded the pressure in the final three minutes to maintain the lead and win 77-66. \nOn three consecutive possessions, IU (11-5, 4-0 Big Ten) sent a man past the mid-court stripe and behind the Iowa (13-5, 2-2) defense. All three times, it worked. \nIowa scored. Jared Jeffries put in a layup on an offensive rebound. Iowa scored. Kyle Hornsby streaked for a wide open layup. Iowa scored. Jarrad Odle took a long pass straight to the bucket before he was fouled and hit both free throws. \n"We knew they would press us because that won the game for them last year," IU coach Mike Davis said. "We've been working on it."\nIowa didn't press at all in the first half, but its second-half approach worked early. That is, until IU solved the press and gave Iowa coach Steve Alford fits. \nAlford, who preaches playing in four-minute spurts -- from one officials' timeout to the next -- was intent on chopping the IU lead early in the second half. Iowa did cut it to five, but by the time the first television timeout rolled around, the Hoosiers ballooned the lead back to 13. \n"It was the same press that enabled them to a layup and two threes to get it back from five points back up to 11," Alford said. "That first four-minute game ended up being 12-10."\nFree throws\nIU sputtered from the free-throw line early, hitting just five of its first 12 and 13 of the first 24. \nNot until the 8:20 mark did IU connect on both ends of a two-foul-shot situation. \nBut beginning with back-to-back makes from Jeffries, IU hit 16 of its last 20 and its final eight in a row to secure the victory. \nSixteen of IU's final 22 points came via free throws.\nNo Boyd\nIowa guard Brody Boyd, who scored 22 points against IU in the Big Ten Tournament championship game, played only six minutes Sunday -- one in the second half -- and did not score. He took a mere two shots. \nBoyd, from Dugger, Ind., led Iowa to the league tournament crown by replacing the injured Luke Recker and Ryan Hogan. His eight field goals in that game are still his career high. Boyd scored three points in Iowa's 71-66 regular season win against the Hoosiers in Iowa City last season. \nFan support\nIowa's Hawk's Nest fans had their share of fun Sunday, ribbing Davis and IU guards Dane Fife and Tom Coverdale.\nDavis spent much of the afternoon discussing calls with officials Ed Hightower, Donnee Gray and Mike Sanzere. It was Sanzere who whistled Davis for a technical in the final minutes of the loss to Butler and prompted Davis' criticism of the officiating after the game. \nMidway through the second half, an arguing Davis was instructed to "sit down" by the Iowa students. \nAs the game closed, an upset Iowa student screamed "we're over-rated" to a silent Carver-Hawkeye Arena.\nSurprise, surprise\nAlready in the Big Ten season, No. 13 Iowa and No. 9 Illinois each have two losses. No. 25 Michigan State, which lost to Wisconsin Saturday, has three. All three schools were thought to be frontrunners for the Big Ten title. \nAfter Tuesday, when Iowa and Illinois meet in Champaign, Ill., either the Hawkeyes or Fighting Illini will have a third loss. \nIU and Ohio State, which beat Northwestern Saturday, lead the league and both are unbeaten in conference play. IU and OSU meet Saturday in Columbus. \nBoth are also getting plenty of praise, and Alford is putting the Hoosiers in league of their own.\n"Illinois is as good as anybody in this league, other than maybe Indiana," Alford said Sunday.\nThe Hoosier players are pleased with the 4-0 start, as well.\n"Right now, we're in a great position," Odle said. "If we win every game at home and maybe drop a couple on the road, we'll still be right there"