Sooners' intensity will show Saturday

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Against No. 1 Duke, the Hoosiers relied on Jared Jeffries and Jarrad Odle in the paint to bring them back from 17 points to win, 74-73. Against Kent State in the South Regional final last Saturday, IU hit its first eight three-pointers to build a lead it would never relinquish.\nIn Saturday night's first national semifinal against Oklahoma, the Hoosiers will see a defense that is better than both the Blue Devils' and the Golden Flashes. Duke chose to focus on the outside while Kent State took away the inside. \nThe Sooners have the ability to take both away, and that's what they say they will try to do.\n"We're just going to try to stop their offense," sophomore center Jabahri Brown said. "Whether it's their inside game or outside game, we're going to play hard."\nOklahoma is good at stopping teams. The Sooners give up over 64 points per game, which isn't as good as the Hoosiers, who are yielding around 62 points. But Oklahoma is able to disrupt offenses with its intensity.\nThe Sooners' roster is filled with tall, physical players who like to play defense. They get some of their intensity from their coach, Kelvin Sampson.\n"I think it all starts in practice," senior forward Aaron McGhee said. "Coach did a good job selling this defense to all our players. Ever since then, we took it upon ourselves to be as good as we want to be on defense."\nAll week Mike Davis has likened the Sooners' rebounding and defense to that of Michigan State's the past few seasons. Davis said the only difference is Oklahoma's is probably better.\n"They're probably a better defensive team than Michigan State was this year, but Michigan State has had some great defensive teams in the past," Davis said. "Watching film, there's no weaknesses that I've seen. It's going to be difficult for us if we don't really execute."\nMaking the Hoosiers' job of executing against such a tough defense even more difficult is the questionable status of Tom Coverdale. But the Sooners say that no matter who the starting point guard for IU is, they will probably not extend their defense as some are predicting.\n"The game plan doesn't change," junior guard Hollis Price said. "I don't think we worked on the press all year long. We're not going to pick up no full-court and try to press those guys because they are too good of a team to just turn the ball over in a full-court situation."\nThe Hoosiers struggled last Saturday for a couple of possessions when Kent State brought out the full-court pressure. But Donald Perry was able to settle down and IU put the Golden Flashes away soon after.\nDavis isn't so certain the Hoosiers won't have to worry about a trapping defense that goes into the Hoosiers' backcourt. If IU has to deal with it, Davis points out that the Hoosiers have seen it before.\n"I don't think anybody pressures like Louisville. Coach (Rick) Pitino is in a class by himself when it comes to pressing," Davis said. "Will it cause some confusion (Saturday) and havoc? Probably will. But it won't be anything that we haven't really faced before."\nThe Hoosiers' season-high in turnovers is 26. That was against Duke, who didn't trap or use a full court press, but still pressured the ball handler up the floor most of the game.\nPerry said he is ready to step in if Coverdale can't go, saying he doesn't consider himself a freshman anymore. Kyle Hornsby said the green seats of the Georgia Dome are fine to shoot into. \nSo the Hoosiers sound like they are ready for any defense they will see. Instead of thinking its game has been tipped over the past two games, IU feels confident that the Sooners won't know where to start.\n"I hope we have them guessing a little bit. I'm sure they're going to try to take away everything," Odle said. "The first couple of minutes you have to see what they're going to give and what they're going to take. If they give us the three-pointers our guys are going to shoot them and knock them down. \n"If they give us the inside, I'm sure when halftime rolls around they're going to try and switch it up. We have to be ready for anything."\nAs usual, Davis said the Hoosiers' offensive game plan will be to go through Jeffries, who the Sooners plan to guard with senior forward Daryan Selvy. \nJeffries said the key to Oklahoma's defense is how physical the Sooners are. IU took advantage of Duke's physical style as the Blue Devils committed a season-high 26 fouls. The Hoosiers hit 20 free throws that night. The foul stripe might be the most important factor Saturday.\n"Whenever you bring the ball up the court they do a great job of being physical," Jeffries said. "I think a lot of teams aren't used to that physicalness. I think last week we had some 50 fouls in a game. \n"Hopefully they'll do the same thing against us and we'll hit free throws down the stretch and put them away"