Bench production gives starting five solid support

The box scores and statistics that chronicle the play of IU's starting five are impressive. That quintet makes up IU's top five scorers and scores 73 percent of IU's points. \nBut the Hoosier bench helped Wednesday against Ohio State. It's happened before -- at North Carolina, where A.J. Moye scored 19, at Northwestern where Jarrad Odle scored 16 and most recently at Michigan Sunday, where Jeff Newton scored 17. \nBig bench production has helped No. 23 IU (18-8, 10-3 Big Ten) surge into first place in the Big Ten and was a primary reason the Hoosiers upended No. 19 Ohio State (18-6, 9-4) 63-57 Wednesday in Bloomington. \nIU used only eight players, but Newton played 28 minutes and scored a team-high 16 points, Moye scored five points and had four rebounds in 10 minutes, and Donald Perry helped solve IU's offensive ineptitude by igniting fast-break chances. \n"You need eight to nine players to be competitive in this league," IU coach Mike Davis said. "Last year, I had to play five or six guys for a long stretch, and they (got) tired at the end of the game."\nMoye dropped in a three pointer in the middle of a 13-0 IU first-half run, then put in a second-chance bucket two minutes later extending IU's lead to eight. Newton rescued IU with dunks and revved up his teammates and the crowd. Perry committed two turnovers in six minutes, but Davis said he helped alleviate IU's offensive problems, most of which stemmed from being stagnant. \n"You can get guys to get different things every night; that's been our story all year," senior forward Jarrad Odle said. "You expect that now from our team."\nLet's get physical\nOhio State entered Wednesday averaging 26 free-throw attempts per game. Of those, they hit an average of 17. IU allowed the Buckeyes just 10 free-throw tries. \n"If you look at our season statistics, we have taken significantly more free throws than our opponents," OSU coach Jim O'Brien said. "We only got 10 free throws tonight -- that hurt us."\nIU hit 15 of 22 from the free-throw stripe Wednesday after shooting 13 of 22 in a loss at Ohio State Jan. 19. In that game, the Buckeyes hit just 12 of 17, but used their dribble penetration and offensive rebounding to upend IU 73-67. \nOSU used the same offensive approach in round No. 2, an equally physical game with a different outcome. \n"(That was) Big Ten basketball," Davis said. "The officials did a great job tonight; they had a great game and really worked hard. They're a very physical basketball team."\nDarby disappointed\nOhio State guard Brent Darby scored only four points Wednesday after scoring 11 in Columbus. The game ended a streak of nine consecutive double-digit scoring games. Darby played through back spasms at Iowa Saturday, but struggled against the Hoosiers, committing four turnovers and tallying only one assist. \n"(IU) was face-guarding (our shooters) and weren't letting us come out," OSU guard Brian Brown said. "That put a lot of pressure on (Darby). His back is getting a little better, but it's still bothering him."\nIU guard Tom Coverdale also bothered Darby. The two exchanged words and ignited a shoving match with 2:54 left in the first half. Darby fouled Coverdale, and Darby followed Coverdale and had some words for IU's point guard when he caught him. \nDarby admitted he wasn't affected by that or an IU crowd that took a disliking to his physical play.\n"That's the way (IU) plays; it's cool," Darby said. "That is the type of style they like to play."\nRandom numbers\nJared Jeffries hit two three-pointers Wednesday, making IU 5-0 when Jeffries hits two or more three pointers. When Jeffries hits a single three pointer, IU is 14-1 this season and 20-4 all-time…Dane Fife collected three steals, edging him closer to all-time IU steals leader Steve Alford. Fife has 155 career steals, behind Alford's 192.