Big Victory

By the time the Hoosiers were wrapping up a 79-51 win against Iowa last night in Assembly Hall, the man of the hour couldn't be found on the floor.\nAfter a long and frustrating evening of being hounded by Dane Fife, Kyle Hornsby and most of the 17,456 fans, Luke Recker was buried in the middle of the Iowa bench. With just eight points to his credit, the former Hoosier standout watched as IU put the finishing touches on its 28-point victory.\nThe win moves the Hoosiers (15-7, 8-2) back within one-half of a game of conference-leading Ohio State with the Buckeyes opening a four-game road trip at Wisconsin tonight. The Hawkeyes (15-9, 4-6) have now lost five of their last seven games. Two of those losses have been to IU. \nInstead of Recker playing well, it was one of his former teammates that stole the show. Jarrad Odle, who has been solid throughout the Big Ten season, had 11 first half points before finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds. \nEqually important were the four fouls he picked up while holding Reggie Evans to just eight points. Evans came in averaging nearly 17 points per game.\n"To come in here and not let him get a double-double really takes a lot of effort and a lot of pride," Odle said. "I didn't want him to come in here and walk all over me. The coaches put a challenge on the table for me to come out tonight and do what I did."\nHornsby had a team-high 15 points. Jared Jeffries had 13 and Tom Coverdale and Fife each had 11. The eight points by both Recker and Evans led the Hawkeyes in their worst loss of the season.\nOdle had just four points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 88-74 loss at Minnesota, but was able to bounce back Tuesday night and set the tone early for IU.\n"He probably took the Minnesota loss harder than anybody," Coverdale said of Odle. "The coaches bounced back and gave him a tough challenge to guard Evans. He stepped up and, I thought, outplayed one of the better big men in the Big Ten."\nWith so much attention on Recker, the Hoosiers jumped to a 40-21 lead at halftime. Much like the first time these two teams met, Recker was held in check in the first half with just three points. IU won on Jan. 13, 77-66 when Recker had just two first half points.\nOdle only had four points that Sunday afternoon, but stepped up Tuesday night against a bigger player in Evans, who has 13 double-doubles this season.\n"Tonight he came out with a lot of energy. To me he was the player of the game," Mike Davis said. "He was great on the offensive boards. We needed that."\nWith Recker and forward Evans both on the bench in the second half, Iowa managed to narrow the gap to 56-41 with just over nine minutes left.\n"I was pleased with the reserves. We got it back to 15," Alford said. "We brought the starters back and it was back to 22 before I could sub."\nTwo three-pointers each by Hornsby and Coverdale put the game out of reach.\nA big reason why IU managed to keep the lead was another terrific defensive effort. The Hawkeyes shot under 33 percent from the field for the game and hit 5-of-14 three point shots.\n"We held them to 51 points. If you can do that to a team, you are going to win a lot of ballgames," Odle said.\nIowa is now 1-7 when it scores less than 70 points and the 51 the Hawkeyes scored last night was their second-lowest point total of the season.\n"Indiana plays hard defensively, and they really get you out of your motion and out of sync offensively," Recker said. "They did that and they were able to attack us offensively."\nWhile the fans were attached to Recker's every move, the Hoosiers held all of the Hawkeyes in check.\n"It wasn't about Recker, it was about us going out and making it tough on all of their players," Davis said. "I thought defensively we played great."\nWith the crowd heckling Recker whenever he touched the ball, the Hoosiers stormed out to an 11-2 lead not even four minutes into the game. The only Hawkeye basket came from Recker on a left-handed layup in the lane.\nIowa pulled to within four two minutes later, but would get no closer the rest of the game.\nWhile the hype surrounded Recker's return, the Hoosiers managed to stay focused enough to win their eighth conference game in ten tries.\nIn the end they didn't have to worry about that guy buried in the middle of the Iowa bench.\n"I think the fans took it to heart a little more than we did," Odle said. "It's just another guy with another uniform on."\nEspecially when he's on the bench.