Hoosiers step up intensity a notch against Wildcats

Since the No.18 Hoosiers (12-3, 2-1 Big Ten) lost to Ohio State on Saturday, coach Mike Davis spent much of the week challenging his team to show the intensity that it seemed to have misplaced over the winter break. He questioned the team's passion and stated that they were faltering due to a lack of leadership.\n"Monday was an intense practice," Davis said. "That's the way I have to coach these guys from here on out. I can't ease up on them one day."\nThat intensity carried over into Wednesday night's win over the Northwestern Wildcats (8-6, 0-3). \nDuring the team shoot-around Wednesday, Davis used a scare tactic to motivate his team to play hard.\n"I checked the (NCAA) rules to see if I could run sprints after the game tonight," he said. "If we gave up seven offensive rebounds, it was going to be suicides after the game. The rulebook said you can't work them until the next day so it was going to be 5:30 in the morning." \nThe Hoosiers responded to the challenge by allowing a season-low four offensive rebounds. Before the Northwestern game, the Hoosiers had given up double-digit offensive boards in every game except the Dec. 9 against Vanderbilt, in which they allowed only seven.\n"It was great to come out with that type of intensity," junior guard A.J. Moye said. "You have to have five people playing at once. If one person takes off, the defense is going to struggle. We had runs where it felt normal and natural."\nThe Hoosiers came out strong on the offensive end as well, jumping out to an 11-0 lead in the first five minutes. Senior guard Tom Coverdale, apparently taking Davis' comments about the team's lack of leadership to heart, infused the team with energy on both ends of the court. \nHe entered the game four points shy of his 1,000th career point but appeared more concerned with getting teammates involved, dishing out seven assists in the first period alone while scoring only three points.\nSenior guard Kyle Hornsby responded to his 0-9 effort against Ohio State by knocking down 4 three-pointers on four attempts in the first half.\n"I was patient with my shot a little bit more," he said. "I wasn't so quick. The other part is some days it goes in, some days it doesn't. That's just the way it is. And if you're a good shooter, you keep shooting." \nThe Hoosiers did not miss a beat in the second half as they rode an early 9-2 run to extend the lead to 43-24. \nCoverdale found his shooting touch as well and, with 13:25 left in the game, knocked down a three-pointer to push him past the 1,000 point milestone.\nHe hit four more threes in the half to finish with 19 points, ten assists and six rebounds. Hornsby, who had 19 points as well for a career high, said that Davis' comments on the team's lack of heart and leadership was a motivating factor behind the Hoosiers' improvement. \n"You've got to have pride in what you do," he said. "Of course we want to go out and prove him wrong when he says comments like that. More importantly, we've just gotta go play our game."\nDavis said he had tried talking the team out of their funk for the past month, but felt he wasn't getting any results. His new strategy is to work them hard in practice and keep every minute as fervent as possible.\n"I've got to stay on these guys and keep driving them because what we did last year was really special, and we can do the same this year if we come to fight (and) come to play," he said.