Team must be ready for ugly part of season

Q:What is uglier than an OSU-IU game?\nA: Everything in West Lafayette.\nOK, so maybe that was a cheap shot (even if it is true). But in the middle of the Big Ten season, there will be plenty of cheap shots to go around on the court as well, as we have entered the "beat the tar out of each other" phase of the season.\nIU's ability to withstand physical play will be severely tested over the next two weeks, as they enter their toughest stretch of schedule with four straight games on the road.\nThe first of these games promises to be as tough as any, as the Hoosiers travel to Mackey Arena to battle Purdue. Unlike years past, the Boilermakers are good this year. And unlike December's poorly played tilt at the RCA Dome, IU won't win unless they bring their A-game. \nAfter that, it's off to Michigan State, where IU hasn't won a game since it was considered fashionable to listen to Vanilla Ice.\nAnd if you were a fan of Tom "Rocky" Coverdale versus Brent "Apollo" Darby, the Feb. 1 non-conference game at Louisville should really whet your appetite. Based on the penchant for thuggery that the Cardinals displayed when visiting Assembly Hall last year, this game may have to be moved from CBS to HBO.\nThe next game is at Northwestern, so … well, at least the Hoosiers will exit this road stretch with a win.\nHere are some keys for IU to pull out of this tough stretch on top of the Big Ten.\nJeff Newton: The past week has been a case of Good Newt/Bad Newt. Good Newt scores 28 points and gets a double-double. Or makes the top scorer in the Big Ten a non-factor for nearly the entire game. Bad Newt picks up a dumb technical and fouls out of the game. I think you can figure out which one IU needs to show up. \nA.J. Moye: Who made the most clutch plays all week? That guy whose name you chant all the time. No one will be chanting his name on the road, but Mike Davis needs to make sure that Moye is on the floor for at least half of the game -- and all the time in the last five minutes.\nTom Coverdale: Coverdale had three points against Ohio State Tuesday. Granted, he was locked in a defensive battle with Darby. He also spent a couple minutes on the bench getting his chin stitched up. But IU can't expect to win too many games with him scoring under 10 points. He's only had seven points in the last two games combined. So far, Coverdale has done all of the things that a point guard needs to do, and then some. But more shots would be a nice bonus. \nMore PT for DP: Maybe you forgot that Donald Perry was on the IU roster. But he was clutch coming off the bench against Illinois with five points in seven minutes and hit the free throws that clinched the game. With Bracey Wright coming back, logic dictates that Perry will be back on the bench. But he's earned his way into playing more minutes, and I hope we see it.\nRebounds: Yeah, it's a key to every team's success. But IU was badly outrebounded in their losses. They'll need to win the battle of the boards to come out victorious.