Win showcases physical nature of Big Ten conference

Over the years, Big Ten basketball has compiled a laundry list of characteristics that define it as a smash-mouth conference.\nAmong the various facets of the league's personality are stingy defense and low scores; rabid fans who taunt the opposition with vicious chants and award the home team with raucous cheers; and physical play that, at times, can resemble a wrestling match.\nTuesday night's Big Ten rematch between the Hoosiers and the Ohio State Buckeyes was a prime example of the physical play that the Big Ten is famous for.\nAfter IU's 74-66 victory over Illinois on Saturday, Illini coach Bill Self said the Big Ten is no longer a physical conference because referees do not let that type of play go anymore. But if he watched last night's game, he may re-think that assessment.\n"I think it's still physical," freshman guard Marshall Strickland said. "Some teams have the big bangers, the guys out there who just set screens and stuff like that."\nThe Buckeyes' post players definitely brought aggression on the floor last night and the paint resembled a war zone as players from both teams skidded across the floor and dove over each other for rebounds and loose balls.\n"They just take you and grab you and throw you aside," senior shooting guard Kyle Hornsby said of OSU's post players. \nIn the first half, senior guard Tom Coverdale was forced to go to the bench when he cut his chin open on a dive to the floor. He came in minutes later looking like he had just gotten out of a fist fight, sporting a large bandage over the cut and blood stains on his uniform.\n"It was a real physical game and those games are the reason why you come to this conference," he said. "It was a lot of fun and everybody rose to the challenge and didn't back down one bit. You've got to do that to win."\nThe second half displayed some intense moments between Coverdale and his counterpart Brent Darby, who dropped 28 on the Hoosiers 10 days ago.\nCoverdale held Darby scoreless on 0-8 shooting in the first half as Ohio State scored a mere 17 points. But the Buckeye guard returned the favor, holding Coverdale to zero points in the first half as well.\nWith just over two minutes gone in the second half, play would rise to an even more aggressive level when a scuffle ensued on the sidelines between Darby and Coverdale after a battle for a loose ball. Officials ran in and broke it up as the two seniors tangled near half court.\nThe two players continued to jaw back and forth for the rest of the game and the fans shot loud boos Darby's way every time he touched the ball.\nCoach Mike Davis said the animosity was a result of both guards' strong wills, which has bred a bit of a personal rivalry.\n"I just think Darby and Coverdale have this thing going ... and it's going strong," he said. "Both guys are just alike. Darby's a warrior; Coverdale's a warrior and you put two warriors in the same room, on the same floor together and they're going to go after each other."\nHornsby explained that the referees are calling games a bit closer, thus negating a bit of the physical play, but added that the Big Ten is still the Big Ten and the Hoosiers need to be ready to play a scrappy brand of basketball every time they step on the floor.\n"It's just the way we play, it's the way the conference is and if one team is going to play that way, the other team has to play that way," he said. "And if that's the only way you can win, you take the win"