Lineup change fuels Ratliff record
By
Alyson Brodsy |
POSTED AT
12:00 AM ON Dec. 12, 2005
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INDIANAPOLIS -- Getting sophomore guard A.J. Ratliff going was only a matter of changing the starting lineup.
IU coach Mike Davis inserted Ratliff into the opening rotation to jumpstart the sophomore's play. He has lacked confidence ever since he broke his thumb in October.
It was just what the doctor ordered.
Ratliff averaged a point per minute Saturday, scoring all of his 21 points in the second half.
"My confidence was sky high (after being named a starter) and that kind of helped me relax and get back into the rhythm of the game," he said.
Ratliff shut down Kentucky guard Patrick Sparks on defense and provided a kick-out option to the Wildcats' double team on senior forward Marco Killingsworth to complete a well-rounded game.
"Whatever I do, they're going to triple-team me," Killingsworth said. "After that Duke game nobody is going to play me one-on-one anymore. So I've just got to pass the ball a whole lot."
To start the second half, IU only scored four points in nine minutes and desperately needed a spark. That's when Killingsworth kicked out a pass to Ratliff for one of the sophomore's first open three-point looks of the season. He connected, starting a 10-0 IU run, which consisted of eight Ratliff points.
"I kept telling our guys: We haven't scored but they haven't scored, so let's not panic and play like we are down 10," Davis said. "A.J. hit the big three, and we had missed four or five of those shots before that."
Ratliff agreed that his performance was a case of a shooter re-finding his touch. And after making only one of his previous seven shots, Ratliff said "there's nothing like" draining that first long ball.
"It was all about getting back into the rhythm of it, just getting my legs back into it," Ratliff said. "Today was my first day playing without the cast. That was a big help also."
Freshman center Ben Allen had a similar breakout game last week against Eastern Michigan University, scoring 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Ratliff's emergence Saturday provides IU with yet another threat off the bench.
"We have tons of weapons," senior guard Marshall Strickland said. "We can go in a lot of different ways, and on any given night anybody can step up."
Sophomore forward D.J. White is expected to return in the Hoosiers' next game against Charlotte, extending the scoring depth for the Hoosiers.
"When D.J. gets back into the lineup," Allen said, "we're going to have even another weapon, which is going to make us pretty unstoppable."