IU's big men large in win

INDIANAPOLIS -- The IU men's basketball team needed all its big men.\nCoach Mike Davis made that quite clear after Sunday's win against North Texas. In addition to senior forward Jeff Newton and freshman forward Sean Kline, junior center George Leach needed to get over his rotator cuff injury that kept him on the bench Sunday, and quick.\nBecause if No. 10 IU was going to contend with No. 9 Maryland Tuesday night, the frontcourt had to be ready to play.\nAlthough Leach experienced the same slow start as the rest of the team, Newton emerged after the break, and Kline was clutch in the stretch as the Hoosiers emerged with an overtime win, 80-74. The Hoosiers remain undefeated in five games, as the Terps fall to 3-1.\n"Leach hadn't played in three or four practices, and he didn't play against North Texas," Davis said. "I didn't think he was impressive on the boards. But they had 30 rebounds at the half, we had 19. Then we ended up with 49, and they had 46. That tells you a lot about our guys. They rebounded the ball in the second half."\nDespite mild overall success, Leach made his return to the court known after his one-game absence. In a packed Conseco Fieldhouse, Leach made his first of five first half blocks against Maryland's senior Ryan Randle with less than two minutes after the start. \nWith fearsome holler, Leach knocked the ball out-of-bounds preventing a Terrapin score. Less than two minutes later, Leach again punished Maryland with a block that was diminished after a Hoosier foul away from the ball.\nBut Leach's biggest dunk was yet to come. With just over 10 minutes left in the first half, Leach punished Maryland guard senior Steve Blake by swatting Blake's lay-up shot well into the first few rows of fans, bringing the crowd to their feet.\nBut even with Leach's blocks, the Terrapins had the edge in the frontcourt in the first half. Randle, a 255-pound senior center, and senior forward Tahj Holden were huge under the basket in the first half picking up 14 of Maryland's 30 rebounds.\nHolden found himself in foul trouble early in the second half, picking up three within the first seven minutes. Holden picked up his fifth with a foul away from the ball, sending him to the bench for good.\n"Whenever you play against two guys that outweigh you by 50 or 60 pounds, it wears on you," senior guard Tom Coverdale said. \nBut with Holden forced to watch, the Hoosiers and Newton took charge of the game. Kline replaced Leach with less than 10 minutes into the half, but after Leach's first half defense, it was Newton's turn to take over.\nNewton had zero shooting success in the first half, going 0-for-7, with zero points. That changed in the second as IU clawed its way back from a four-point halftime deficit. Newton's first attempts at the basket in the half were blocked and mishandled, but as IU started to take over, Newton came up with key plays.\nHis first was a one-handed dunk after driving to the basket, and on the next possession, he made a jump shot under pressure, but missed the following free throw. \nNewton continued his offensive contributions by feeding senior guard Kyle Hornsby for a jump shot. To finish off his emergence, Newton brought the crowd to its feet with a huge open dunk.\n"It was tough under the basket," Holden said. "The Indiana big guys are pretty athletic, and they block a lot of shots. Newton is an athletic player. He gets up and down the floor really well."\nNewton completed the game, and his turnaround, with a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds.\nBut it was Kline's entrance into the game that helped complete the Hoosier rally. As Leach returned to the bench for a rest, Kline stepped in. Finishing with 10 points and five rebounds, arguably none of his shots mattered more than his free throw shot with seven seconds left in regulation. Going one-for-one, Kline sent the game into overtime, and added five points in the extra five minutes.\n"It was tight," Kline said. "I was nervous up there, but I just tried to calm myself by thinking about practice, staying the same. It wasn't the same because I never made two in a row, but I hit the big one to tie it. I was mad at myself, but we came out on top"