Hoosiers show heart in win

Mike Davis may hate Kentucky, but he should appreciate when Northwestern comes to town.\nBecause in each of the five times the IU men's basketball coach faced the Wildcats, he has walked away with a victory.\nWednesday night was no exception, as the No. 18 Hoosiers routed Northwestern, 71-57. The team extended its winning streak against the Wildcats to 29 in Assembly Hall, and improved its record to 12-3, 2-1 in the Big Ten. Northwestern's record falls to 8-6, 0-3.\n"We came out a lot tougher from the start today," freshman guard Marshall Strickland said. "We jumped on them early and got a big lead. We had to knock some shots down, but we came out sharp from the start."\nDavis criticized his team in the days prior to the Northwestern game, questioning their heart and motivation.\nWhatever he said clicked, as the Hoosiers came out with a vengeance. Freshman guard Bracey Wright is listed as day-to-day and did not play against the Wildcats, but the Hoosiers filled his void. IU built a 12-point lead going into the half and continued to capitalize on its revitalized offense in the second. \nSeniors Kyle Hornsby and Jeff Newton traded jump shots to start the second half, but it was senior guard Tom Coverdale who took charge. \nCoverdale ended the first half with just three points but scored an additional 16 in the second, including 6-of-10 from beyond the arc. Coverdale, who reached his 1,000 career point mark, was four rebounds shy of a triple-double. He finished with 10 assists and six rebounds.\n"We knew with Bracey out we needed someone to step up in that position, and we didn't have a drop off when (Hornsby and Coverdale) came in," Newton said. "It's a plus when they can come in and give us those numbers."\nHornsby and Coverdale led the team by scoring 19 each.\nNorthwestern closed a 19-point gap to 12 with just over six minutes to go. But in the next three possessions, Coverdale sank three 3's to extend the lead to 16 with 4:08 left in the game. Even with a last-ditch scoring run, the Wildcats couldn't break the 14-point barrier.\n"Tonight we played with passion," Davis said. "I thought we've played hard in games but not with passion."\nThe team quickly let Davis and the packed Assembly Hall know that their recent trend of less-than-impressive play was short-lived as they jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the first half. \nHornsby led the early offensive attack hitting four out of five field goal attempts in the first half. Hornsby, who went 0-for-9 against Ohio State, was perfect from beyond the arc in the first half, including a trey from the top of the key to start the Hoosier shooting streak. \n"We knew he would bounce right back," Newton said of Hornsby. "He's a shooter. He works hard all the time, and there was no doubt he was on tonight."\nNorthwestern didn't find the basket until just under 15 minutes in the game when senior guard Jason Burke had a three-point play, after drawing a foul on Strickland. \nIU let Northwestern inch its way into the game but not much. After allowing the Wildcats to get within seven with 8:42 left in the game, the Hoosiers finished the first half on a 14-8 scoring run for a double-digit lead.\nCoverdale dished out seven assists prior to the half, as the Hoosiers shot 50 percent from beyond the arc and for total field goal percentage.\n"Tonight, we stuck with it. We had runs, and it felt natural again," junior guard A.J. Moye said. "We're so quick to take the three-point shot; we like it, and everyone can knock it down, or feel we can knock it down, and sometimes we forsake guys like Jeff (Newton) or George (Leach) when they have good position. Tonight we looked at all the options"