Good show, seniors

It's the moment you've all been waiting for: The day where I have nothing but good things to say about an IU performance (well, mostly good things). \nAs expected, it was a game that caused most fans to gnaw their fingernails. But none of the three seniors on the roster felt the pressure, each ending his career at Assembly Hall in proper fashion: with a victory.\nFirst there was Kyle Hornsby. While he may not be in the starting lineup, he proved he could still make big plays. One example was the three-pointer that he hit from the corner to give the Hoosiers a six-point lead with a little more than three minutes left to play.\nBut the final play that he made at Assembly Hall was the most clutch of the game. With IU leading 71-68, Hornsby was able to force a jump ball that gave the Hoosiers possession and virtually assured the win.\nAnd then there was the man whom Mike Davis called "the ultimate Indiana basketball player," Tom Coverdale. It's a statement that's so fundamentally true that you would almost expect Coverdale to show up for a game wearing a pair of red Chuck Taylors on his feet.\nHe came to play Tuesday night. Coverdale was the only player on either team to stay in the game for the full 40 minutes. While he had only nine points, Coverdale's eight assists put him in a three-way tie with Jamal Meeks and Damon Bailey for third place on IU's career assist list. He also played smart basketball and did not commit a single turnover.\nBut the MVP of the game was their classmate Jeff Newton. With his 22-point, 16-rebound performance (including a perfect eight-for-eight night from the free throw line), Newt solidified the fact that he deserves to be first team all-Big Ten. It was his 11th double-double of the season.\nJust as he had done the first time the Hoosiers played Illinois, he attacked the opponent inside the paint and made sure the other team's best player got into foul trouble. Had Minnesota forward Rick Rickert been in the game for more than 24 minutes, there might have been a very different outcome.\nLost in the hubbub of Senior Night was the smooth shooting of a freshman, Bracey Wright. Wright hit six-of-eight shots from three-point range and added three free throws to end the game with 21 points. Somehow he missed all of the field goals he attempted inside of the arc. But he did pull down six rebounds.\nSo with all of the good vibes floating around Assembly Hall Tuesday night, IU will head to Penn State in a positive mood. And while it is important for the Hoosiers to be confident, they cannot afford to become complacent.\nThe Nittany Lions (6-19, 1-13 Big Ten) are hardly a stellar team -- they've been blown out by Yale. For Saturday's game, Penn State may draw fewer fans than the Cleveland Cavaliers, Montreal Expos or a high school curling tournament in North Dakota.\nBut this fact still remains: Penn State's one Big Ten victory was against Wisconsin, and the Badgers figure to be a fairly high-seeded team when the NCAA Tournament committee draws up the brackets a week and a half from now.\nWhen Penn State visited Assembly Hall in January, it kept the game close for the first half. On the road, IU can't afford to keep the Lions hanging around. And if IU plays with the intensity of a team whose season is on the line, there should be little to worry about. After all, my fingernails have gotten too short to chew on anymore.