Many highs, many lows

INDIANAPOLIS -- It was March 12, a Friday which many IU students will remember for sandy beaches and drinks with little umbrellas in them.\nBut IU's two senior players, center George Leach and forward A.J. Moye, will look back and see defeat in a game that squashed their tournament dreams. \nIllinois 71. Indiana 59.\nEven a comeback after a 13-point deficit couldn't help the Hoosiers. \n'There's always next year,' people will say.\nBut for Moye, Leach and fellow senior Jason Stewart, there is no next year.\n"It hurts, man," Moye said at the post-game press conference, his eyes glistening with tears while the Fighting Illini, who already had a bid to the NCAA Tournament, were off celebrating their victory.\nLeach wasn't brought into the press conference, but could be found sitting in the locker room. He sat wearing his IU uniform for the last time, just looking at the ground and wouldn't say a word.\nLeach scored nine points had 11 rebounds in the game, while Moye scored 13 points and had nine rebounds, both in their final game for Indiana.\nIU coach Mike Davis said for the past four years, Moye gave his heart to IU basketball.\n"I've never been around a player that has given his heart to a program like A.J. Moye has," Davis said. \nWhile Moye said the team battled in its last two games of the season and the Big Ten Tournament, the story was a little different throughout most of the regular season.\n"It just came down to pride and emotion all year," Moye said. "If we were 14-15 right now, and we gave everything we had every night, it would be easier to stomach, but we didn't."\nMoye said he didn't think everyone on the team realized that they were playing for IU, and exactly what it means to wear the Hoosiers uniform. \n"Maybe they think it's Fresno State or something, whatever. I don't know," Moye said. "They've got to wear this uniform with pride."\nSophomore guard Bracey Wright said every player on the team should take Moye's words a little personal because like Moye said, they didn't completely understand what being a Hoosier meant. Wright said that seeing coach speak so highly of Moye showed the team what it was really all about.\n"A.J., he set an example for anybody that comes to this university," Wright said. "I think that if coach Davis continues to coach here he will continue to use A.J. Moye as an example, because he set a standard on how hard you need to work and what it means to be at Indiana."\nIt's all over for Leach and Moye. While Big Ten teams Wisconsin and Illinois continue to fight for an NCAA National Championship, the Hoosiers sit at home in Bloomington.\nChants of "A-J Mo-ye" will no longer be heard echoing throughout Assembly Hall, but he is a player that made an impact on those watching the game and playing the game, because of the heart his coach says he gave to IU basketball.\n"I hope the people of Indiana remember him, not by the 14-15 record that we had this year," Davis said. "Just remember him as a guy who gave his heart and soul to this basketball team."\n-- Contact staff writer Natalie A. Trout at natrout@indiana.edu.