Not-so-nifty 50 : IU falls to Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The number 50 wasn't too friendly to the Hoosiers against the University of Kentucky.\nIU faced the Wildcats for the 50th time in the matchup's history and fell 59-54 Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena in Lexington. The Hoosiers missed 50 shots in the contest on 22-for-72 shooting, including a 4-for-25 tab from the 3-point line, and dropped to 5-3 on the season with the loss.\n"When you are on the road -- we did two of the three things we needed to do to get a win -- you have to defend, you have to rebound and you have to make shots," IU coach Kelvin Sampson said after the game. "I thought we defended OK, probably good enough to win. I thought we rebounded well enough to win. We just didn't make shots."\nThe Hoosiers and Wildcats battled back and forth with 14 lead changes in the game. IU maintained several small leads throughout the first half of play but led just twice in the second half. The Wildcats defense gave the Hoosiers few opportunities in the second half, limiting IU to 28.9 percent shooting.\nBut with 1:59 remaining in the game, the Hoosiers got the break they'd been waiting for. Freshman guard Joey Shaw stole the Wildcats' inbound pass and made a layup, cutting the Kentucky lead to three. Seconds later, senior guard Earl Calloway stole the ball from UK guard Derrick Jasper and appeared to have an easy fast-break layup. However, Jasper sprinted down the floor, caught up to Calloway and blocked the shot attempt. The Hoosiers did not score after that.\n"I thought a key play in the game was when it was a three-point game," Sampson said. "Calloway got the steal and went down and missed a layup or didn't finish the layup. We had quite a few opportunities right under the basket. We just couldn't finish the play. If we could have made any play in there, we could have cut it to one. But it was very much a possession game."\nThe Hoosiers had another opportunity to take control of the game with 45.3 seconds on the clock, when Sampson called a time-out to set up the Hoosiers' play. But junior forward Lance Stemler forced a desperation 3-pointer that missed, giving the ball back to the Wildcats. Kentucky guard Jodie Meeks sank a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to secure the victory for the Wildcats (6-3).\nD.J. White paced the Hoosiers with a season-high 23 points and recorded nine rebounds, two steals and four blocks in a whopping 39 minutes of play. Sophomore center Ben Allen sat out the game because of illness. Stemler went scoreless in the contest on 0-for-6 three-point shooting, but he grabbed eight rebounds.\nKentucky starters Randolph Morris and Bobby Perry each scored a double-double in the game to spark the Wildcats to victory.\n"We knew that Randolph was the hub of their offense, kind of like D.J. is the hub of our offense," Sampson said. "The kids around Randolph made some shots. There was a possession there where (Bobby) Perry made a big shot. Jasper does a good job. He has a nice tempo to his game. ... Kentucky is obviously very, very good."\nThe Hoosiers will now have a week off before returning to action Dec. 17, but Sampson said Saturday's loss will not be easily forgotten during the break.\n"The loss is kind of front on my mind a little bit right now," Sampson said. "To have a chance to win a game on the road in this kind of environment is disappointing"