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(03/24/03 6:07am)
BOSTON -- There's an old saying in sports that goes "Defense wins Championships." \nIt is a mantra that has been passed down from coach to coach for generations and has held true on every level. \nA few examples:\nThe 1985 Chicago Bears won the Super Bowl behind one of the best NFL defenses of all time. \nThe Detroit Pistons of the late 80's and early 90's won two straight NBA titles due, in large part, to their scrappy play that frustrated opponent's offenses.\nIn the 70's, the Pittsburgh Steelers were renowned for their "Steel Curtain" defensive line. \nNow Pittsburgh has a new defensive juggernaut to root for -- the University of Pittsburgh men's basketball team.\nThe No.2-seeded Pitt Panthers blew out the Hoosiers 74-52 in Sunday's second round match-up, pressuring the ball on the perimeter and battling for every rebound and loose ball down low.\n"They execute everything and they're unselfish," coach Mike Davis said. "Defensively, they always help each other and they're going to make every play tough on you. If you're not strong with the basketball, they will take it from you. If you throw a bad pass, they will steal it."\nThe statistics prove that point.\nPitt grabbed nine steals in the game and forced IU into 16 turnovers, which translated into 18 points.\nSenior guard Brandin Knight, the Panthers' senior point guard, was a major reason for his team's defensive proficiency, tallying five steals in 30 minutes of play.\nHe and Pitt coach Ben Howland both explained that their success did not have as much to do with preparing for IU's specific offensive sets as it did with players on the team knowing their roles and buying into an unselfish philosophy.\n"I think really all of our guys stepped it up - getting out and extending screens, trailing guys off double screens," Knight said. "That's what makes us effective on defense. (IU is) a very hard team to prepare for in one day. We just stuck to all our roles, like coach teaches, and that's how we were able to defend them so well."\nWith 6:30 to go, IU was only down by one. Both teams were having trouble executing offensively at that point, but when Pitt's offense began to click, their defense stopped IU from getting back in the game.\nAnother major cause for the Hoosiers' struggle to put points on the board had to do with the play of Pitt junior guard Julius Page, who had senior guard Tom Coverdale as his defensive assignment.\nHowland has consistently put Page on the opposition's best offensive weapon and, while freshman guard Bracey Wright was the Hoosiers' leading scorer this season, he recognized that Coverdale was the team's "heart and soul." \nIt turned out to be a good move as Page held the Hoosier guard, who scored 23 points in the first round against Alabama, to six points on 2-7 shooting.\n"He's probably the best defender I've faced my whole career," Coverdale said. "He's so quick and he's a great anticipator. He sees what's going to happen before it happens. It's pretty tough to get a shot off against him."\nAnd so it went for nearly every IU player who saw substantial minutes.\nWright was 4-11 from the field with three turnovers; senior forward Jeff Newton went 4-9 with six turnovers; junior center George Leach, while making 7 of his eleven shots, had four turnovers. \n"They buy into a system that preaches defense first and rebounding, because that's what's going to win," he said. "We were stuck on 21 there for awhile and had a couple bad turnovers in a row but we didn't relinquish the lead because we kept playing defense. Defense wins. Pittsburgh Steeler basketball"
(03/23/03 8:08pm)
CHICAGO -- Last Saturday, while the Hoosiers (19-11) were being upset by Penn State, Jeff Newton was stuck on the bench in foul trouble, watching his team limp to the finish line of a tumultuous Big Ten season.\nAt the same time, Newton's counterpart, Penn State sophomore forward Jan Jagla, was out on the floor having the game of his career. He would finish with 25 points and eight rebounds on the night. \nBut things were a little different Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.\nA revitalized Hoosier squad took the court at the United Center looking to avenge the 74-66 defeat they suffered at the hands of the Nittany Lions six days ago, and they did so convincingly.\nNewton, who finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks, two steals and zero fouls, led IU to a 77-49 victory, while Jagla was held to 11 points and seven boards. \n"I wanted to come out and be as aggressive as I could," Newton said. "We wanted to really set the tone for the tournament in the first game."\nThe win puts the Hoosiers in the quarterfinals today against the 3rd seeded Michigan Wolverines and all but ensures them a berth into the NCAA tournament.\nOne of the most persistent problems IU has faced this season has been their tendency to let first half leads slip away during the final 20 minutes. It happened numerous times throughout the season and was apparently something they had on their minds headed into the second half.\nThe Hoosiers continued to roll as they put together a 13-7 run to increase the lead to 18 points with just less than 15 minutes left in the game. \nPenn State senior guard Brandon Watkins, who lead his team with 17 points, would not let the Nittany Lions go quietly, however. He converted a three-point play on the next possession after being fouled by junior center George Leach, which shrunk the lead to 15 points.\nBut senior guard Tom Coverdale, who finished with 13 points, immediately answered with a baseline three.\nThe score remained 52-34 for just over two minutes as the Nittany Lions missed four straight shots and the Hoosiers turned the ball over twice.\nBut the Hoosiers then increased the lead in what was arguably the play of the game -- a Newton alley-oop to Leach that put IU up by 20.\nThe play brought the players on the bench, as well as the fans, to their feet as Newton flashed an excited smile while back-peddling to get on defense.\nIt was one of IU's 23 assists on 26 made field goals for the game. \nCoach Mike Davis cited that stat and the fact that freshman Bracey Wright, who is the team's leading scorer, had a mere seven points as evidence of an all-around team effort.\n"It is definitely good for our team," Davis said. "(Wright) didn't have any points at halftime, and it showed when guys play good team basketball and find the open man, we are a good basketball team."\nThe Hoosiers went unchallenged for the rest of game as they outscored the Nittany Lions 27-15 in the final 11:24.\nCoverdale said the team was happy about the win but was now focused on tonight's game against Michigan. The game will air at 9:10 p.m. on ESPN Plus. \nDue to NCAA violations, the Wolverines are ineligible for the NCAA tournament, a fact that Coverdale said will make them a dangerous team to face this weekend. \n"I think (beating Penn State) is a start to us trying to obtain our goal," Coverdale said. "We've won one but we still have three to go. We see a very good Michigan team tomorrow. Tomorrow is their NCAA tournament, so they are going to come out and put everything on the line"
(03/13/03 5:13am)
IU basketball fans are most likely looking forward to the upcoming spring break -- some time to relax and rest their weak hearts after a season so up and down it could be a new ride at Six Flags.\nA couple of weeks ago, the Hoosiers' tournament hopes were on life support. \nThey limped back into Assembly Hall after losing two of three games on the road (including a 26-point rout at the hand of Illinois) with a 6-7 conference record.\nBut a two-game home-stand quickly mended their losing ways as they beat Iowa and Minnesota to go one game above .500 in the conference. \nThey were finally off the dreaded bubble -- their tickets to the NCAA tournament all but punched. The players, the coaching staff and the fans could all take a collective sigh of relief. \nOr so they thought.\nThe final game of the season sent them to State College, Penn., to take on the lowly Penn State Nittany Lions (7-20, 2-14 Big Ten), and things did not go quite as planned.\n"We definitely underestimated them," senior guard Tom Coverdale said. "For one reason or another, we weren't ready to play as a team and it showed. We thought we were just going to show up and win the game."\nIU (18-11, 8-8) was shocked by Penn State in its season finale last Saturday, losing 74-66 and landing directly back on that bubble. \nThe sigh of relief had been stifled, leaving the Hoosier nation struggling for air heading into the Big Ten conference tournament, which begins today.\nThe Hoosiers earned the sixth-seed for the tourney and will get a rematch with No.11 Penn State today at 5:10 p.m. on ESPN2. Should they win that game, they will face No. 3 Michigan tomorrow night.\nFreshman guard Bracey Wright, who was named third team All-Big Ten and placed on the All-Freshman team earlier this week, said tonight's game is a must-win.\n"Our mind-set is we have to win and that's the bottom line," he said. "If we beat Penn State, that will put us in the tournament. With a win over Michigan, that will definitely shed some light on our season. If we win like we're supposed to and do the things like we're supposed to, we'll be in the tournament. If we don't, we'll be in the NIT."\nOne of the biggest problems the Hoosiers had with the Nittany Lions last weekend was the upstart performance by sophomore forward Jan Jagla, who ended up with 25 points and eight rebounds. Prior to that game, Jagla's career high had been 16 points. \nAnother problem, which head coach Mike Davis cited earlier this week, was the lack of leadership from the team's seniors.\n"When we win, we have guys that are playing with a lot of intensity and when we lose we have guys going through the motions, and there's no life," Davis said. "That's got to come from your seniors. We have freshmen but they can't do it. They haven't seen this level of play and they don't know what to do in certain situations. (The seniors) have got to take responsibility."\nWright emerged as the team's most vocal player at Penn State, scoring 21 points on an Iverson-like 6-20 from the field, dishing seven assists and pulling down 4 rebounds. Afterward, he told reporters there was "no way in hell" the team deserved a tournament berth if it continued to play as flat as it just had. \nIU point guard Marshall Strickland, also a freshman, was the only other player to score in double figures with 12. \nIt has been a recurring theme for the Hoosiers all season -- Davis has pleaded with his seniors to show leadership, to initiate communication on the court, and inspire aggressive play on defense. \nCoverdale said he, along with fellow seniors Jeff Newton and Kyle Hornsby, recognize their roles on the team.\n"We know we're the guys that have to get things going," he said. "That's your job when you're a senior, you have to take the blame for the losses because you've been there and you know what to do."\nHe added that the entire team is ready to prove its critics wrong.\n"Everybody on this team is fed up with people talking about how disappointing we are and how bad we've been," he said. "This is our shot to win the Big Ten tournament and that starts on Thursday"
(03/07/03 3:49pm)
After nearly a month and a half of trying, the Hoosiers (18-10, 8-7 Big Ten) were finally able to string together two straight wins with a 74-70 victory over Minnesota Tuesday night. \nIt was a feat they had not accomplished since beating Northwestern, Illinois and Ohio State during a home-stand that went from Jan.15-21, and they will attempt to match that streak tomorrow night when they travel to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions (6-20, 1-14).\n"Saturday is a big game for us," senior guard Tom Coverdale said. "I think that we'd still make the tournament if we didn't win it, but I think we've got to go in there and get it just so there's no doubt."\nIt will be the last game of the Big Ten season for both teams and a win for the Hoosiers would most likely earn them the sixth seed in next weekend's conference tournament. If that is the case, they will meet the 11-seeded Nittany Lions again in the first round.\nCoach Mike Davis said that scenario would give the Hoosiers good momentum heading into the postseason.\n"We win Saturday, and that's three straight wins. It's been a long time since we won three games in a row," Davis said. "If we win we'll probably end up playing Penn State again on Thursday night (in the Big Ten tournament). If we can win those two games that's four in a row, and we can try to win the (conference) tournament."\nPenn State had a chance to move out of the league's cellar last Saturday when they played the Northwestern Wildcats. Had they won that game, it would have tied them with the Wildcats at 2-12 in the Big Ten and given them a chance to grab the 10-seed for the tournament.\n But things didn't quite work out that way as they haven't for Penn State for much of the season.\n The visiting Nittany Lions took Northwestern into double-overtime behind impressive performances by junior guard Sharif Chambliss and senior guard Brandon Watkins, who finished with 21 and 31 points respectively. But it was not enough as the Wildcats pulled out an 85-79 victory.\nPenn State then headed back to their home court Tuesday night for a matchup with Michigan.\nThe Wolverines shot 60 percent from the field and handed the Nittanny Lions their fourth straight loss, which plunged them to 1-14 in conference play and ensured them the 11-seed in the Big Ten tournament.\nDespite the loss, Penn State saw some encouraging play from two of their young forwards, sophomore Jan Jagla and freshman Aaron Johnson, who both finished with 15 points. \nBut while Jagla (8.7 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and Johnson (8.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg) have provided some quality play down low, the backcourt of Chambliss (14.7 ppg) and Watkins (13.9 ppg) has provided the Nittany Lions with experience as well as consistent production.\nThose guards will match up with a revitalized Hoosier backcourt that features freshman Bracey Wright, whom Davis said is finally healthy again; Coverdale, who has shaken off his scoring slump to re-emerge as the team's leader; and freshman point guard Marshall Strickland, who has thrived since entering the starting lineup.\n"I think that the additional level of play from the backcourt has really made (IU) a better basketball team," Penn State coach Jerry Dunn said. "I thought their backcourt was struggling earlier (in the Big Ten season)."\nAfter a long conference season in which the Hoosiers played seven out of nine games on the road in one stretch, Davis said the team is finally regaining its confidence and intensity, and it's happening at the perfect time.\n"I've watched schools in last couple weeks, and you have some teams fading," he said. "And what we've got to do is pick our momentum up. If we continue to get better, you'll be surprised by the run that we're going to make. I'm telling you -- you count us out, and you're in trouble"
(03/05/03 6:11am)
Last night's game against Minnesota was the final opportunity for IU fans to erupt in cheers after a three-pointer from guards Tom Coverdale and Kyle Hornsby, and the last time they could yell "Newwwt" after forward Jeff Newton blocked a shot or threw down a dunk.\nIt was the Hoosiers' final home game of the Big Ten regular season and it was Senior Night -- the last time Coverdale, Hornsby and Newton would take the Assembly Hall court as members of the team.\n"This group of seniors has really accomplished a lot in their time here at Indiana," coach Mike Davis said. "All three guys have really overachieved, and I'm really happy for all of them."\nThe crowd made its appreciation felt throughout the game, beginning with standing ovations for both Newton and Coverdale when their names were called during the starting lineups.\nHornsby, who has not started a game since Feb. 8 at Michigan State, was on the bench to begin the game again tonight, but when he finally entered the game with 10:33 left before halftime, he received a warm welcome from the crowd as well.\nAfter the team's 74-70 win over the Gophers, Davis and his seniors each took a turn addressing the fans. \nWhen Davis spoke, one member of the crowd decided to make his voice heard, yelling that he should have started Hornsby, who hit a three from the corner with 2:41 left in the game to make the score increase the Hoosiers' lead to six points.\nDavis took the comment in stride.\n"We'll start him next time," he said with a smile.\nHornsby, who finished the game with nine points, said he understood why he didn't get the nod to start.\n"We've actually won two in a row so personally I wouldn't change the lineup either if I were Coach Davis," he said. "We seem to be playing all right; I'd keep it the same way."\nNewton had the most productive stat line of the three seniors, posting 22 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and three blocks.\n"It felt great," Newton said of his performance. "It's good to go out on a good note, especially when you win."\nWhile Newton was the player of the game, Coverdale and Hornsby also played integral roles in achieving the win that raises IU to 8-7 in the Big Ten.\nAside from the baseline three, Hornsby contributed intangibles that won't show up in the stat line. \nWith only seconds left in the game and the Hoosiers up three, Minnesota sophomore guard Maurice Hargrow came up with an offensive rebound that could have provided the Gophers with one last chance to tie. But Hornsby was right there and stripped Hargrow, which led to a jump-ball with 13 seconds left and granted IU possession. \nMinnesota was forced to foul, sending freshman guard Bracey Wright and then Coverdale to the foul line, putting the game out of reach.\n"I think all three of us were just looking at each other thinking we can't lose this game," Hornsby said. "We needed this. We needed this game to continue on (in the postseason), and we needed this game to make this night special for us. There's not too many that lose on this night, and we didn't want to be one of them so it was huge."\nCoverdale did not score in double figures in the game, finishing just short with nine. But he continually found the open man and ended up with eight assists.\nWhen Davis introduced Coverdale after the game, he said the senior guard was "one of the best basketball players in the country."\n"He is the ultimate Indiana basketball player," Davis told the crowd. "This basketball team goes as Tom Coverdale goes. Here's a guy who played 41 minutes his first year and now is up for the Wooden award and he told me that we were going to be the best basketball team in the country in March."\nCoverdale said he wanted to be remembered at IU by making another trip to the Final Four. \n"My ultimate goal would be to be the first team to go to two straight Final Fours," he said. "That's never happened at Indiana, so that's my main goal"
(03/03/03 5:43am)
It seemed all too familiar. By halftime of Saturday night's game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Hoosiers had secured a 15 point lead and headed into the locker room looking poised to grab a much needed win. \nBut it would not be that simple.\nIowa began the second half in attack mode and suddenly that 15 point lead dissipated into a 10 point lead … then a five point lead … then it was tied.\nBehind the solid play of junior center Jared Reiner, who finished with 25 points and 17 rebounds, the Hawkeyes battled their way back into the game and, as has happened so many times this season, the Hoosiers found their once comfortable advantage had been squandered.\nIt took clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch by senior forward Jeff Newton and a three-pointer in the final seconds of overtime by freshman guard Bracey Wright for the Hoosiers (17-10, 7-7) to finally claim a 91-88 win over Iowa (14-11, 6-8).\nNewton, Wright and senior guard Tom Coverdale led the way with 20, 21, and 16 points, respectively. Coverdale also had six assists and five rebounds. \nJunior guard/forward A.J. Moye, who finished the game with 10 points, said the team has a tendency to get too comfortable when they achieve a lead.\n"Once we get up in double figures we kind of use that as a cushion where it should give us more of a sense of urgency not to lose," he said. \nThe Hawkeyes began the second half with a 9-3 run that narrowed the Hoosier lead to 11. \nIn the midst of that stretch, Newton picked up his third and fourth personal fouls and found himself back on the bench with just over 18 minutes left in the game.\nNewton's absence gave Iowa a huge advantage down low, as coach Mike Davis used junior center George Leach sparingly as well. The Hawkeyes exploited IU's small lineup, outscoring them 30-6 in the paint during the second half and overtime. \nIowa slowly but surely chipped away at the Hoosiers' lead and, with just over four minutes left in the game, senior guard Chauncey Leslie hit a lay-up that put them ahead 70-68. It was their first lead since the score was 8-7.\n"I think once we get a big lead we think that (opponents) are just going to go away," Coverdale said. "(But) teams are going fight back just like we have."\nNewton, who had been on the bench ever since his fourth foul, came into the game just before Leslie's lay-up and proved to be IU's savior.\nThe Hoosiers fed him in the post on nearly every possession in the final 3:48 and he was fouled every time, converting on seven of eight free throws to keep IU in the game. \nWith 1:14 left in regulation, and the Hoosiers up 77-76, freshman point guard Marshall Strickland threw an errant pass that was intercepted by Leslie. He took the ball coast-to-coast and threw down a fast break dunk that put the Hawkeyes up one.\nBut on the Hoosiers' ensuing possession Leslie fouled Wright, who split his free throws to tie the game at 78 all with 42 seconds remaining. \nIowa failed at its last chance to score when junior guard Brody Boyd missed two three-point attempts. \nStrickland then missed a three on the Hoosiers final attempt in regulation and the game went into overtime.\nNewton once again came up big in the extra period, scoring the first five points for the Hoosiers to put them up 83-82.\nThen it was Wright's time to shine.\nMoye dished a pass to the freshman guard in the lane and he elevated high above the rim to throw down an emphatic dunk over Leslie, who was called for a foul.\nWright knocked down his free throw to put the Hoosiers up four. \nIowa junior center Sean Sonderleiter then hit a jumper to cut the lead to two, but on the next possession he again fouled Newton, who converted both free throws.\nThe Hawkeyes refused to go away, however, and scored four unanswered points to tie the game at 88.\nWith 24 seconds left, the Hoosiers had one more chance and they made the most of it. Coverdale came off of a double screen to receive the ball and drew two defenders as he drove toward the lane. One of those defenders was supposed to be on Wright and Coverdale found the freshman wide open and well behind the three-point line.\nWright took the pass and immediately went up for the shot, and hit nothing but net.\n"The play broke down and when that happens all we look for is a drive and kick and it worked to perfection," Wright said.\nThe Hawkeyes had 11 seconds to attempt a shot and found freshman forward Greg Brunner on the baseline. He went up for the three but Moye was right there and got his hand up for a block, saving the win for the Hoosiers.\nAfter the game, Davis said he hoped the beginning of a new month would also mark a new beginning for his team.\n"I told our guys today, in November and December I thought we were one of the best teams in the country," he said. "At the end of December, January and February we were awful, just bad and my point to them was today is March 1. Let's be the best b-ball team in the country in March, that's when it really counts"
(02/28/03 6:07am)
At halftime of the Hoosiers' game against the Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday night, IU's 1953 National Champion basketball team will be honored in a ceremony commemorating their 50th anniversary. \nAnd while they are standing at center court accepting their standing ovation, the 2003 team will be in the locker room preparing for the second half of a game that may make or break their tournament hopes. \n"Everyone's focused," freshman forward Sean Kline said. "We know what our mindset has to be, and we know what we have to do which is win the next three games. It's pretty much do or die at this point -- win the next three games and make a run at the Big Ten tournament title and we're fine."\nThe Hoosiers quest for a NCAA tournament bid has come down to the wire and in order to get a bid into the field of 64, they will most likely need to beat their final three conference opponents, beginning tomorrow night with the Hawkeyes.\nAfter dropping two straight games at home last week to IU (16-10,6-7 Big Ten) and the league-leading Wisconsin Badgers, Iowa (14-10, 6-7) will enter tomorrow night's game with a fresh road win under their belts.\nOn Tuesday night they recovered from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Ohio State 71-64 in Columbus, Ohio. \nIowa junior center Jared Reiner was the key contributor in the win as he scored all 16 of his points in the final 7:29 of play and also pulled down 10 rebounds.\nSenior guard Chauncey Leslie was the only other Hawkeye to finish with double figures, scoring 13 points and handing out seven assists. \nThe win tied them with the Hoosiers for seventh place in the Big Ten standings and makes Saturday's game a must win for both teams. \nThe Hoosiers, who had not won a road game since New Year's Eve, appeared revitalized during their 79-63 victory at Iowa Feb. 19.\nFour of IU's five starters tallied double figures in the game and perhaps most importantly, senior guard Tom Coverdale reemerged as the team's floor general. \nHe broke out of a four-game funk to score 17 points on 6-10 shooting, knock down five three-pointers and dish out six assists.\nDespite the strong performance, Kline said the Hoosiers watched film on last Wednesday's game at Iowa and realized they have to make some defensive adjustments for the rematch.\n"Offensively we were clicking pretty well, there weren't many times when we didn't execute," he said. "But defensively we had some lapses and let shooters get wide open looks, and we've got to limit those."\nThe Hoosiers had to sit through a six-day bye week after their win in Iowa City and were not able to carry their momentum into Tuesday's 80-54 loss at Illinois.\nThe Illini's Assembly Hall has always proven to be tough place to play. The frenzied "Orange Krush" student section seems to take up the entire arena and once a visiting team gets down, they generally stay that way.\nSince Bill Self took over head coaching duties at Illinois three seasons ago, the Illini have lost only one game and that home-court advantage proved too much for the Hoosiers.\n"Realistically, they've drilled everyone that's been in there in the last couple of games," coach Mike Davis said. "So it wasn't a surprise to me … Playing in an environment like that, it's tough to win."\nThe Hoosiers will have a chance to nurse their sore egos this coming week, as they face two of their last three opponents in Bloomington.\n"It's tough to get your spirits back up when you lose by 26, but you have to," freshman guard Bracey Wright said. "We still have a chance to make it so with each chance we have, everything has to be as positive as possible"
(02/20/03 6:39am)
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- When the Hoosier's road losing streak began over a month ago at Ohio State, Coach Mike Davis lamented that his team lacked a true leader, a floor general who could pull the team together during tough times and infuse some confidence.\nAfter the Hoosiers' home win against Michigan Feb. 12, he said he had decided to take over the leadership role rather than look to any of his seniors.\nHe ran drills in practice that forced players to talk to each other, hoping it would foster team communication.\nThen this past Monday he sat down with senior guard Tom Coverdale, who had been enduring a long scoring slump, and apparently something stuck.\n"He played (well) in practice the last couple of days," Davis said. "We had a long talk on Monday and I just asked him, 'How do you want to be remembered at Indiana?'" \nIn Wednesday night's 79-63 win against Iowa, Coverdale showed how he wanted to be remembered, finishing the game with 17 points on 6-10 shooting overall, 5-8 from the three-point line, six assists, and only one turnover in 33 minutes.\nCoverdale had not scored in double figures since Feb. 1 when he had 14 at Louisville.\nHe went on to score eight points at Northwestern, five against Michigan State, seven against Michigan and five at Wisconsin. During that four game stretch he was a mere 18 of 38 overall and only two of 22 from the three-point line.\nBut that all changed last night.\n"It definitely felt good to hit a couple shots," he said. "I'll be the first to tell you that I've been struggling lately so to come out and hit some threes early I thought helped my confidence a lot, and hopefully I'm back on track."\nAside from the impressive stat line, it was apparent that Coverdale helped the team play much more cohesively last night.\nAfter nearly every IU shooting foul, Coverdale gathered his teammates in the lane for a brief conversation before the Hawkeyes shot their free-throws. He also talked to the other Hoosiers on the floor during defensive plays and offensive sets.\n"We played at Wisconsin and no one said a word on the floor, and here I am over here screaming and hollering," Davis said. "And tonight I looked out there and saw Coverdale, when whoever fouled (Iowa's Glen) Worley for the last basket they made to go on a 7-0 run (to begin the second half), screaming and hollering and said 'Let's go guys, let's go' and you need guys on the floor showing leadership."\nSeniors Kyle Hornsby and Jeff Newton also got into the act, communicating with their teammates on both ends of the court.\n"(Coverdale) and I and Newt have all tried to step up in this past week and provide some vocal leadership," Hornsby said. \nCoverdale explained that the largest difference in last night's win did not have to do with any player in particular but had everything to do with the team playing as a unit and cheering each other on -- characteristics that had been missing for quite a while.\n"There were no individuals. We all played as a team and all got excited together, and it just looked like we were all having fun," he said. "That's the reason we were winning and we got back to that, and we just had fun playing basketball again"
(02/19/03 4:40am)
The Big Ten season is beginning to wind down and the men's basketball team (15-9, 5-6) is rounding the home stretch with three of its last five on the road, where the team has not won a game since New Year's Eve.\nWhile the Hoosiers have exhibited strong play in the first halves of many of those games (e.g. Louisville, Michigan State, and Wisconsin) they have had problems finishing teams off after halftime.\n"We've got to find a way to put two halves together on the road," freshman guard Bracey Wright said after last Saturday's 59-71 loss to Wisconsin.\nIU will get another chance to do just that when they head to Iowa City to take on the University of Iowa Hawkeyes (13-8, 5-5) tonight at 9 p.m.\nWhile the Hoosiers are in the midst of a three-game road stretch, Iowa is enjoying just the opposite -- a three-game home stand. \nBut coach Steve Alford said that he does not necessarily see this is as an advantage.\n"I don't like it," he said. "I don't like three in a row either way; I think two is plenty. That's something that we as coaches need to discuss during the spring meetings and really take a serious look at it … I just don't think there's a rationale that there is a fairness in the scheduling whether it's three at home or three on the road."\nThe Hawkeyes opened their home stint last Saturday with an 84-71 win over Penn State. The team shot 59.2 percent from the field while freshman guard Jeff Horner had arguably his most complete game of the season, recording 12 points, eight assists, four steals and six rebounds. \nAlong with averages of 9.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, Horner leads the Big Ten in assists and steals and is one of the league's many freshmen who have made an impact on their teams this season.\nJunior college transfer Chauncey Leslie has also been a productive backcourt presence for Iowa this year. The senior is averaging 16.1 points per game on nearly 50 percent shooting.\nOn the inside, IU will face junior center Jared Reiner (8.4 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and junior forward Sean Sonderleiter (8.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg). Junior forward Glen Worley, who recorded 15 points and 10 boards against Penn State, is expected to come off the bench.\nTonight's game will mark the first time Iowa and IU have played each other since the second round of last year's Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. \nThe Hawkeyes clawed back from an eight point deficit in the final five minutes of that game. Then senior guard Luke Recker, who played two seasons at IU before transferring to Arizona and then to Iowa, hit a last second baseline jumper to give his squad the 62-60 win, knocking the Hoosiers out of the conference tournament for the second straight year. \nAlthough the Hoosiers won in Iowa City during the regular season last year, the circumstances are a bit different this season and Davis said he knows Carver-Hawkeye Arena is not a friendly place for visiting teams.\n"Iowa's a tough place to play," he said. "We've been up a couple games by double digits (there) and ended up losing the game. It's like any other Big Ten arena. It's just very tough to play because of the fans."\nDavis noted that, with five regular season games left, the Hoosiers could still head into the Big Ten tournament with the same amount of wins (19) as last year's team. In order to do this, they must win four of their last five which includes tonight's game followed by a game at No. 20 Illinois, two at home against Iowa and Minnesota, and then their grand finale at Penn State.\nAt the very least, Davis said the team must finish the season at 8-8 in the conference. \nThe NCAA has already indicated that they will not look kindly on sub-.500 teams when making their selections for the NCAA Tournament next month and, with so many teams hovering around that mark in the Big Ten, it is not likely that programs with losing records will make the cut.\nIn order to reach that goal, Davis said his seniors, especially shooting guard Tom Coverdale, have to show leadership by communicating with their teammates and exhibiting a hard-nose mentality. \nDavis said that he thought Coverdale had the ability to be the type of player that shooting guard Dane Fife was for the Hoosiers last season -- a fierce competitor with an infectious drive to win.\n"If we don't change our mindset and get tougher it's going to be hard to dig these games out," he said.
(02/17/03 5:09am)
MADISON, Wis. -- After defeating Michigan last Wednesday at Assembly Hall, it seemed as though the Hoosiers had regained some of their confidence. \nThey talked about their elevated intensity on defense and their improved execution on offense. It was just a matter of proving that they could do those same things on the road, where they had yet to win a Big Ten game. \nThat quest began on Saturday against Wisconsin, who had yet to lose a conference home game. \nIt appeared as though the Hoosiers (15-9, 5-6 Big Ten) had found their niche against the Badgers heading into the locker room at halftime with a 29-21 lead.\nThe second half was an entirely different story however as Wisconsin outscored IU 50-30 en route to a 71-59 victory.\nThe Badgers exploded for an 11-0 run to begin the second period which was one of the major things coach Mike Davis said factored into the loss.\n"We gave up four straight possessions," he said. "Defensively we just relaxed. We got two easy shots during that stretch. We missed two lay-ups -- (senior forward Jeff) Newton missed one and (junior guard/forward A.J.) Moye missed one. It was a situation where they made shots, and we didn't play very good defense." \nThe Wisconsin run began when sophomore guard Devin Harris hit a three on the wing that cut IU's lead to five. After Moye traveled in the post on the other end, sophomore forward Mike Wilkinson knocked down another three. \nNewton attempted to get the Hoosiers on the board but missed on a lay-up attempt as well as the put-back.\nFreshman forward Alando Tucker then hit a lay-up while being fouled by Newton and converted the free-throw attempt to give Wisconsin their first lead of the game at 30-29.\nHarris then intercepted a pass from Newton and brought the ball back down the floor and hit a jump shot to put the Badgers up 32-29.\n"We just got back to basics and said this is what we do and what we do well," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said of his team's second-half resurgence. "If you want to take care of business, it's a new game here, the next. The Hoosiers finally got on the board on the next possession when Moye scored on a driving lay-up. \nThe lead remained at three points for the next three minutes of play as the Hoosiers and Badgers exchanged baskets on nearly every possession.\nBut Wisconsin began to pull away with 11 minutes to go in the game. IU went on a three-minute scoring drought in which the Badgers scored eight unanswered points. \nNewton, who finished the game with his second straight double-double (20 points, 12 rebounds), and freshman point guard Marshall Strickland attempted to keep IU in the game, accounting for 13 of the Hoosiers' final 18 points.\nThe Hoosiers would not regain the lead and Davis' frustration boiled over with 44 seconds left in the game when Newton picked up his fifth foul.\nDavis said he told the referee who called the foul that "he's getting old."\nThat earned Davis a techincal.\nAfter senior guard Kirk Penney knocked down the technical shots, Wilkinson sank his foul shots to put the Badgers up by 11.\nBehind the strong play of Moye and Strickland, who combined to score 13 of IU's first 15 points, the Hoosiers jumped out to an early lead, which they held for the entire first half.\nThe Badgers kept it close however. They were never down by more than seven points and with just over seven minutes to go in the half, put together a run to threaten the Hoosiers lead.\nPenney knocked down another three to bring the Badgers within one, but that was as close as they would get, as IU put together an 8-1 run to end the half with a 29-21 lead.\nFreshman guard Bracey Wright, who finished with six points and five rebounds, said the team became too complacent in the second half.\n"I think it's where we're not used to winning," he said. "We played good in the first half, and we were thinking they were going to probably lay down for us. But we came in at halftime and said we've got to play two halves, we just didn't do it"
(02/14/03 5:26am)
Finally, the travesty that dominated the conversations of IU basketball fans everywhere is over. The long, arduous three-week stretch that will forever live in Hoosier lore as "the streak," came to a merciful end on Wednesday night:\nMichigan -- 49, IU -- 63.\nWith the win, the Hoosiers kept their head above water in the Big Ten race, tied with Michigan State for sixth place at 5-5. But, things get tougher for them starting this weekend when they revisit the place where the brunt of "the streak" took place: the road.\n"This is what happens, and I really can't complain about it because it's just the way the Big Ten is, but I don't think you should ever play three games on the road back-to-back-to-back," coach Mike Davis said.\nBut that is just what IU is facing, beginning with the Big Ten co-leading Wisconsin Badgers (17-5, 7-3) on Saturday. Following that game, they travel to Iowa for a Tuesday match-up and then take a week off before heading to Illinois.\nThe Hoosiers showed marked improvement in their rebounding and defensive intensity against Michigan, looking more like the team that had achieved a No. 6 national ranking earlier this season. Davis shook up the line-up for the game, starting freshman Marshall Strickland at the point and junior A.J. Moye at the forward spot. This moved senior Kyle Hornsby and junior George Leach to the bench, and shifted senior Tom Coverdale to the off-guard position. \nDavis said the line-up gave the Hoosiers more quickness at the point and provided the team with the emotional spark of Moye. He added that he will stick with those starters for at least the Wisconsin and Iowa games.\nDespite the changes, Davis still cited the team's lack of a vocal leader as a major problem and in practice Thursday the Hoosiers spent a good deal of time running drills that stressed communication on offense and defense. \n"We don't have any leadership on the court to tell guys what to do (like) slow it down, make hard cuts, come meet the basketball," Davis said. "So it's my job to do that and (against Michigan) I think I coached harder than I've coached in a long time. I'm not looking to (the team) for leadership anymore. I'm going to be the leader for this basketball team."\nCoverdale said the major problem for the team during their 0-5 run was their loss of conviction. \n"I think the only difference in our team from the beginning of the year to now is just confidence and having confidence in ourselves as a team," he said. "Once we get that back the sky's the limit. I think (Michigan) was our first step, getting a win against a very good team. But we've got to keep going from here. We've still got to prove to people that we can win on the road and that starts on Saturday."\nWisconsin has quietly become one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten this season. Before losing to Purdue Feb. 5, the Badgers had won five straight. Since dropping the game to the Boilermakers, they have put together another small run, winning games against Northwestern and Michigan State.\nDavis said the Hoosiers new line-up will match-up well with Wisconsin's smaller starters. The Badgers start four guards in senior Kirk Penny, junior Freddie Owens, sophomore Devin Harris, and freshman Alando Tucker. Junior forward Mike Wilkinson will be the only starter taller than 6-foot-8-inches.\nPenny has been the most effective scorer for Wisconsin. His skills from beyond the three-point line have translated into 16.5 points per game. He also leads the team in assists (3.2) and, at 6-foot-5-inches, he is also the team's second leading rebounder (6.2). \nIU freshman guard Bracey Wright, who had 21 points against Michigan, said the Hoosiers re-established themselves during their two-game homestand and are ready to redeem themselves on the road.\n"We go on the road to Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois and those are all three tough places to play," he said. "Tonight I think we were patient with a lot of things and we fought hard so if we take that on the road and we keep the same intensity we had tonight and we execute like we did tonight, we'll go 3-0"
(02/13/03 5:33am)
Before last night's game against the Michigan Wolverines, coach Mike Davis presented his team with a challenge -- play with enough tenacity to scare the team that was atop the Big Ten standings off the court. \n"I told our guys tonight, 'We've got to make this the hardest game that Michigan's been in all season,'" he said. "When they walk off that court at halftime, they've got to not want to come back on the court."\nWhile the Wolverines did show up to play the second half, the Hoosiers showed a level of defensive intensity that had been nearly non-existent during their five-game losing streak, and they held Michigan to a mere 18 points in the first half.\nDuring their losing streak, Davis had cited a lack of defensive intensity and rebounding as the team's most urgent problems, and the stat sheet backed him up. \nHeading into last night, the Hoosiers were 4-7 when out-rebounded by their opponents and had lost the only game that they tied in the category. \nBut they had been a perfect 10-0 when they prevailed on the glass. \nMake that 11-0.\nThe Hoosiers won the battle on the offensive glass 12-9 and out-rebounded Michigan 40-31 overall.\nSenior forward Jeff Newton was a big part of that success, pulling down ten boards en-route to his first double-double since the Penn State game Jan. 8. \n"Our backs were against the wall tonight," Newton said. "We had to be strong on the defensive end, and we were. Our defense and intensity was the key. We've been scoring enough points to win, but our defense just hasn't been there." \nJunior guard/forward A.J. Moye started at the other forward position for the Hoosiers, replacing junior center George Leach and the move proved to be a wise choice by Davis. The junior held the Wolverines leading scorer LaVell Blanchard to 3-13 from the field, 0-5 from the three-point line and eight points overall.\n"(Defense) is the key," Moye said. "(Associate head coach John) Treloar was talking to us before the game and said it's about character, not about x's and o's. If this was November and we were losing early then it might be x's and o's, but we proved we can play on a higher level and it just digressed. It couldn't be anything else but just wanting to get it done and desire and character."\nFreshman point guard Marshall Strickland was also put in the starting line-up for just the second time this season. His presence added energy on both ends of the court as he pulled down rebounds, forced turnovers and set up teammates. The move also allowed Coverdale to play off the ball and create his own shots.\n"I think Marshall can really push the ball up the court in transition and get into the offense quicker," Davis said of Strickland's appearance in the starting line-up. "I think Coverdale presents a problem for people coming off screens and catching and driving it, shooting it. Marshall Strickland is a talented basketball player, and I've said from day one I have appreciated his patience. He could start almost anywhere else."\nDavis said he planned on sticking with the new-look line-up for Saturday's game at Wisconsin.\nStrickland explained that defense had been the focus for the Hoosiers in preparing for the game against Michigan and said he felt the work paid off.\n"In practice we were doing a lot of defensive drills and team defensive things and that was one of our goals and one of the things we really paid attention to tonight," he said.
(02/10/03 5:43am)
Saturday night brought some welcome change for the Hoosiers. \nFor the first time in four games, cheers were aimed in their direction as they took the court and, behind that supportive crowd, played with more energy and intensity than they displayed during their four game road trip. \nFreshman guard Bracey Wright appeared to be less bothered by his back injury, scoring 20 points and looking like the player who helped lead IU to a No. 6 national ranking earlier in the season. \nAfter a sub-par game against Northwestern Wednesday, senior forward Jeff Newton also appeared to be back to his old self as he scored 24.\nBut for all the effort it was the same result, as the Hoosiers fell to the Michigan State Spartans 67-62 in overtime.\nAfter the game, coach Mike Davis, who had been visibly frustrated during much of the Hoosiers' four-game road losing streak, appeared to be more laid back and positive.\n"I walk away from this game and I'm disappointed for sure," he said. "I know all the fans are disappointed. But you saw a better basketball team tonight than you saw in the past so that's all we can do as a basketball team." \nMichigan State and IU butted heads for the entire first half, and the even match-up led to seven lead changes and three ties.\nJunior center George Leach played only nine minutes in the first half because of a broken nose and concussion he suffered in last Thursday's practice. \nHe did not play at all in the second half, paving the way for Spartan freshman center Paul Davis to come off the bench for a huge game. At halftime he had nine points and three rebounds and would finish with 21 and nine.\nThe second half began in the same up-and-down tempo that characterized the first. But when Mike Davis received a technical foul for arguing with a ref over a call, the momentum began to shift the Spartans' way as they built a three point lead to seven points.\nThe Hoosiers would soon regain their composure, however, when senior guard Tom Coverdale knocked down a three from the top of the key to make the score 37-41 with just less than thirteen minutes to go.\nWright came up with a steal during Michigan State's next possession. He beat two Spartan defenders on the ensuing fast break and brought the ball high above the rim for a thunderous dunk that cut the lead to two points.\nNewton tied the game at 45 two minutes later when Coverdale gave him the ball on the wing for a three-pointer.\nThe teams continued to battle back and forth, and with 1:30 to go Newton sank two free throws to tie the score at 53.\nBut during the Spartans' next possession, sophomore point guard Chris Hill hit a long three to give his team the lead.\nAfter the Hoosiers took a 30-second time out, Roberts attempted a three from the left baseline that barely grazed the rim. A Spartan player touched the ball as it went out of bounds. \nThe Hoosiers would not miss on their second attempt to tie it as Wright took a pass from Coverdale and sunk an open three on the right baseline.\nHill missed a desperate fade-away three falling out of bounds on the Spartan's last possession in regulation, sending the game into overtime.\nThe Spartans scored the first four points in the extra period that the Hoosiers were never able to tie.\nWith 29.2 seconds on the game clock, 20 seconds on the shot clock and the Hoosiers down 64-62, Newton missed a 17 footer and fouled Hill on the rebound. Hill sunk one of two, and, after a timeout, Wright drove all the way from the backcourt into the lane but the lost the ball.\n"I was coming down and I was gaining ground on (MSU freshman guard Maurice Ager)," he said. "I was getting ready to turn the corner and the ball took a funny bounce and I lost it right out of my hand."\nAger recovered the ball and was immediately fouled by senior forward Kyle Hornsby. He sank both foul shots to make the score 67-62 with 9.4 seconds left and the game out of reach.\n"I think we were definitely feeling better about ourselves (going into overtime)," Coverdale said. "But if we don't get the first basket or two we've got to find a way to fight back and we didn't make plays"
(02/07/03 6:03am)
Jack Kerouac's original manuscript of his famous beat novel "On the Road" is currently on display at the Lilly Library. Perhaps the Hoosiers should stop by and check it out during their brief two-game home stand -- they probably could relate.\nAfter winning three straight at Assembly Hall between Jan. 15 and 21, the men's basketball team suffered through a four-game road stretch that would make most head coaches cringe. \nIt definitely caused coach Mike Davis to wrinkle his brow once or twice, and you can't really blame him. When the Hoosiers (14-7, 4-4 Big Ten) rolled out of Bloomington on Jan.25 to face archrival Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., they were 14-3 overall, 4-1 in the Big Ten, and No.14 in the nation. \nWhat a difference away makes.\nIU was blown out 69-47 at Mackey Arena. They then headed straight to Michigan State's Breslin Center, one of the toughest places to win in the Big Ten, where they lost 61-54. Then they crossed the border into Kentucky where they faced No.6 Louisville, arguably the hottest team in the country right now at 17-1. They maintained the lead for most of the game but deflated in the final three minutes as the Cardinals put together a 17-0 run for the 95-76 win.\nThen they traveled to Evanston, Ill., Wednesday night to face the Northwestern Wildcats, a team who had not yet won a Big Ten game this season and had not beaten the Hoosiers since 1988. \nTechnically it was a road game, but fans clad in cream and crimson took up at least half of Welsh-Ryan Arena. \nBut the Hoosiers came out flat in the first half, and despite a somewhat better performance in the second were never able to claim a lead, let alone the win. \nSo will it be nice to finally play a couple games in front of a pro-Hoosier crowd?\n"Playing at home has been good for us this whole year," senior guard Kyle Hornsby said. "We've got to right (the ship) somehow. Hopefully we can get some wins and try to go on the road again; see if we can get a road win."\nThe Hoosiers will get a double dose of the Great Lakes state as they host the Michigan State Spartans (12-8, 4-4) Saturday night at 7 p.m. and then face the Michigan Wolverines (13-8, 6-2) next Wednesday.\nWhen IU played at Michigan State Jan.28, the Spartans had lost six of eight -- their worst slump since the 1996-97 season-and were struggling to keep their head above water in the Big Ten race.\nAfter defeating then No.19 Hoosiers that night, coach Tom Izzo told reporters, "We ain't dead yet," and five days later his team showed they still had life, coming from behind to defeat then No.13 Illinois 68-65 at the Breslin Center.\nThe Spartans trailed the Illini by 14 with two minutes to go in the second half but gained the lead with 14:27 to go in the second when freshman guard Maurice Ager sank a three. After five lead changes and two ties, MSU sophomore point guard Chris Hill knocked down another three with a minute to go that extended the lead to 68-64 and put the game out of reach.\nAssociate head coach John Treloar said the Hoosiers have to forget about their road woes and try to put the pieces back together in Bloomington.\n"They've got to put (the losing streak) behind them," he said. "They've got the next two games at home. Michigan State is a very tough basketball team so it will be a challenge for the team, but hopefully they'll respond."\nSenior point guard Tom Coverdale said the Hoosiers must seize the opportunity to play well at home if they hope to realize their aspirations of claiming the conference crown. \n"If we don't go on a little run here, then we've got no shot at the Big Ten," he said. "That's still our goal. Last year we were 7-5 and at a low point in our season. Hopefully it doesn't get any lower than this, and we bounce back and find a way to win"
(02/06/03 7:10am)
EVANSTON, Ill. -- OK, so IU has been struggling on the road. That can be expected when playing the likes of Purdue, Michigan State and Louisville.\nBut this was Northwestern, who had yet to win a Big Ten game. \nAnd nearly half of the crowd at Welsh-Ryan Arena was wearing Cream and Crimson.\nBut the Hoosiers (14-7, 4-4 Big Ten) did not give the IU faithful much to cheer about as the Wildcats (9-10, 1-7) out-rebounded, out-scored and out-hustled them from the tip to the final buzzer.\nAfter the game, Coach Mike Davis did not appear in his regular radio show and was absent from the press conference as well. He sent out associate head coach John Treloar to take his place. \n"The intensity level wasn't where it was on Saturday (against Louisville)," he said. "I think it's hard to put your finger exactly on what the reasons are. But when you play four games in a row on the road, and you've got freshman playing minutes who have never been in a situation like this, it takes its toll on you. Hopefully they'll learn from it." \nOn defense, the Wildcats appeared to be a step ahead of the Hoosiers on nearly every play. Northwestern freshman forward Mohamed Hachad had a great deal to do with that, nabbing five steals in the first half alone and six of the team's 11 overall. \nThe Hoosiers lack of offensive poise led to several fast break scores for the Wildcats.\nIU struggled mightily on the defensive glass as well. In the first half, it gave up eight offensive rebounds, many of which were converted into easy put-back layups and three-point plays. The second half was no better and in the end the Hoosiers had been out-rebounded 13-10 on the offensive glass and 38-31 overall.\nDavis was apparently so frustrated with the lack of presence in the frontcourt that he eliminated it all together. Senior forward Jeff Newton and junior center George Leach both spent extended periods of time on the bench, logging 21 and 16 minutes respectively.\nHe instead opted for a five-guard lineup for a majority of the second half, using junior A.J. Moye, Tom Coverdale, Bracey Wright, Marshall Strickland and Donald Perry.\nBut the experiment proved ill-fated as the Wildcats went on a run that put them up 61-47 with just under six minutes to go and never gave the Hoosiers an opportunity to get back in the game. \n"I feel bad for anybody who had to watch this," senior guard Kyle Hornsby said. "Now we're just another team in the mix."\nPoint guard Tom Coverdale gave an equally dismal assessment of the team's performance, saying that some players on the team did "not even act like they cared."\n"What can you say?" he said. "It's the most embarrassing loss I've been a part of since I've been here"
(02/03/03 5:18am)
LOUISVILLE, Ky -- It was still halftime and the No. 8 Louisville Cardinals (16-1, 6-0 Conference USA) had already listened to coach Rick Pitino's locker-room speech and were back out on the floor warming up. \nBut before they took the court for the second half to attempt a comeback against the No.19 Hoosiers (14-6, 4-3 Big Ten), they would hear from one more source of motivation: John Belushi. \nThe comedian, who was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, popped up on Freedom Hall's big screen scoreboard as the character Bluto Blutarsky, the slacker college student he made famous in the movie "Animal House." \nAs the final seconds ticked off the clock toward the second half, the monitor displayed the famous scene in which Blutarsky gives an inspired address to his fellow fraternity brothers, who had been expelled and were about to give up.\n"Over? It ain't over until we decide it is!" Belushi yelled. "It ain't over now 'cuz when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Who's with me?"\nAnd with that, the buzzer sounded, the Freedom Hall crowd went wild and the Cardinals came back from a 43-35 first half deficit to defeat the Hoosiers 95-76.\nIU had led by as much as 16 points in the first period and did not appear to be intimidated by Louisville's constant full-court press. They also out-rebounded the Cardinals 22-15 while holding them to 29 percent shooting overall and a mere 1-12 from three-point range.\nThe second half was an entirely different story.\n"In the first half we continually do the same thing," Pitino said. "We let our lack of offensive proficiency affect our defense, and they were dominating the glass. (But) we flat out got after it in the second half on the defensive end … (This) win is tremendous, and I thank John Belushi for the assist."\nAlthough IU had been poised in first half, executing their offensive sets and playing aggressively, Louisville's tough press began to wear the Hoosiers down in the second.\nIU was able to maintain their lead for the first eight minutes, but the Cardinals continually chipped away and kept the margin within single digits.\nWith 12 minutes to go and the Hoosiers up 56-53, Louisville would gain the lead when junior forward Ellis Myles was fouled in the paint by IU junior center George Leach.\nMyles sank his first free-throw, but bricked the second. Myles' teammate, junior center Kendall Dartez, pulled down the rebound and passed it to freshman forward Francisco Garcia, who hit a three on the wing to make the score 57-56.\nSenior point guard Tom Coverdale, who led the Hoosiers with 14 points, answered with a three of his own that put IU back up by two. \nBut then, with 7:55 left in the game and the Hoosiers up by one, Coverdale would hit a jumper in the lane and that would be the last field goal that IU would score as Louisville ran away with the game.\nCoverdale said the Hoosiers were unable to get comfortable in their offense in the second half and were more focused on "trying not to lose than on trying to win."\n"Basically we just didn't get into anything," Coverdale said. "We panicked instead of handling the pressure like we did in the first half."\nWith three minutes left and the Hoosiers down 76-78, the Cardinals delivered the knockout punch in the form of a 17-0 run. \nIt began with three straight threes -- one by Garcia and two by freshman guard Taquan Dean -- and ended with a fast-break dunk by Garcia, who led with 23 points. \nThe shift from a 16-point Hoosier lead in the first half to the final score marked a 35-point swing in favor of Louisville.\nCoach Mike Davis said the Hoosiers were able to play through the Cardinals ceaseless full-court pressing and aggressive style of play for much of the game, but it finally caught up with them in the end.\n"You read about them and watch them on tape but until you're right there in the fire with them, you can't understand how demanding it is to keep your composure," Davis said. "What they do is they get you into this panicked rush type of basketball game, and if you're not used to practicing that way and not used to playing that way prior to the game, it's very difficult to do it for 40 minutes"
(01/30/03 5:41am)
With the Big Ten season quickly approaching the halfway mark, here is a rundown of some of the conference's top stories so far.\nLeader of the pack\nThe Michigan Wolverines have seen their share of drama this year. \nShortly before the season began it was discovered that a U of M alum had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to former members of the basketball team, including current NBA All-Star and former Fab Five power forward Chris Webber.\nThe Michigan athletic administration decided to impose its own sanctions rather than take a ruling from the NCAA and that included prohibiting the Wolverines from participating in any post-season tournaments this year.\nBecause the Wolverines were supposed to be in a rebuilding process, that shouldn't have mattered. But after the November ruling, senior forward LaVell Blanchard made it clear that the team still had plans for the season.\n"We have our goals set and in our mind," he said. "We are not going to vocalize those until later on down the line."\nSince beginning the season 0-6, the Wolverines have let their playing do the talking.\nHeading into last night's game against No.13 Illinois, Michigan (13-6, 6-0) was boasting the second longest winning streak in the country at 13 straight, and they currently hold the top spot in the Big Ten. The winning streak is Michigan's longest since the 1987-88 season and their 6-0 mark in the Big Ten represents their best start since the 1976-77 team began conference play with an 8-0 run.\nThe streak is a far cry from the struggles the Wolverines endured last year when they went 11-18 overall and 5-11 in the Big Ten and it has made them the surprise team in the conference.\n"I think we are striving to play the best that we can play and I think we still have a way to go to accomplish that for 40 minutes," second-year Head Coach Tommy Amaker said. "It's hard to look around and see what everyone else (in the conference) is doing and how they are playing. We are so engulfed and so focused on right here, and that's the way it should be."\nHawkeyes lose key contributor\nThe Iowa Hawkeyes also jumped out to a surprising start, beginning the season 10-3. \nThey won their first three conference contests, which included games against No.13 Illinois and Michigan State. But they have lost their last two games and it appears that Head Coach Steve Alford's depleted roster may finally be catching up with him.\nThe Hawkeyes began the season with only nine spots on their roster. Four players transferred and sophomore point guard Pierre Pierce has been suspended since the beginning of the season due to a sexual assault charge.\nWith so few options on the team, they needed all their pieces to stay healthy to take advantage of the limited talent they have. \nBut last Saturday against Ohio State, the Hawkeyes suffered a key loss when 6-11, 255 pound junior center Jared Reiner went down with a sprained knee. Reiner was Iowa's leading rebounder (8.8 rpg) and shot-blocker(25). He also contributed 8.1 points per game and had started in all 16 of the Hawkeyes' games.\n"Because of our lack of depth any injury for this team is magnified," Alford said after the OSU game. "It's nice that we have a week to prepare for our next game (Feb. 1 against Purdue), but once February is here we have a very busy schedule. Our other guys will have to step up to fill Jared's minutes."\nFab Freshmen\nWhile most coaches will say that experienced players are the key to a successful team, it doesn't hurt to have ultra-talented freshman either.\nThat has been the case in the Big Ten thus far, as freshmen have become go-to guys on many of the league's top teams.\nIn the three-week-old 2002-2003 Big Ten season, more freshmen (224) have already gotten the call to start than all of last year's games combined (221). About 24 percent of the league's starters this year have been rookies. \nIU guard Bracey Wright has exemplified the fact that players no longer need a lot of collegiate experience to dominate. Wright leads the Hoosiers in scoring at 18.1 points per game, has contributed 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game and has been named Big Ten Player of the Week twice.\nBefore Wright suffered an irritated nerve in his back and had to sit out four games, he broke IU's freshman record for consecutive double-figure scoring games. \n"I expect a lot from myself, so I did (expect to score a lot)," he said. " (But) I didn't expect that I would be breaking a record with consistent double figure scoring games."\nOther Big Ten freshmen who have been consistent starters and contributors for their teams are Illinois' Dee Brown (12.5 ppg, 5 apg), James Augustine (7.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg) and Deron Williams (6.2 ppg, 4.4 apg); Iowa's Jeff Horner (9.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.2 apg); Michigan's Daniel Horton (15.9 ppg, 4.4 apg); and Northwestern's T.J. Parker (12.6 ppg, 2.8 apg).\nFreshmen have taken five of the eleven Big Ten Player of the Week accolades, with Horton and Wright earning the award twice and Brown receiving the honor once.
(01/29/03 5:40am)
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- When the Hoosiers' starting line-up was called at Michigan State's Breslin Center Tuesday night, things didn't seem quite normal.\nAfter the No.19 Hoosiers' (14-5, 4-3) poor showing against state-rival Purdue last Saturday, coach Mike Davis hinted that he was considering shaking things up a bit in the line-up in an effort to infuse some intensity.\nTuesday night at Michigan State he delivered on that promise.\nDavis opted for a much younger, and smaller, starting five than he had put on floor over the first 18 games of the season, granting freshmen Marshall Strickland and Sean Kline their first ever starts over senior Kyle Hornsby and junior George Leach. \nFreshman Bracey Wright, who had been out with an irritated nerve in his back, re-entered the starting lineup after missing the past four games.\nIn Wright's absence, Davis had been using guard/forward A.J. Moye in the starting lineup. But Moye did not dress for last night's game due to the flu, and that left point guard Tom Coverdale and forward Jeff Newton as the only two players who had started consistently since the Big Ten season began.\nCoverdale said the new-look starters did provide a boost at the beginning of the game. \n"We played harder," he said. "We got better tonight as a team and that's all you can ask for. But we need to find a way to win on the road if we're going to be a good team and we still haven't done that."\nStrickland said he wasn't sent into the backcourt with Coverdale necessarily for his scoring ability, but rather to add some quickness and aggressive play on both ends of the court.\n"That's one of the things that Coach wanted me to do ... just bring the intensity to the team and just pick the guys up," he said. "I think we came out from the start really well."\nAfter the first five minutes, Kline answered Davis's call for more physical play in the frontcourt as he battled down low. But MSU senior forward Aloysius Anagonye proved to be bigger, stronger and more experienced in the paint and, with fifteen minutes left in the first half, Davis sent in Leach.\nIn recent games, and in practice, Davis has pleaded with his junior center to be more physical in the paint, and Leach proved that he got the point the first time he touched the ball with a putback dunk off a Newton miss. \nLeach would go on to score eight points in the first half, using very physical post moves to knock down short hooks and layups. He also pulled down three boards in the first half. \n"George played a great game tonight," Davis said. "Probably his best game since Maui (Invitational)."\nLeach started the second half and was able to score six more points, including two clutch free throws with 2:41 left that kept the Hoosiers within three points. \nBut after the game he said he was more concerned with missing the block on senior forward Adam Ballinger's back-breaking three-pointer with 39 seconds to go and with giving up a double-figure scoring night to Anagonye. \n"I was thinking about the things I could do to help my team win, that's all," Leach said of his time on the bench at the beginning of the game. "(But) I gave up (11) points to Al (Anagonye) today so I don't think I did my job."\nAlthough Davis's strategy of shuffling the lineup did appear to be successful in that it gave the Hoosiers some much needed energy in a road game, the ultimate result made it a moot point.\n"We lost, so I don't think it worked," he said.
(01/27/03 5:26am)
WEST LAFAYETTE -- The No. 14 Hoosiers (14-4, 4-2) were looking for something more than state bragging rights when they headed north to take on the Purdue Boilermakers (12-4, 4-1) Saturday night. \nThey were searching for a team identity on the road -- a way to bottle up the intensity they'd exhibited at Assembly Hall and in the national championship rematch with Maryland earlier in the season and bring it with them into their opposition's arenas.\nIt has been a recurring theme for much of the season, and Saturday's 69-47 blowout at the hands of the Boilers proved that they have more work to do.\nWhen the game ended, coach Mike Davis calmly walked off the court and showed no signs of anger on his way to the locker room. But he made his frustration with the Hoosiers' lackluster performance apparent once he had his team behind closed doors, berating them loudly for close to 20 minutes.\n"Well I'm going to have to pray a lot tonight," he said. "God's got to forgive me for a lot of things I said in there because they weren't real nice."\nDavis didn't have many positive points of the game to discuss, unless of course he was talking about the Boilermakers.\n"Purdue was great," he said. "(Jeff) Newton and (George) Leach played like high school players. I thought (Purdue junior forward Chris) Booker and those guys had a lot to do with it. They were physical (but) clean; no cheap shots. \nThey played physical, they were well prepared. They had us shooting fade-away shots, they had us rushing layups. At one point we had no one going for offensive rebounds." \nDavis has been calling for Leach to play with more intensity in recent games and when that didn't happen Saturday afternoon he kept his starting center on the bench for all but 15 minutes. Leach would finish with no points, four rebounds and four blocks, while Newton scored seven points and grabbed nine boards. \nDavis enlisted the services of freshman forward Sean Kline and A.J. Moye to help out down low but it proved to be unsuccessful. Purdue out-rebounded IU 40-33 for the game, all seven of their extra boards coming off the defensive glass. \nThe Hoosiers came into the second half down only 12, but had trailed by as much as 20 in the first period.\nAs the final 20 minutes got under way, the Boilermakers proved that they were not going to let up. \nOn IU's first possession after the half, Leach turned the ball over on a travel. \nPurdue sophomore point guard Brandon McKnight brought the ball up the court on the ensuing possession and threw a perfect alley-oop to Booker that sent the crowd into frenzy and put the Boilermakers up by 14.\nThe Hoosiers tried to get back in the game as point guard Tom Coverdale was fouled on an aggressive drive to the basket. He made the layup and knocked down a free throw for a three-point play but Purdue freshman forward Matt Kiefer answered with a layup on the other end to keep the lead in double digits.\nMoye then knocked down a 15-foot jumper to make the score 41-30 but the Boilermakers, led by Booker and senior guard Willie Deane, went on a 10-3 run, increasing the lead to 19 points. \nDeane and Booker both scored nine points in the second half and finished with 18 and 13 respectively.\nThe Hoosiers, suffering from various scoring droughts and turnovers, could not get back into the game. With just over two minutes to go all they could do was watch as Purdue increased the lead until, mercifully, the game ended.\n"It doesn't make sense," Davis said. "You come in and play Purdue, it's a great rivalry game and you don't play like you're supposed to play."\nWhile Booker and Deane led the Boilermaker's attack on the Hoosiers in the second half, it was junior guard Kenneth Lowe who put IU on the ropes early.\nWhile IU floundered to find any semblance of offensive rhythm or defensive intensity, Lowe thrived, scoring 17 of his 19 points in the first half on 6-9 from the field and a perfect 3-3 from the three-point line.\n"Lowe got off to a hot start," said shooting guard Kyle Hornsby, who finished with two points and three rebounds. "I don't know if he's that great of a shooter but he sure made us look bad."\nCoverdale was understandably quiet after the game, but in two brief sentences he summed up the Hoosiers' performance well.\n"We just didn't play hard and we didn't fight," he said. "That's the bottom line"
(01/23/03 5:11am)
There's an old coaches cliche, especially when conference play begins, that goes "you've gotta take care of home and maybe steal a couple on the road." While coach-speak can sometimes border on the generic (eg "take it a game at a time"), this statement is used so often in college basketball because it is a genuine truth. And the Big Ten is no exception to the rule.\nThe No.14 Hoosiers (14-3, 4-1 Big Ten) will soon experience the tough atmospheres of their conference foes' arenas and, quite possibly, learn how tough they themselves are in the process, playing seven of their next nine games on the road. The only break they will get from their midwest tour comes on Feb. 8 and 12 when they host Michigan State and Michigan respectively.\nIU played five of their first seventeen games on neutral courts, two of which were in Indianapolis, hosted eight teams at Assembly Hall, and played five games on the road, of which they lost three. One of those losses came to Kentucky at Freedom Hall in Louisville, which was considered a neutral court. But anyone who was there knows the Wildcat crowd far outweighed the IU fans.\nThe Hoosiers were able to enjoy so many pre-conference games at home this year because they faced a grueling road schedule in both of the past two seasons, which is something junior guard A.J. Moye explained will help them now. He also added that the pressure of playing for a national championship last year has given IU poise.\n"We had a preseason schedule like that the last two years so we're used to it," he said. "We know what it's like to play on the road so it's not a problem. We've seen a lot. Once you go to a championship game, nothing creeps you out."\nThe Hoosiers' road trip begins Saturday against Purdue at Mackey Arena, where the Boilermakers will be intent on avenging their pre-conference 66-63 loss to IU in Indianapolis. Purdue (11-3, 3-0) is one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten at the moment, having won six straight games.\nIt won't get much easier next Tuesday, when IU heads to East Lansing to square off with Michigan State. The Breslin Center, which the Spartans call home, is traditionally one of the most difficult venues in the Big Ten for a visiting team to get a win. The MSU student section, the "Izzone", wraps all the way around the court and puts crazed fans within spitting distance of the players.\nAfter that, the Hoosiers will shoot back down Interstate 65 to Freedom Hall to face the No.9 Louisville Cardinals in a non-conference showdown. The four-game road stretch concludes with a visit to the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston, Ill.\nJunior guard Kyle Hornsby said the Hoosiers main focus is on this Saturday's contest, but recognizes the importance of playing well over the upcoming nine games. \n"We're going at Purdue, that's the only thing we're worried about (but) we've got to win some away games," he said. "It helps that we've played well these last two or three games (at home)."\nAfter the Michigan and Michigan State games in mid-February (the Hoosiers only two home games for the entire month) IU will head to Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.\nThe Hoosiers experienced a bit of turmoil due to their road loss to Ohio State at Columbus on Jan.11, and senior point guard Tom Coverdale said the team worked through those problems during their three game homestand. But he added that a three-game home winning streak doesn't prove much in the Big Ten. \n"I don't think we've sent any message yet," he said. "We're doing what every other team is doing as far as winning at home. But I think our confidence is up. After we played at Ohio State we felt like we weren't a team, everybody started blaming everybody. But I think we're more of a team now. And we're ready to play on the road now, and we weren't a couple weeks ago"