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(07/25/02 8:23pm)
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Yes, Duke is the defending national champion. Yes, Jason Williams is the best player in the country. Yes, Mike Krzyzewski is one of the best coaches in the nation. \nBut no, the Hoosiers are not going to back down.\nTonight at 7:30 p.m. IU gets it shot at America's premier college basketball program in the Blue Devils in the South Regional semi-finals at Rupp Arena in Lexington. The Hoosiers are double-digit underdogs and most people probably don't even have them that close. \nBut that stuff is all on the peripheral for IU. The Hoosiers are here to win and they expect a tough fight tonight.\n"It's going to be a challenge for us, a challenge we welcome," Mike Davis said. "I'll be very disappointed if we don't come out (tonight) and fight like crazy."\nSeveral things must go right for the fifth-seeded Hoosiers (22-11) tonight, and even more things probably need to go wrong for No. 1 and top-seeded Duke (31-3). But before getting caught up in being in awe of its opponent, IU is more interested in playing its own game.\n"We have a lot of respect for Duke, but we're not going to come in scared and let them have a victory," Tom Coverdale said. "Every team we've faced this year we've fought until the end and it's going to be no different (tonight)."\nAfter a light workout Wednesday afternoon at Rupp Arena, the Hoosiers said they are not terrified of the Blue Devils, who survived a scare in the second round before getting past Notre Dame, 84-77. \nSome have called that game Duke's stroke with immortality, but the Blue Devils know they can be beaten, especially since they are going to see everybody's best shot each time out. \nBy now, Duke is used to it.\n"What I try to do is make sure that they see that I'm having fun. We're ready to play," Krzyzewski said. "I don't think we feel any pressure whatsoever. It just shows that we need everyone playing well."\nThe Blue Devils have won eight straight games in the NCAA Tournament, and they have done so with incredible talent at every position. Williams averages 21.5 points per game, Carlos Boozer adds 18.2 points per game and Mike Dunleavy puts in 17.3 points per game. Dahntay Jones scores 11.4 per game.\nAnd Chris Duhon, who is usually busy running the point, finds time to score nine points per game while grabbing three rebounds and handing out five assists.\nWith so much balance, it's hard to find a place to start against Duke. Davis and Coverdale said the Hoosiers have to play good defense as a team, especially on Duhon and Williams.\n"They're one of the best backcourts in the nation because they can do so many different things for their team," Coverdale said. "They both shoot the ball really well and they're both quick and they can drive past you. We know we can't stop (Williams) with one guy. We have to play great team defense."\nAfter a 22-point effort Saturday against UNC-Wilmington that got IU to this point, Jared Jeffries feels more confident than he has since he sprained his ankle against Louisville Feb. 9. Jeffries had 20 of his points after halftime and several big buckets down the stretch Saturday in Sacramento.\nThe Blue Devils have a similar player in Dunleavy, but Jeffries will need to dominate in the post to open the perimeter for Coverdale, Dane Fife and Kyle Hornsby.\n"No one can guard Jared one-on-one and they're going to have to double off on him and that will give our outside players some open shots," Coverdale said.\nDavis said he might put the 6-foot-4 Fife on the 6-foot-9 Dunleavy to limit his scoring. Dunleavy does play away from the basket most of the time. That might create more opportunities for the Hoosiers to take care of rebounding against a smaller Duke team.\nWith Jarrad Odle and Jeff Newton, the Hoosiers are a bit longer and more physical.\n"Rebounding is a very big thing for us," Dunleavy said. "In some ways that's an advantage with our quickness. We create a lot of turnovers. At the same time we do get out-rebounded."\nThe Blue Devils won't be surprised to see a close game tonight. They saw one just five days ago against the Fighting Irish and they say they have learned from it.\n"Going into it, we didn't think we were invincible," Dunleavy said of last weekend. "We have learned a lot. It was a little bit of a wakeup call."\nCoverdale said Wednesday that the Hoosiers have to be careful that they don't 'psyche themselves out' against the Blue Devils. With so much against them, what do the Hoosiers have to lose?\n"I think if you psych yourself out at this point you wouldn't be in the Sweet 16. If you have that type of attitude you tend to overlook teams you're supposed to beat," Coverdale said. "Our main goal is to get to Atlanta and the Final Four and we still have as good a chance as anybody"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- IU coach Mike Davis could deal with the media people who said it was impossible. He could deal with the same fans who doubted him this week because they have been doubting him for the past 18 months.\nBut he didn't like what he heard Wednesday from Duke.\n"We had a meeting (Wednesday) with coaches and administrators to talk about the tournament. One of the guys from Duke asked what time do they play on Saturday," Davis said. "I looked around. Maybe he didn't know I was sitting in the room.\n"So I told my guys this, 'You know guys, they're a great basketball team. But when someone disrespected us like this, we have to come out and fight.'"\nIt didn't look like they would at first, but the Hoosiers did. They fought really hard.\nA furious second half rally from a 13-point halftime deficit culminated with the Hoosiers doing the unthinkable. Fifth-seeded IU knocked off defending national champions and No. 1 Duke, 74-73, in the South Regional semi-finals in Lexington before 22,348 at Rupp Arena. \nThe win gets the Hoosiers into the Elite Eight for the first time since 1993, when they lost to Kansas. IU will face 10th-seeded Kent State in the South Regional final Saturday night. It was the Golden Flashes that knocked off the Hoosiers in the first round of the tournament last year. Kent State defeated Pittsburgh last night in the second game, 78-73 in overtime. \nSophomore Jared Jeffries had a game-high 24 points and 15 rebounds. Junior Jarrad Odle had 15 and sophomore A.J. Moye had 14 points. Duke's Carlos Boozer had 19, Mike Dunleavy had 17 and Jason Williams had 15 points for the Blue Devils.\nFor the first time in their three tournament games, the Hoosiers (23-11) found themselves trailing -- big time. But IU fought back and grabbed its first lead with 59 seconds left on a four-footer by junior Tom Coverdale, giving the Hoosiers a 72-70 edge. It was Coverdale's first bucket of the game.\n"I didn't know what offense to call," Davis said. "He bailed us out. He's been our guy all year."\nDaniel Ewing came down the court for Duke and missed a three-pointer from the wing and junior Jeff Newton corralled the rebound for IU. Coverdale brought the ball to the mid-court stripe and called a timeout. The Hoosiers couldn't get the ball in and had to use their last timeout to avoid a five-second call.\nOn the ensuing play, Chris Duhon fouled Moye with 11.1 seconds left, sending him to the line for two.\n"If I get to shoot free throws, my teammates expect me to make both of them," Moye said. "I've been in this situation before, and believe it or not I missed them. That was a big motivation."\nMoye calmly hit both to give IU a 74-70 lead. Duke (31-4) did not use a timeout, instead opting to push the ball up the floor. Ewing came down and missed a three-pointer from in front of the Duke bench.\nThe rebound caromed to Williams at the top of the key and he hit a three-pointer and was fouled by senior Dane Fife with 4.2 seconds left.\nWilliams, who was named the Naismith National Player of the Year Monday, struggled to hit clutch free throws in Duke's losses at Florida State and at Virginia. His biggest miss came Thursday night, as his free throw to tie the game missed.\n"I thought it was in and out," a dejected Williams said after the game. "Sometimes you don't get the breaks."\nA melee for the rebound ensued, with Boozer getting a shot off that trickled off the rim and the clock expired soon after. The Duke bench was looking for a foul, but none came.\n"I never, ever put the blame on one play or one person," Krzyzewski said. "If you want to put the blame on somebody blame me. There are human elements in every ballgame and that can go for you or against you."\nIU overcame 16 first half turnovers, miscues that Duke cashed into 23 points. The Hoosiers had to deal with the Blue Devils' depth, which seemed endless as they committed a season-high 26 fouls. And IU was able to gain control of the game after almost being run out of the building in the first half.\n"I knew our guys would be nervous," Davis said of the Hoosiers' sluggish start that had them down 29-12 11 minutes into the game. "We made adjustments. We just wanted to come out and keep going."\nDavis stayed confident throughout the game and said he sensed things were turning for the Hoosiers when they were down by 12 in the middle of the second half. \nAs the clock expired, Williams was consoled by teammates as he tried to fight back tears. His team was supposed to win. At the same time, Davis was emotional in the moments after the game because his team wasn't supposed to win.\nThe same players, including Coverdale and Jeffries, Davis was chasing down to hug after the game had validated his faith.\n"None of the credit goes to me because you saw our guys tonight, " Davis said. "Our guys will fight to the end. We're not a better team than (Duke). All you have to do is be better that day.\n"You have to say it. If you say it enough, you start to believe it."\nThe Hoosiers believed. Now Duke does, too.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- IU coach Mike Davis knew what he wanted to do with the ball as soon as he got it from sophomore Jared Jeffries at the close of the Hoosiers' 81-69 win against Kent State Saturday night at Rupp Arena.\nDavis jumped through two rows of media and headed for the one man he seems to be unable to thank enough for having given him his first shot as a head coach -- IU president Myles Brand. \nBoth Brand and his wife, Peg, were in attendance for both of the Hoosiers' wins in Lexington and they helped kick off the celebration Saturday night after IU won the South Regional.\n"He said, 'I appreciate all that you've done, thank you and here's the game ball,'" Brand said. "Coach Davis did a tremendous job. I'm proud of him; I'm proud of all the coaches and our student-athletes."\nDavis said he had the plan set before the game.\n"It took great courage for him to name me interim coach at Indiana. This is a big-time program," Davis said. "I thought about it last night. If we won, I would give him the game ball for something to always remember the coach that he trusted with the program (that) came through for him."\nAfter Davis had disposed of the game ball and had picked up his youngest son, Antoine, he was joined by his wife, Tamilya and his oldest son, Mike Jr.\nMeanwhile, Jeffries was escorting junior Tom Coverdale around the floor in his wheelchair. Despite having ice taped around his sprained left ankle, Coverdale was helped up a ladder and was the first IU player to cut himself a piece of the net.\nAs he did, Coverdale was named the Most Outstanding Player of the South Region. After Coverdale, all of the Hoosiers had their chance to get their pieces of both nets before they were cut down altogether.\n"This is something I've wanted to do for a long, long time," junior Kyle Hornsby said. "For me, it was a dream. I'm living a dream and hopefully, there's more of the dream left."\nSophomore A.J. Moye received the loudest ovation from the IU fans who stuck around for the post-game celebration. Throughout the game, Moye was cheered every time he jumped off the bench. \nAfter the game, the chants of "A.J. Moye" stirred up again.\n"The reason that I enjoy playing at Indiana, I just don't see a following anywhere else that is as loyal as the Indiana faithful," Moye said with a piece of the net tied to the back of his hat. "When I cut that net down, that was for the (fans). I wish I could have thrown every piece of the net in the crowd."\nA jubilant IU locker room was filled with family members, Athletics Director Michael McNeely and black hats and white shirts proclaiming the Hoosiers' trip to Atlanta and the Final Four for the first time since IU went to the Final Four in Minnesota in 1992.\nBrand stuck around as the celebration wound down, listening to Davis address the national media. Davis reiterated his appreciation to the man who gave him his job.\n"I thank President Brand. You may be tired of me thanking him, but I appreciate the opportunity the administration has given me and this basketball team," Davis said. "To be here where we we're at is truly a blessing."\nBrand said the appreciation is mutual.\n"This is great for the program. The future is ahead of us," Brand said. "They played hard, they played with heart, they rose to the occasion, they played tough, they stayed together as a family. I'm just very pleased."\nLiking what he saw this past weekend, Brand left no doubt as to whether he will be in Atlanta Saturday night.\n"Of course," he said.\nSaturday seemed a long ways away in September of 2000 when Brand was hung in effigy by IU students after Bob Knight was dismissed and Brand hadn't named his replacement yet. Now Brand likes what his student-athletes are doing, and the past seems to be, well, the past.\n"I saw President Brand during the celebration," Hornsby said. "I can remember that we weren't that fond of him at the time (of Knight's firing). I shook his hand, even gave him a hug and told him 'We've come a long way."
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- No.1 Duke was thought of by many as the best team in the nation going into the tournament.\nNow that the Hoosiers took care of that theory, some are picking Oklahoma as the best team left standing. The Sooners won the West Regional with an 81-75 win against 12th-seeded Missouri in San Jose Saturday night. \nSophomore guard A.J. Moye has been impressed.\n"I think they're the best team in the country right now," Moye said. "I don't care what anybody says. Those guys are just something else to watch. I enjoy watching them play."\nOklahoma (31-4) plays a similar style to IU in that the Sooners are physical and like to get the ball inside. Senior Aaron McGhee, who spent one year at Vincennes University, and junior Ebi Ere give the Sooners one of the best sets of forwards in the nation.\nJunior guard Hollis Price is one of best guards in the nation, but senior forward Jarrad Odle said Oklahoma hasn't had to go against too many great defenses.\n"I don't think they've seen a defense like us," he said. \nSooners coach Kelvin Sampson almost left Oklahoma to coach at Illinois after Lon Krueger left in the summer of 2000, but he ultimately decided to stick around. After losing in the first round of the Tournament last year as a fourth-seed to Indiana State, the Sooners are in the Final Four for the first time since they lost the national championship game to Kansas in 1988.\n"It will be a good matchup," Moye said.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- When junior Tom Coverdale stepped on Kent State's Eric Thomas' foot and crumbled to the floor, there was 9:35 left in Saturday night's game against the Golden Flashes. The Hoosiers had just put the finishing touches on a 19-9 run and had built a 59-41 lead.\nEverything was fine, until Coverdale couldn't get up from the floor without help from team physician Dr. Larry Rink, Tim Garl and teammate Mike Roberts.\n"(Coverdale) got hurt, and I heard a lot of people going 'Oh, here we go. We're in trouble.'" Dane Fife said.\nThe search was on for someone to pickup the slack. The Golden Flashes saw an opportunity.\n"We identified that he went down," Kent State coach Stan Heath said. "When Coverdale went down, we wanted to take advantage of the freshman point guard they had out there."\nKent State went on an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to get back in the game. The crowd stirred, and Mike Davis looked to his bench.\n"Donald Perry has been playing well for us," Davis said of the freshman guard. "One game before the Final Four, so he was a little nervous. Once they cut it back, I told Donald to relax and play."\nPerry did that and helped squash the Golden Flashes' rallies in the second half and the Hoosiers finished off tenth-seeded Kent State, 81-69 in the South Regional Final Saturday night.\nPerry finished with six points, two assists, two steals and a turnover in 17 minutes Saturday and helped the Hoosiers adjust to the Golden Flashes' full court trap they used to disrupt IU.\n"Once we were used to it, it wasn't a problem," Perry said of the trapping defense.\nLeading 59-52, the smallest lead the Hoosiers had in the second half, Perry got the ball up the floor to sophomore Jared Jeffries, who found Fife on the wing for a much-needed three-pointer to get the lead back to 10.\n"Being a senior, shooting as well as I was, I fired it, it went in and that swung the game back in our favor until the end," Fife said. \nThe bucket started a 13-4 run by IU that would give the Hoosiers a 72-56 lead with 2:45 left. At the same time, IU was forcing three Kent State turnovers and Perry was driving to the basket for a layup, grabbing a rebound and a loose ball and setting up junior Jeff Newton for a dunk.\nThe run took Kent State out for the final time. Trevor Huffman, who was held under 10 points for just the fourth time this season, got off a dismal seven shots in 40 minutes. He missed a three-pointer down the stretch and his ineffectiveness hurt the Golden Flashes down the stretch.\n"It seemed like every time we made a run, they'd knock down a three and get a foul and go to the line to stop our run," Kent State guard Andrew Mitchell said. "That's what great ball clubs do. \n"Indiana has some guys who have been in this situation before, and I could see it every time we came back on the court -- looking in Fife's eyes and Coverdale's eyes, it was like 'We're not going to lose this one tonight.'"\nIt was a far cry from the loss the Hoosiers suffered to Kent State last year in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Coverdale went down in that game, too, but IU couldn't respond and lost, 77-73. The Hoosiers had led 43-34 at halftime.\nSaturday night, the Hoosiers found a way.\n"To do it against Kent State, they caused a lot of hard times at the end of last year," junior Kyle Hornsby said. "It did make it a little bit sweeter."\nAside from the fact that this game was played in the Elite Eight instead of the first round, the Hoosiers said they are more experienced than last year. They weren't going to let Kent State end their season this year.\n"Last year's team would have panicked. We weren't panicking," Moye said. "We play like seniors. We've been winning games on will and defense all year"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
With an estimated 6,000 fans filling the east stands of Assembly Hall, IU held its final practice in Bloomington Wednesday afternoon before departing for Atlanta for the Final Four. \nThe Hoosiers finished their practice session in front of the crowd, then addressed the Hoosier faithful, many of whom waived signs reading "GO IU" and "WE LIKE MIKE." \n"I think you heard me speak about a month ago and say we were going to the Final Four," senior guard Dane Fife said. "I wish we could get every one of you to go with us. We're going to play our hearts out for you and the rest of this state."\nIU will meet Oklahoma Saturday at 6 p.m. in Atlanta's Georgia Dome. Before they got 50 feet from Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers passed through a walkway lined by fans, leading to the team bus. Several Hoosiers recorded the happenings on video cameras as fans snapped pictures and handed out high-fives. \nThe Hoosiers will be the first team to hold their open practice in the Georgia Dome. They are set to practice at noon Friday.\nIU will be staying downtown along with Maryland, but Kansas and Oklahoma will be staying in hotels near the airport, which is outside of the center part of the city. Davis said the Hoosiers will likely see the Atlanta Hawks play the Raptors Thursday night before getting to work.\nWednesday Davis spoke of coaching against Kelvin Sampson, the Sooners' coach who is Native American. It is a rarity that a National semifinal pits two minority head coaches.\n"I really haven't thought about it. Facing coach Sampson is enough to think about. I like him a lot and respect him," Davis said. "He's one of the only coaches to call me and write me when I got the job. I've always followed him because of the letter that he wrote."\nAfter a season filled with distractions, the Hoosiers are headed to the Final Four, where there are more distractions than anywhere in college basketball. IU has gotten past the peripheral issues all year.\nDavis expects the same in Atlanta.\n"We haven't handled them in the past, but this year, they've been great," Davis said. "We have a good basketball team. These guys are really representing Indiana well. They want to win."\nDavis said Tom Coverdale is about 50-50 as to whether he will play. Monday Davis said the decision will be made jointly by Coverdale, Davis and the medical staff.\nWhile Davis has to deal with being the first black coach in any sport in school history, Sampson talked about coaching at Oklahoma. The Sooners' basketball tradition is nothing compared to what Oklahoma has accomplished on the football field.\n"We have seven national championships in football, and there's a reason why people think of Oklahoma, they think of football," Sampson said. "We're very proud of our football tradition. But basketball has always been something that's been important. I'm anxious to see how our fans react to our program."\nHawk talk\nRoy Williams is at his third Final Four, but he still is not used to the distractions that come with moving this deep into the Tournament.\n"You know how dumb I was? I think I will be able to enjoy it. Once we get past the ticket request and room requests from everybody in the world, it will be fun," Williams said. "But when I'm on the court, I'm going to be really concentrating. We're there to play as well as we can, and that has to take priority."\nWilliams also gave the national media an update on Kirk Hinrich, who suffered a sprained ankle in Kansas' first round win against Holy Cross Mar. 14. Hinrich is the Jayhawks' third-leading scorer and should be available Saturday.\n"He's not 100 percent by any means," Williams said. "He gave me more tired signals in the Oregon game than he did all season. He went about nine days without doing much on a conditioning base."\nMaryland back for more\nAll week Maryland has been asked about last year's Final Four in Minneapolis. The Terrapins were the inexperienced ones last year, and it showed. In its fourth game against Duke that season, Maryland lost a 22-point lead and fell to the Blue Devils in the semifinal round.\nTerps coach Gary Williams said experience matters and Maryland has an edge on everybody else at this year's Final Four.\n"I think you have to go through it. If you've been through it as a coach, you can get through to your players some," Williams said. "You know its going to be crazy, but you assign yourself times during the day when you're going to concentrate. You prepare for the game just like a regular season game."\nMost people are anticipating the match-up between Kansas and Maryland, which will follow the Hoosiers' game against Oklahoma. The Terrapins might have found their match in Kansas as far as a post presence is concerned. \nWilliams is trying to find a way to stop All-American Drew Gooden.\n"He's a great player. You don't see many people that big that have that quickness," Williams said. "He's got great timing. He's a versatile player. He's a problem trying to match up with."\nNOW SHOWING\nThe Buskirk-Chumley Theater announced it will open its doors free to the public.\nDoors will open at 5 p.m., said Mike Wilkerson, president of the theater's board of directors. The theater seats about 600 people. Bloomingfoods will offer concessions, and the game will be shown on a 12-by-nine foot rented television, he said.\n"We want people to know this is for the community and not just about community arts," he said. "We are really (hoping) everyone feels welcome there."\nWilkerson said opening the theater will give people a chance to cheer with other Hoosier fans without waiting hours for a table at a restaurant.\n"People want to be in a group of some kind," he said. \nFree parking is available in the city parking lot located behind the theater off Fourth Street and at the city parking garage at Fourth and Walnut.\nWilkerson said if the team beats the Oklahoma Sooners and go on to the championship game, the theater will re-open for Monday night's game.\nRegion editor Kara Salge contributed to this story.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Against No. 1 Duke, the Hoosiers relied on Jared Jeffries and Jarrad Odle in the paint to bring them back from 17 points to win, 74-73. Against Kent State in the South Regional final last Saturday, IU hit its first eight three-pointers to build a lead it would never relinquish.\nIn Saturday night's first national semifinal against Oklahoma, the Hoosiers will see a defense that is better than both the Blue Devils' and the Golden Flashes. Duke chose to focus on the outside while Kent State took away the inside. \nThe Sooners have the ability to take both away, and that's what they say they will try to do.\n"We're just going to try to stop their offense," sophomore center Jabahri Brown said. "Whether it's their inside game or outside game, we're going to play hard."\nOklahoma is good at stopping teams. The Sooners give up over 64 points per game, which isn't as good as the Hoosiers, who are yielding around 62 points. But Oklahoma is able to disrupt offenses with its intensity.\nThe Sooners' roster is filled with tall, physical players who like to play defense. They get some of their intensity from their coach, Kelvin Sampson.\n"I think it all starts in practice," senior forward Aaron McGhee said. "Coach did a good job selling this defense to all our players. Ever since then, we took it upon ourselves to be as good as we want to be on defense."\nAll week Mike Davis has likened the Sooners' rebounding and defense to that of Michigan State's the past few seasons. Davis said the only difference is Oklahoma's is probably better.\n"They're probably a better defensive team than Michigan State was this year, but Michigan State has had some great defensive teams in the past," Davis said. "Watching film, there's no weaknesses that I've seen. It's going to be difficult for us if we don't really execute."\nMaking the Hoosiers' job of executing against such a tough defense even more difficult is the questionable status of Tom Coverdale. But the Sooners say that no matter who the starting point guard for IU is, they will probably not extend their defense as some are predicting.\n"The game plan doesn't change," junior guard Hollis Price said. "I don't think we worked on the press all year long. We're not going to pick up no full-court and try to press those guys because they are too good of a team to just turn the ball over in a full-court situation."\nThe Hoosiers struggled last Saturday for a couple of possessions when Kent State brought out the full-court pressure. But Donald Perry was able to settle down and IU put the Golden Flashes away soon after.\nDavis isn't so certain the Hoosiers won't have to worry about a trapping defense that goes into the Hoosiers' backcourt. If IU has to deal with it, Davis points out that the Hoosiers have seen it before.\n"I don't think anybody pressures like Louisville. Coach (Rick) Pitino is in a class by himself when it comes to pressing," Davis said. "Will it cause some confusion (Saturday) and havoc? Probably will. But it won't be anything that we haven't really faced before."\nThe Hoosiers' season-high in turnovers is 26. That was against Duke, who didn't trap or use a full court press, but still pressured the ball handler up the floor most of the game.\nPerry said he is ready to step in if Coverdale can't go, saying he doesn't consider himself a freshman anymore. Kyle Hornsby said the green seats of the Georgia Dome are fine to shoot into. \nSo the Hoosiers sound like they are ready for any defense they will see. Instead of thinking its game has been tipped over the past two games, IU feels confident that the Sooners won't know where to start.\n"I hope we have them guessing a little bit. I'm sure they're going to try to take away everything," Odle said. "The first couple of minutes you have to see what they're going to give and what they're going to take. If they give us the three-pointers our guys are going to shoot them and knock them down. \n"If they give us the inside, I'm sure when halftime rolls around they're going to try and switch it up. We have to be ready for anything."\nAs usual, Davis said the Hoosiers' offensive game plan will be to go through Jeffries, who the Sooners plan to guard with senior forward Daryan Selvy. \nJeffries said the key to Oklahoma's defense is how physical the Sooners are. IU took advantage of Duke's physical style as the Blue Devils committed a season-high 26 fouls. The Hoosiers hit 20 free throws that night. The foul stripe might be the most important factor Saturday.\n"Whenever you bring the ball up the court they do a great job of being physical," Jeffries said. "I think a lot of teams aren't used to that physicalness. I think last week we had some 50 fouls in a game. \n"Hopefully they'll do the same thing against us and we'll hit free throws down the stretch and put them away"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
ATLANTA -- The IU men's basketball team has been in this game five times before, but none of the Hoosiers' current players have. This will be the first national title game in school history for Maryland.\nStill it is presumed that the big game experience lies with the Terrapins. And of course, they are expected to win.\nThat doesn't faze Gary Williams, who is in his 24th year of coaching. Maryland might be favored to win in Las Vegas, but that doesn't mean the Terrapins are taking the Hoosiers lightly.\n"Well, we were the favorite I guess up until (Saturday night)," Williams said. "They took out a very good Oklahoma team."\nAfter the way the Hoosiers have shot the three-pointer in the tournament, it has become a big topic before each of their games. The Sooners beat Maryland by 16 in December at Oklahoma. \nAgainst the Sooners on Saturday, the Hoosiers hit their last seven three-pointers of the game, including six-for-six in the second half.\nThe Terrapins know the three-point shot has helped IU get to this point, especially when the Hoosiers hit 15 of 19 three-pointers against Kent State in the Elite Eight. \nThe Sooners tried to key on the three-pointers in the first half and the Hoosiers had their way down low. In the second half, Davis said Oklahoma was tired and IU got some open looks.\nWilliams said that balance is scary.\n"They've been successful as a three-point shooting team, but they've had games where they haven't shot the three and won against some good teams," Williams said. "Oklahoma really struggled with that. Hopefully we can do a better job."\nPoint guards\nJunior Tom Coverdale said his left ankle is fine and that he expects it to feel better tonight than it did Saturday night. Either way, Steve Blake doesn't expect Coverdale to be any less than 100 percent.\nA three-year starter who had 11 assists against Kansas Saturday night, Blake has struggled of late. He did hit a big three-pointer in the closing minutes to help Maryland get past Connecticut in the Elite Eight, but Blake knows he will have his hands full tonight.\n"I'm just going to play the way I always play," Blake said. "Play solid defense and offensively play the same game. His ankle looked fine the last game I saw yesterday so it doesn't change the game plan at all."\nIt's just emotion\nThe CBS broadcast might not pick up on all of the turmoil that he will experience, but Gary Williams will go through the usual agony he deals with every time out. With each possession that doesn't end in success for Maryland, Williams throws his arms in the air and then holds his hands to his temples while yelling.\nIt is something Williams' players have grown accustomed to.\n"I wish he would just sit there for 40 minutes but I know he's not going to do that," Juan Dixon joked. \nWilliams always sweats through his dress shirt to the point where it changes to a different color. If he left his suit coat on, he would probably sweat through that. His players aren't scared of his wrath, but Williams' actions do draw some laughs.\n"The first game that we had, coach came and yelled at me and I wasn't even dressing out," Byron Mouton said. "I called home and told them coach was yelling at me and I'm not even playing.\n"I'm just so excited because when a coach is like that, always involved, you know you are going to have a great time with him."\nRandom numbers\nTonight's 2002 national title game will be Maryland's 2002nd game in school history…A No. 1 seed, Maryland beat another No. 1 seed, Kansas, Saturday night. All-time, the winner of a No. 1 vs. No. 1 national semifinal is 3-7 in title games. Maryland is 30-0 this year when the Terps have a better field goal percentage than their opponent. Earlier this year Dixon became the first player in NCAA history to record 2000 points, 300 steals and 200 three-point field goals in a career.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
ATLANTA -- Junior Jeff Newton's right shoulder and bicep is emblazoned with artwork that is surrounded by the phrase "Refuse Limitations." Newton lived up to the tattoo Saturday night, scoring a career-high 19 points to lead the Hoosiers past Oklahoma in the national semifinals. \nSunday, Coach Mike Davis joked that he hopes Newton doesn't get much better before this summer. Davis would like to have the junior forward one more year.\n"If Jeff plays any better (than Saturday night), he'll probably put his name in the NBA draft next week," Davis said. "He was great."\nAn Atlanta product, Newton has drawn some inspiration, playing in the same town where he and sophomore A.J. Moye got to know Travis Davenport. At 19, after Newton's freshman year at IU, Davenport passed away due to a heart problem. \nThe trio had played together in pick-up games and on AAU teams. A bigger player than himself, Newton said Davenport would have liked the way Newton was able to go against the big boys of Oklahoma.\nBut things didn't start well for Newton Saturday night. He came into the game for senior Jarrad Odle with 14:37 left in the first half and the Hoosiers trailing, 7-5. Newton missed a 17-footer, committed an offensive foul while trying to set a screen for senior Dane Fife and traveled on the next trip down.\nHe did all that in a matter of 96 seconds. After he lost a pass from freshman Donald Perry out of bounds, Davis replaced Newton with Odle at the 12:19 mark with the Hoosiers still trailing, 7-5. As he went to the bench, Newton got a message from Davis.\n"(Davis) just told me to let him know when I was ready to play," Newton said. "So two seconds later I told him that I was ready."\nNewton's timing couldn't have been better. With Oklahoma's Aaron McGhee forcing sophomore Jared Jeffries into a second foul less than nine minutes into the game, Newton was back on the floor at the 11:12 mark and IU facing a 13-7 deficit. \nThe Hoosiers fell behind 17-9 before Newton ran off six straight on a pair of three-point plays. On IU's next trip, he set up Odle for a bucket in the post.\n"I think Newton came in early in the game and struggled a bit right at the beginning and then I think I remember (Davis) getting on him," Dane Fife said. "Then all of a sudden, Newton just took off from there."\nIn the second half, Newton had 13 points and four blocks to help the Hoosiers rally from a 34-30 halftime deficit. At the same time, Newton was able to lure McGhee into his fifth foul with 4:40 left in the game. \nAt that point, the bigger McGhee had scored 22 points and was the Sooners' only steady offense since Fife was shutting down Hollis Price.\n"That was the plan, to try to go at those guys and be aggressive and try to get them in early foul trouble," Newton said. \nBeing on the floor late in the game is nothing new to Newton. He was playing last night in usual role, coming off the bench to give a lift to the Hoosiers. To his credit, Newton never sulked that he had to play behind Odle.\n"About three games into the Big Ten season, we were in the locker room and I looked at Newton and said 'You want to be starting.' Newton said 'Hey, why mess with what's working,'" Odle said Sunday. "Newton knows his role. He knows he's going to start next year. \n"We're basically splitting roles. His play is obviously showing how hard he's worked."\nIn this NCAA tournament, Newton has hit 23 of his 29 field goal attempts. More than that, Jeffries said Newton's defense has been critical of late.\nAt times, Jeffries said he doesn't even have to talk to Newton on the court. He may have needed a little pep talk from his coach Saturday night, as did his team at halftime. But by the end of the game, Newton and the Hoosiers were living up to their mantra of refusing limitations.\n"Enough can't be said about how Newt has been playing, especially this whole tournament," Jeffries said. "It meant a lot for him to come back to Atlanta and play in front of his home crowd. \n"Whenever (Newton) can come in and focus, he'll have a big game and he'll continue to do that"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
ATLANTA -- As the Hoosiers continue to move through the NCAA tournament, two things stay the same. The doubters tell them why they can't win and IU proves them wrong.\nSaturday night it was supposed to be Oklahoma's toughness that would wear down the Hoosiers. It was supposed to be the Sooners' pressure defense that would handcuff the outside shooters of IU. And if the Hoosiers wanted to win Saturday night, it was supposed to be all on sophomore Jared Jeffries.\nFinally, with junior Tom Coverdale at less than full strength with a left ankle injury, the Hoosiers were to have no chance with true freshman Donald Perry at the point.\nIU proved all four prognostications wrong in its 73-64 win against the Sooners in the first national semifinal Saturday night at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta before 53,378.\nThe Hoosiers advance to the national title game tonight, when they will face Maryland in the final. The Terrapins beat Kansas Saturday night, 97-88. IU is just the second fifth-seed of all-time to advance to the championship game. The last No. 5 was Florida, who lost to Michigan State, 89-76, in 2000.\nAfter the game, IU coach Mike Davis marveled at his players' fortitude to overcome their doubters and a 34-30 halftime deficit Saturday night.\n"Like I said before, it's the players," Davis said. "They're playing unbelievable. They could easily have given up and we could have lost by 10. But they kept fighting, kept fighting, kept fighting."\nBy the end of the game Saturday, the Sooners looked worn out by a balanced IU attack that hurt them inside in the first half and outside in the second. The Hoosiers shot more than 52 percent from the field against a Sooner team that had been holding opponents to just 39 percent shooting in the tournament.\nAnd in his return to his hometown of Atlanta, junior Jeff Newton proved the Hoosiers (25-11) are not a one-man team by scoring a career-high 19 points to lead IU. Newton also had four blocks. Senior Jarrad Odle had 11 points, Jeffries had eight. Perry added 10 points and four rebounds in 11 minutes, most coming down the stretch as the Hoosiers pulled ahead.\nFor the game, IU's bench outscored its starters 41-32.\nAaron McGhee had a game-high 22 points for the Sooners (31-5) before fouling out with 4:40 to play. \n"That was the plan, to try to go at those guys and be aggressive and try to get them in early foul trouble," Newton said.\nEbi Ere had 15, but Hollis Price was held to just six points on one-of-eleven shooting. Price was harassed most of the night by senior Dane Fife.\nWith Jeffries picking up his second foul not even nine minutes into the game, Newton played a vital role in keeping the Hoosiers close in the first half. A physical game in the first half, Newton started out slow and Davis quickly pulled him after a couple of turnovers. \nWhen Newton told Davis he was ready to play, Davis put him back in the game and Newton didn't disappoint.\n"That's kind of my plan, to just go out every game and play aggressive," Newton said. "I just try to take what the team is giving me. Tonight I could do a little bit of scoring."\nDown 34-30 at the half, Davis told his players to focus and limit the Sooners' second chance opportunities. IU would in the second half while the Hoosiers' bench outscored the Sooners' 41-19 in the game.\nIU grabbed the lead for good on a Perry three-pointer with just under 10 minutes left, making the score 51-48. Oklahoma tied the game at 60 with 3:25 left on a bucket by Daryan Selvy. \nThe Hoosiers responded with a 6-0 run, which included a coast-to-coast scamper by Perry that he finished with a left-handed layup. The Sooners would get no closer than five the rest of the way as IU hit seven of its ten free throws.\n"There was no need for me to go back in the game because Donald was playing so well," Coverdale said as he rested his left ankle in a tub of ice. "If (Perry) didn't step up in the last couple of minutes of the game, we probably wouldn't have won."\nBefore the game, the Sooners said their defense would stop everything the Hoosiers did. But in the end, Oklahoma couldn't stop anything. IU won on the inside in the first half and on the outside in the second half, hitting all six of its three-pointers after the break.\nMeanwhile, Fife held Oklahoma star Price to a season-low six points on one-of-eleven shooting from the floor. \n"Fife did a great job," Price said. "He was so physical."\nAs the game wore on, the Hoosiers noticed the Sooners were crumbling. Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson said the Hoosiers were relentless.\n"That's a tribute to Indiana's heart," Sampson said. "Their kids are tough."\nWith the clock winding down and the Hoosiers hitting their free throws, Davis had his head buried in his hands. Then Fife came along to deliver a message. IU had taken the criticism and proven the critics wrong -- again.\n"I just said 'Coach, get your head up, man, we're going to the national championship,'" Fife said after the game. "He looked up and smiled"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
ATLANTA -- Juan Dixon wasn't needed nearly as badly by his Maryland team Monday night as he was on Saturday. With Dane Fife harassing Dixon all night, Dixon was held to 18 points, his lowest output in the tournament.\nFortunately for Dixon and the Terrapins, Lonny Baxter wasn't in foul trouble as he was in the game Saturday against Kansas. With Baxter out, Dixon poured in 33 points, 19 in the first half alone, to carry Maryland into the championship game.\nMonday night Dixon hit six shots, out of only had nine attempts. It was just the fifth time this season that he didn't shoot at least 10 shots in a game.\n"Fife played him well," Mike Davis said. "We knew he would be a handful. I think he's the best player we've played against this year other than Jason Williams. Fife was playing him the best he could play him."\nAfter scoring 10 points in the first 11 minutes of the game, Dixon had given Maryland a 21-11 lead and set a dizzying pace that IU couldn't control. But for the rest of the first half and the first 10 minutes of the second half, Dixon was silent.\nFife was doing his job.\n"Fife did a good job," Kyle Hornsby said. "I don't think anybody can guard him one-on-one."\nThat proved true at the most critical juncture of the game. After Jared Jeffries had given IU its first lead of the game at 44-42 with 9:53 left, the Terrapins didn't waste any time going back to its All-American.\nBlake spotted Dixon on the left wing for a three-pointer over Fife to put Maryland back on top, and the Terrapins would never give up again. \n"I got a great pass from Blake and was able to knock that one down," Dixon said.\nDixon's shot proved to be a back-breaker for the Hoosiers. His play had inspired Maryland all season long and his shot seemed to give the Terrapins a spurt that eventually carried them to the national title.\n"It just tells you he has no fear," Davis said. "If you're going to win a championship, your best player has to step up and make plays and he did that."\nBench\nTwo nights after outscoring the Hoosiers' starters 41-32, the IU bench could not provide the energy the Hoosiers desperately needed to sway the tide of the game.\nBefore Monday night's game, the IU bench had outscored the opponents' benches 126-65 in five tournament games. The 11 points by the Hoosiers' bench is its lowest output since it scored 11 points against Northwestern Mar. 2. Monday was just the sixth time the IU bench had been held to 11 points or less.\n"We just didn't get into the flow," A.J. Moye said. "We didn't play as much as normal."\nMoye did have a steal and a bucket in the closing moments of the first half, but he didn't do much more in just seven minutes of action.\nDonald Perry played 10 minutes and had three points, those came on a three-pointer at the buzzer that just made the final score look better for the Hoosiers. George Leach only saw two minutes of action and Jeff Newton had six points in 28 minutes, but missed five of his seven shots from the field.\nFree throws\nIn the first half the Hoosiers missed the front end of a one-and-one twice, missing an opportunity to cut the Terrapins' lead early. IU wouldn't have the same chances in the second half. The Hoosiers were two of seven from the foul line in the first half, and didn't get to the line in the second half.\nMeanwhile, Maryland was 20 of 28 from the foul line. Davis said the low number of chances at the free throw line was not a result of the officiating, but of the Terrapins' aggressiveness.\n"It was a well-called game," Davis said. "We fouled them. We had to foul. The reason we didn't draw fouls is because we took a lot of five-foot shots instead of taking the ball to the basket."\nJeffries' future\nAfter scoring 16 points in both games of the Final Four, Jeffries was asked about his plans to enter the NBA draft. Fife said he should, but Jeffries remained non-committal.\n"If I come back, this will be a great team," Jeffries said. "I'm going to take a little bit of time to just kind of decide what's going to be best for me and my family"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
ATLANTA -- It's hard not to like a guy as easygoing as Mike Davis. And for the national media that got to know him for the first time in Atlanta this weekend, it would be an understatement to say that they fell in love with him.\nAndy Katz from ESPN looked giddy when he was talking to Davis this weekend in an extended interview while Linda Cohn, also of ESPN, gave Davis a big hug and told him how happy she was for him after the Oklahoma win.\nAnd between games, Davis was poked and prodded with questions on all types of subjects. He joked that he wanted a raise after this run to the Final Four and spoke of his desire to someday coach in the NBA, prompting the media to assume he will leave after this season.\nAfter a reporter told A.J. Moye something that Davis had said, Moye couldn't help but crack up.\n"Coach Davis will tell (the media) anything," Moye said, laughing.\nApparently Moye is right. All week leading up to the Final Four the media was focused on Tom Coverdale's left ankle, assuming that he was likely to miss the game. After Coverdale played 29 minutes Saturday night, Davis tipped his hand Sunday afternoon.\n"I was glad (the media) was talking about Coverdale because I knew he would play," Davis said. "I kept saying he's 40 percent, 50 percent, 60 percent. Then I said 70 percent. Everybody thought 'Okay, he's going to play.'\n"I said I'm going to tell them 40 percent again to keep people off guard."\nSeveral people have criticized Davis for saying the wrong things at the wrong time, but he doesn't worry too much about things like that. As Davis is known to say about himself, he is not a traditional coach. \n"I just feel like in this business you need to be friends with people and try to help other people as much as possible," Davis said. "I have people call me all the time telling me 'You shouldn't do this, shouldn't do this, shouldn't say this.'\n"Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe it is a game and you have to know the rules of the game to survive."\nWhile Maryland had a standard practice Sunday, Davis and the Hoosiers stuck to their usual Sunday routine, which consists of no practice but an optional shoot around. The media was puzzled, but IU knows the drill.\n"Our coaches have done an outstanding job in showing us how to win basketball games," Dane Fife said. "Coach understands that he's got guys that are willing to work for him. He knows that he has guys who are going to come in and shoot."\nPerhaps the funniest comment of the week came from Davis before last night's game. The talk had been that the Terrapins were superior in athletic ability to the Hoosiers. IU was supposed to have not even gotten to the title game. The Hoosiers were supposed to be outclassed athletically by the Sooners.\nComically, Davis agreed with the doubters.\n"You should shake your head because if you watch Oklahoma, Kansas and Maryland practice, and you look at us, you probably say 'There's no way (the Hoosiers) -- they can't win.'"\nApparently the Hoosiers are even surprising their coach.\nA tough trip\nIn its run to the national title game, Maryland became the first team in tournament history to advance in each round by beating the highest possible seed in each round. The Terrapins beat No. 16 Siena in the first round and beat eighth-seeded Wisconsin in the second round. In the Sweet Sixteen, Maryland beat No. 4 Kentucky and then No. 2 Connecticut to advance to the Final Four.\nIn the national semifinals, the Terrapins beat No.1 Kansas. In that game Saturday night, Maryland won 97-88 as the two teams combined for 185 points. That total is the most since IU and UNLV combined for 190 points in the 1987 national semifinals. The Hoosiers beat the Runnin' Rebels, 97-93, en route to IU's fifth national title.\nAfter beating the Hoosiers Monday night, an exhausted Gary Williams enjoyed taking his alma mater to its first national championship in school history.\n"It is just a great feeling because we had to come through some great teams to get here, some teams that have won national championships," Williams said. "It was a great thrill for us because of the competition involved. I thought Indiana was a terrific basketball team"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Cecilia Jeffries isn't afraid to admit it. Being the IU basketball fan she is, Jared Jeffries' mom had some part of her that wanted her son to stay Hoosier and lead IU on another NCAA tournament run. But now she knows that won't happen. \nLike most IU fans, Cecilia knows the Hoosiers will miss her son.\n"I love Indiana basketball and yeah, I'd love to see him stay, but that's my selfish reasons," Cecilia said Monday.\nMike Davis said this was coming, and he was ready for it. Now, with Jeffries announcing his decision to forgo his final two years of eligibility, Davis will have to begin to figure out a way to limit the damage done. \nJeffries led the Hoosiers with 15 points and seven rebounds per game this season. Just as important, his ability to pass out of double teams created open shots for Dane Fife, Tom Coverdale and Kyle Hornsby. Throughout the year, even as the Hoosiers were breaking the school records for attempted and made three-pointers, Davis repeatedly said IU was built around Jeffries. \nNow, that presence is gone.\nThe silver lining is the way Jeff Newton finished his junior year. Newton played well for most of the second half of the season and culminated his run with a career-high 19 points against Oklahoma in the Final Four. Next year as a senior, Newton figures to be a regular starter for the first time in his career at IU.\nNow that Jeffries is gone along with Jarrad Odle and Fife, the Hoosiers lose two starters in the frontcourt and Fife in the backcourt. IU has a number of guards to fill spots at the guard positions, but George Leach will need to step up in the frontcourt and become a regular starter as a junior next year.\n"Jeff and George will have to step up," Jeffries said. "I know Jeff and George will step up next year. Both of those guys are really good players."\nMike Roberts missed this season after suffering a stress fracture in his right leg in October. Until then, the Hoosiers were raving about how much he had improved and penciled him into the regular rotation. Next year Roberts will be a sophomore and will be expected to have the presence that Odle had.\nSean Kline, who was red-shirted this year as a freshman, has a style that is also similar to Odle's. Some of the Hoosiers have even joked that Kline is Odle's younger brother. \nDaryl Pegram will be a freshman at IU next year and has the same body style as Jeffries but is very skinny. He will probably be red-shirted in order to give his body more time to develop. \nNone of these players had the presence of Jeffries though. The Hoosiers will miss that.\n"It's a big blow. He was their reliable scorer on the front line," recruiting analyst Mike Sullivan of Rivalhoops.com said. "Certainly the backcourt will be the strength and the Hoosiers will be more backcourt oriented."\nJeffries is the second player in two years to leave IU early. Kirk Haston left last season after his junior year and was the 16th pick by the Charlotte Hornets in last year's NBA draft. \nDavis said having players leave early would cause him to change the way he recruits. Now he will have to expect some players to leave early. Jeffries said Monday that it will be a challenge similar to the one schools like Duke have every year.\n"Duke does a good job," Jeffries said. "If you're able to recruit the players like that, you don't rebuild, you reload."\nCecilia Jeffries doesn't want to see the Hoosiers without her son, but all IU fans will have to. Davis and the Hoosiers will probably have to see a change in their philosophy and attack teams from the outside.\nEither way, Jeffries said IU will be fine without him.\n"Coach Davis has always said 'No one person is bigger than Indiana basketball,' and that includes me," Jeffries said. "I'm not leaving the program empty handed. They have one of the best coaching staffs in the country, and with the players returning and those coming in, IU will again compete for a national title"
(04/04/02 5:22am)
While the nation waits for him to make his jump to the NBA after he mentioned his dream to coach professionally, coach Mike Davis just can't wait to get to work on the 2002-2003 Hoosiers.\nAll season long Davis talked about the recruiting class he has coming in that is highly regarded nationally. It got to the point where Kyle Hornsby and Tom Coverdale confronted Davis as to whether he had forgotten about his current players who will be around next season.\nBut Davis is excited about the players who are coming back and the ones who are coming in. His challenge will be to get the new players to play as hard as the Hoosiers did this season.\n"Next year we have Bracey Wright coming in, Marshall Strickland, Daryl Pegram," Davis said. "To be able to play the way we did this year, and bringing those guys in, it's really going to take us to another level. They can go make plays.\n"But what they have to do when they come in is play with the same intensity as a Dane Fife did this year."\nDavis said he loves to coach, and next year will give him plenty of work to do. Jarrad Odle and Fife will be gone for sure and Jared Jeffries' future is uncertain right now. Either way, the Hoosiers will be one of the favorites in the Big Ten next season.\nHornsby and Coverdale will be back for senior seasons that will probably have them breaking the school record for three-pointers they helped establish this season.\nThose two will lead a very experienced backcourt that will also include Donald Perry, who had a huge game against Oklahoma. Strickland is also a point guard with huge scoring ability and Wright is considered by many to be the best overall guard in high school right now.\n"We have great guards coming in, really good guards with speed and quickness," Davis said. "They can shoot the basketball."\nIf the Hoosiers are going to be contenders next March, George Leach will have to become the player IU has been waiting for him to become. Leach had a great game at Charlotte in the season opener, but hurt his ankle on the opening tip of the Big Ten season at Northwestern. Odle replaced him that night and the rest of the season.\n"We all know what George is capable of," Jeff Newton said.\nLikewise, Newton will have to become a more consistent presence down low. Davis said Newton will stay in Bloomington during the summer to get bigger and stronger and Davis said Newton should be one of the best players in the Big Ten next year.\nA.J. Moye will be back for his junior year, and as much as he might want to be in the starting lineup, Davis could keep him as one of the first guys off the bench that can give the Hoosiers energy.\nIllinois and Iowa, the two preseason favorites to dominate the Big Ten this season both lose key seniors. The Fighting Illini will lose five key players and the Hawkeyes will be without Luke Recker and Reggie Evans.\nSo instead of being able to come out of nowhere all season, the Hoosiers should look for a season of high expectations.\nDavis welcomes the challenge.\n"I love coaching," he said. "I couldn't do anything else."\nHalf of the battle might be over for Davis after the Hoosiers' improbable run to the national title game this year. IU is back on the map.\n"It's established and we showed the country how Indiana is going to play in years to come," Coverdale said. "This style of play can win championships"
(04/04/02 5:21am)
The Hoosiers avoided losing him after his freshman year, and IU marched to the national championship game in his second season.\nBut will there be a third season at IU for Jared Jeffries? Everybody seems to have an opinion, but only one person knows the answer.\nOr does he?\n"I'm going to take a little bit of time just to kind of decide what's going to be best for myself and my family," Jeffries said Monday night. "(Playing in the national championship game) is definitely going to weigh into my decision just because it's such an emotional thing. It's such a large part of my life right now."\nAfter a 24-point, 15-rebound effort in the huge upset of No.1 Duke, Jeffries was quiet against Kent State, Oklahoma and Maryland. He had just 16 points combined in the two games at the Final Four.\nSome have said the 6-foot-10, 215-pound Jeffries needs another year in college to polish his game. He made great strides this season, becoming a dominating player at times. But he needs to get bigger, the experts say, and that was never more evident than Monday night.\nLonny Baxter, who is two inches shorter but 60 pounds heavier than Jeffries, dominated the paint against IU. He finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds and kept the paint occupied all night. Jeffries never really got going.\n"He was just kind of bulling our guys out of the way," coach Mike Davis said.\nJeffries finished his sophomore season averaging 15 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. He battled through a thigh bruise and a sprained right ankle this season, missing a 64-63 loss to Wisconsin in February.\nThat night proved how important Jeffries is to the Hoosiers. Even if he doesn't score points, his presence on the floor changes how teams defend IU. If the double-teams come, Jeffries is a great passer and helped setup Tom Coverdale, Kyle Hornsby and Dane Fife for three pointers all season.\nIn Atlanta, Davis was resigned to the fact that Jeffries will leave for the NBA draft this summer. A second-team All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year this season, Jeffries' latest comments sound as if he is leaning toward going pro, but he hasn't announced a decision.\nIf Jeffries were to go, the Hoosiers would lose almost 25 points per game in the frontcourt from Jeffries and Jarrad Odle. Jeff Newton is already being counted on to be a big time contributor next season.\nDavis' first full recruiting class since he has been head coach at IU is guard-oriented. Experts have the class ranked in the top 10 nationally, but that is because of guards Bracey Wright and Marshall Strickland. Daryl Pegram is a forward with a similar body to Jeffries, but he might be red-shirted so he can get thicker.\nJeffries said a news conference in the next couple of weeks is likely. May 12 is the deadline for Jeffries to declare himself eligible for the draft. Regardless of his decision, Davis said the Hoosiers would be ready for next season.\n"I think Indiana basketball's future is bright. It just needs to continue, just keep working and hopefully next year we'll come back," Davis said. "If Jared Jeffries leaves, it's definitely going to affect this basketball team, no question about it.\n"His development to me is right on schedule to being one of the best basketball players in the country. But if he leaves, then who knows?"\nOnly Jeffries does, and Davis said the Hoosiers can only wait for the answer.\n"We'll see," Davis said.
(04/04/02 5:10am)
Six months ago, the Hoosiers were mired in conditioning drills, running around Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium to get into playing shape. While Mike Davis was challenging his players to a sprint that ended with a hamstring injury for Davis, assistant coach John Treloar was telling the Hoosiers something he had noticed.\nTreloar told his players the season ahead had promise.\n"He said we can do some great things this season," A.J. Moye said.\nAlso before the season began, Moye and Jeff Newton noticed the Final Four was going to be played in their hometown of Atlanta. They joked they would be going home at the end of the season.\n Little did they know they would be going home to play for a national championship.\n "We said it back in August," Newton said. "Me and A.J. said we were going home to the Final Four and it worked out."\n It was a long way off, but a trip to the Final Four was the third of three goals IU wanted to accomplish in the 2001-2002 season. And while many students had left campus for Thanksgiving break, the Hoosiers started their season on Sunday night, Nov. 18 at Charlotte. No cameras for a team that wasn't supposed to do much this season.\n The Hoosiers came from behind that night to win, 65-61. And IU laid out how the Hoosiers would win the rest of the season. Great defense, a solid bench, a team effort and a coach that talked with the fans as much as he did with his players during the game.\n"That's my game. I have a good time," Davis said after the season's first win. "I'm just so blessed to be here."\nDavis would carry that attitude all season and his players would adopt that philosophy. The Hoosiers weren't expected to win, so why not just win?\nBut their faith in each other would be tested. Davis bemoaned a tough schedule to start the season and with good reason. By the time IU was ready to start Big Ten play, the Hoosiers sat at 7-5, Davis was being criticized for statements made in a court deposition and IU had played just two games at Assembly Hall.\nAgain, with most students still at home, this time for Christmas, the Hoosiers got a big lift from Jarrad Odle and won at Northwestern Jan. 2, 59-44. Davis had pulled his team together and said it was them against the world.\nThe Hoosiers heeded his words and started to roll. A win at then-No.13 Iowa Jan. 13 had IU in a first place tie with Ohio State at 4-0 atop the Big Ten. That's when the questions and the looks of surprise began to come the Hoosiers' way. \nHow is IU winning? The doubting got old, but the Hoosiers got used to it.\n"We don't consider ourselves underdogs," Dane Fife said before the NCAA title game. "We believe we can win this basketball game, just like we have all season."\nThe doubts were never louder than when the Hoosiers lost on a last second jumper by Luke Recker in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis March 9, 62-60. IU was supposed to pack it in from there. The stage was set for another quick exit from the NCAA tournament.\n"Until we go out there and win, we can't say anything," Coverdale said after the loss to the Hawkeyes.\nThe Hoosiers took out Utah and UNC-Wilmington in the first two rounds in Sacramento before beating No.1 Duke in Lexington. A win against Kent State got IU to the Final Four and on the national stage.\nThe national media asked questions about whose players were winning, Bob Knight's or Davis'. The Hoosiers still revere their former coach, but they know who was in charge this season.\n"Coach Davis is the coach right now," Newton said. "We know that, he knows that. We try to stay away from all those types of distractions."\nAfter beating Oklahoma in the national semifinals, IU fell to Maryland in the national title game Monday night, 64-52. The run had come to an end and the Hoosiers felt a little disappointed.\n"It's more of a feeling of coming up short," Jeffries said Monday night. "Maybe a week from now, if we all look back, maybe it will be a little bit different. But right now it's just the feeling of coming up short."\nThis wasn't a team that had one player who determined whether or not the Hoosiers would win. Jeffries led the team with 15 points and more than seven rebounds per game. \nBut just like they started the season together, with only each other, IU spent the entire season winning and losing together. \nThe Hoosiers will remember what they did in the 2001-2002 season.\n"We played so well together as a team and it has brought me so much joy," Fife said. "It is something that I will never forget"
(04/01/02 7:41am)
ATLANTA - Juan Dixon tied a career-high 33 points in Maryland's 97-88 win against Kansas in the second national semifinal Saturday night at the Georgia Dome. He is the leading scorer in the tournament with 27.4 points per game. Dixon has been in double figures in 53 straight games.\nThose are impressive numbers, so much so that it left senior Dane Fife speechless Sunday. Fife, the Big Ten's co-defensive player of the year, will draw the assignment of slowing down Maryland's all-time leading scorer.\n"I have the utmost and amazing respect for Juan Dixon," Fife said. "My former roommate put it best by saying that Juan Dixon is a stud. I think that he is the catalyst for Maryland basketball."\nDixon was Saturday night after the Terrapins (31-4) fell behind 13-2 to the Jayhawks. The Terps looked to Dixon and he poured in 19 first-half points, at times looking as if he simply wouldn't allow Maryland to lose in the same round it did last year when the Terrapins blew a 22-point lead to Duke.\nAlong with seniors Lonny Baxter and Byron Mouton, Dixon makes up a core of experience that has learned from last seasons' disappointing conclusion. \n"I knew that we weren't satisfied with what happened in the Final Four last year," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "These guys were willing to do whatever it took to get here."\nWhat it has taken is getting used to be the hunted instead of the hunter. Williams is on the cusp of turning around a program that was in turmoil when he got there in 1989 from Ohio State to a perennial national contender. A big reason for Maryland's ascent to the top of college basketball over the past three years is Dixon.\nHis story of losing both his parents while he was growing up has been well publicized, and that experience has helped Dixon become a leader of his team. Until last year, the Terrapins had never been to a Final Four and Williams was fending off a label that said he couldn't win big games.\nDixon has changed that.\n"A lot of great players have come through this program. For us to accomplish two Final Fours two years says a lot about us," Dixon said. "A lot of people counted me out before I even got here. Me not having my parents around, it was a little harder.\n"But I stayed strong and I had (Williams) to help me develop as a person and also as a basketball player."\nThat basketball player has a deadly jump shot that Dixon began to develop as a kid in Baltimore. His ability to score on the perimeter is the perfect compliment to the inside game of Baxter and sophomore forward Chris Wilcox. \nThat balance gave Kansas fits Saturday night, even with Baxter in foul trouble. Wilcox and Tahj Holden helped give Dixon open looks by having presence in the post.\nDixon is used to having to go against the opponents' best defender.\n"It's nothing new to me. I'm just going to go out there and play my game," Dixon said. "I'm not worried at all. I have a lot of confidence in myself. I think I'll be fine."\nNeedless to say, Fife doesn't know where to begin.\n"I am not really sure why he is still playing for Maryland since I think that he should be playing in the pros right now," Fife said. "This is definitely going to be one of the toughest challenges of our careers."\nDixon will be even tougher, especially since he has so much help in the paint. With so much offensive talent, Fife said it won't come down to himself and Dixon. The Terrapins have won 18 of their last 19 games, with the All-American Dixon leading the way most of the time.\nAfter a couple of sub-par defensive games against UNC-Wilmington and Duke, Fife held Oklahoma's Hollis Price to a season-low six points on 1-for-11 shooting in the Hoosiers win Saturday night. \n"I don't think that is going to be the case even if Juan Dixon does get 40 points," Fife said. "It is not going to take one of us, but it is going to take all five of us as a team to win. I don't know how we are going to do that yet, but we have a great coaching staff and they are going to find a way to do it"
(04/01/02 7:36am)
ATLANTA -- Senior Dane Fife sat with a stoic look on his face, looking straight ahead from the seat in front of his locker, still in his uniform 30 minutes after the game with Iowa had ended. Junior Kyle Hornsby was two lockers to Fife's right and in the same position.\nIn an adjoining room, IU coach Mike Davis was sprawled on the floor with his head on his chest and his hands on the back of his head as he and the rest of the IU coaches tried to figure out what had just gone wrong.\nWhat had happened was the Hoosiers had blown another close game, this time in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis March 7. A 15-foot, off balance jumper by Luke Recker as time expired sent Iowa into the tournament finals with a 62-60 win against the Hoosiers.\nIU had lost to Iowa two straight years in the Big Ten Tournament and each loss has been by two points. But the more disturbing trend is how the Hoosiers had continued to have trouble closing out tough games.\n"We have a nice lead going into the last minute, minute and a half and one way or another we find a way to lose games," Fife said. "We better learn how to win those games or it's going to be another one and done (in the NCAA Tournament)."\nJust over three weeks later, the Hoosiers are playing for the national championship against Maryland tonight. The reputation began to be solidified that IU could not close out tough games. At that point, the Hoosiers were 1-5 when a game is decided by less than three points.\nIU has come a long way since then. After cruising past Utah in the first round, the Hoosiers held off UNC-Wilmington late in the second half. And IU looked like a group of world beaters as the Hoosiers rallied and held on for a 74-73 win against No.1 Duke March 21. \nIU held on to its lead to knock off Kent State and the Hoosiers hit their free throws to close out Oklahoma Saturday night.\nAll this success has come on the heels of a recent history IU would like to forget. After a similar loss to the Hawkeyes last year, the Hoosiers bowed out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round to Kent State.\n"I just remember sitting there and thinking that this can't be happening again," Hornsby recalled Sunday. "We all talked about that. There was no reason we shouldn't go further."\nThe fear of following a tough Big Ten tournament loss with another first round exit in the NCAAs apparently has scared the Hoosiers into shape.\n"It was a tough loss, but it might have been a blessing in disguise for the simple fact that we could come into the tournament a little bit more fresh," senior Jarrad Odle said. "Every loss we've had this year, we've learned from. \n"On the bus ride (after the Iowa loss), we always discuss games whether we win or lose. We were very upset, but we knew five days later we'd be playing in the NCAA Tournament. We had to take care of things from there. We knew what our goal was."\nMore than anything, the Hoosiers have taken the lessons learned from painful losses and have parlayed those experiences into a trip to the national title game. \nAfter the loss to the Hawkeyes, sophomore Jared Jeffries said the Hoosiers are a different team from last year and a first round loss should not be expected.\n"Hopefully we're strong enough mentally to put this game behind us and don't worry about it. It's by no means the end of our season," Jeffries said after the Iowa loss. "I know the coaches aren't going to let this ruin the rest of our season. \n"You have to look within this team and find strength in each other. We're going to be able to bounce back from this and keep playing."\nObviously, the Hoosiers have some strength.\n"We're just more experienced than we were last year. We've learned from our mistakes," junior Tom Coverdale said. "When we started out 7-5 at the beginning of the year we learned from a lot of our mistakes. We've been through so many tough games that after we lost, we knew how to bounce back and stay on track"
(03/29/02 9:14pm)
One hour before the Hoosiers started their NCAA Tournament run against Utah two weeks ago, IU coach Mike Davis wasn't drawing up plays or lecturing his team. No, he was watching the New York Knicks play the Sacramento Kings on a television inside of Arco Arena in Sacramento, offering his description of the play to arena workers.\nLast year, Davis probably was doing something different before the NCAA Tournament. But this year, he has things in perspective.\nPastor Jeffrey Johnson of the Eastern Star Church in Indianapolis helped Davis get here by guiding Davis through the last two years. Johnson said the difference is like night and day. From last year to this year, Davis has grown into his role as the head coach at IU.\nThe self-doubt is gone.\n"You can tell in how he is on the bench, you can tell just by talking to him and you can tell by the press conferences," Johnson said. "He knows it's his job and he's good at it."\nDavis' growth was on display when the Hoosiers finished their pre-conference schedule at 7-5, disappointing to some even though it was against the third-toughest schedule in the nation and IU had played just twice at Assembly Hall.\nStill, the doubters didn't rattle Davis, who has never been a head coach anywhere else -- at any level. He counts this season as his first year as a head coach.\n"When they were 7-5, he didn't think anything about it," Johnson said. "He still thought they were going to win the Big Ten."\nThe Hoosiers did, sharing the conference title with Wisconsin, Ohio State and Illinois. Davis contends IU would have had that championship to itself if a right ankle sprain hadn't hobbled sophomore forward Jared Jeffries.\nAs improbable as any type of Big Ten title was at the end of December, Davis still believed.\n"Coach Davis, after the pre-conference schedule was over, said 'It's over. Now it's a whole new season,'" sophomore guard A.J. Moye said. "That's just coach. He's a positive guy, and that's what makes him the classy individual that he is."\nBut things weren't this way a season ago, when Davis was stepping into one of the biggest jobs in college basketball.\nThe Sunday after he was given the interim job in September of 2000, Davis went to the Eastern Star Church for the first time after seeing Johnson on television. Davis said he felt as if Johnson had been talking to him, and Davis needed somewhere to turn.\n"Hard times will take you out of your comfort zone, and when you're out of your comfort zone you need something to look to," Davis said. "I had to be strong, and I wasn't strong at the time."\nJohnson said he would call Davis last season just to give him somebody to talk to who didn't care what the Hoosiers' record was. Now the two talk maybe once a week, but last year Johnson saw Davis needed him.\nThe stress of following Bob Knight is constant, and at first, Davis had trouble dealing with it.\n"The stress is part of being here," Davis' wife, Tamilya, said. "We have never not been under stress. I really think that's just the way people are in Indiana. It's kind of like what Mike said -- you really don't know what they want."\nLast April, IU president Myles Brand saw past the first round exit from the NCAA Tournament, the 21-13 finish and the critical alumni that doubted Davis should be the coach. With the players behind him and the most wins by a first-year head coach in school history, Davis was awarded a four-year contract last April. \nThe job was his, and he began to put his stamp on IU basketball.\nHe did so by ignoring the critics. With his team getting ready for the Big Ten season in January, he told his players that the only allies they had were the people they saw around them on the floor.\n"Coach Davis brought us together as a unit," junior forward Jeff Newton said. "He told us that it was just us and the coaching staff. As long as we stick together and believed that we could do it, then we could do it."\nThe Hoosiers won four in a row to start the Big Ten season and didn't look back. IU learned how to win on the court while Davis' spiritual side started to rub off on his players off the court. He added a team chaplain and, as the season went on, church attendance rose from one or two to nearly the entire team.\nDavis said he never forced his players to pray or do anything religious. But it's obvious they have followed his cue.\n"He's really a role model to these young men who he coaches," Johnson said. "Even listening to Dane Fife and Jared Jeffries speak about the blessings of God. They realize life is bigger than basketball.\n"(Davis) isn't preaching to them, he's just living it. Some of it has got to rub off on them."\nThe roots of Davis' spirituality extend back to his grandfather, Reverend J.H. Thompson, who was a Baptist preacher when Davis was growing up in Alabama. It shows.\nThis year, he has been his own man. His 3-year old son, Antoine, is always around. Before every post-game press conference he thanks God for the opportunity he has to be the Hoosiers' head coach.\n"I know (God) is the reason I'm here," Davis says.\nAnd most obviously, Davis is almost always smiling. Even after losses at Michigan State and Illinois cost the Hoosiers an outright share of the conference title, Davis walked into the interview room smiling. Some rumbled that he shouldn't be smiling, but Davis is used to criticism. \nIn that way, he doesn't see much difference between the last two years. But now, he doesn't listen when people say the Hoosiers can't beat Duke or get to the Final Four. The Hoosiers have done both now that Davis is leading the way with some help from Johnson.\n"This year was the same way. We go 7-5 and everybody said, 'Well, he's not doing it,'" Davis said. "You have to stay faithful. We went through a lot last year. Just going through that, there's no way the Final Four can be more distracting.\n"I've never walked this path, but I've said from day one, when God's with you, you don't need experience"
(03/29/02 9:13pm)
Freshman Donald Perry ended up at the free throw line 10 times in the last 2:14 of last Saturday night's South Regional final against Kent State. The free throws were insurance to the Hoosiers' lead, which was 72-58 when Perry was fouled at the 2:14 mark.\nPerry promptly missed the front end of a one-and-one.\n"When I missed that first one, I was like 'OK, they're going to foul me and I'm going to make the rest,'" Perry said afterwards. \nPerry didn't, hitting just four of those free throws as the Hoosiers coasted to an 81-69 win. His free-throw shooting performance had the crowd groaning, all of his teammates offering him counsel on the floor and IU coach Mike Davis giving Perry some advice when he left the game.\n"He said I played tough and don't worry about the free throws," Perry said. "Just knock them down next time."\nTomorrow, the Hoosiers will need Perry to do much more than knock down insurance free throws down the stretch to secure a double-digit lead. With junior guard Tom Coverdale questionable with a left ankle sprain, the 6-foot-2, 170-pound Perry will have to play a much more important role.\nAgainst the Golden Flashes Perry was a factor in the second half when Kent State had cut the Hoosiers' lead, which had been at 20 earlier, to seven at 59-52. After a couple of turnovers against a full-court trap, Perry settled down.\n"He did great after he settled down against Kent State," Davis said. "He was put in the game in a tough situation. He's a really good player. We'll work on press attack and full-court pressure to get him ready."\nIn the NCAA Tournament, Perry is averaging five points, an assist and two turnovers in 15 minutes of action per game. Perry has been steadily improving as the season has progressed. \nHe said his biggest problems seem to arise when he thinks too much instead of just playing basketball.\n"Most of my turnovers come from trying to make passes in the offense. I try to carry out the play and think too much," Perry said. "I'm worried about it too much. The only time I turn the ball over too much is when I play too careful. If I'm just playing and not thinking, I'm all right."\nPerry was a big-time scorer at McCall High School in Tallulah, La. But the Hoosiers aren't worried about him scoring points. His season-high is eight, which came against Texas in November.\nInstead, Davis wants the turnover number low and the assist number high. That would be hard for anybody against the aggressive defense Perry will see from Oklahoma and the Sooners' point guard Hollis Price Saturday night.\n"He does a great job of penetrating when there's a lot of perimeter pressure," junior Kyle Hornsby said. "He's made a lot of good decisions in the last few games."\nIf there is any way Coverdale can play, he will. He has played in every game this season despite a variety of injuries, including a sore back. Coverdale averaged 12.2 points and nearly five assists to his 2.6 turnovers per game.\nIf he can't play Saturday, Coverdale is comfortable with Perry on the floor.\n"I haven't talked to him that much, but I told him he better be ready to go because we're going to need him. He's up for the challenge," Coverdale said. "It's hard to be thrown into a situation where you have to play right away as a freshman. I wasn't ready for it.\n"He's ready to play, and his confidence is 10 times better."\nPerry said his hometown, which is about five hours from Atlanta, will be watching. But his family will be there, and he said his dad, Donald Sr., will be at the Georgia Dome to calm him down.\nHe did not see this opportunity coming in his freshman season, but Perry welcomes the challenge.\n"This all happened so fast. Guys just go down in a split second. All the sudden you're the starting point guard in the Final Four," Perry said. "I know it's going to be real big, but it's still basketball. It's just another game. If you're a prime-time player, you have to step up."\nThe Hoosiers know Perry can play. Now they hope he can do so at the Final Four.\n"He might need to shoot a few more free throws," Hornsby joked. "But I have faith in Donald. He's going to do a good job if (Coverdale) is having some problems."\nPerry said he dreamed of playing in the Final Four, emulating Jalen Rose as a kid. Perry said the nerves are gone, and the free throws won't be a problem.\n"(I've been) working on them, trying to shoot as many as I can, till my arm gets tired. When you miss a couple, you start trying to aim," he said. "I'll hit them next time"
