Sports

Hoosiers fall to OSU

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With four minutes left Saturday and IU trailing Ohio State 62-59, Mike Davis told his defense it needed to make only four more defensive stops. That was the mission. If it was accomplished, IU would walk out of Value City Arena still unblemished in the Big Ten and with sole possession of first place. The mission went awry. Ohio State (14-2, 5-0 Big Ten) hit the offensive glass, played tight defense and out-scored the No. 25 Hoosiers (11-6, 4-1) 11-8 during that stretch, allowing the Buckeyes to win 73-67 in front of 19,200 and grab the league's top slot.

IU heads into Big Ten play

After winning nine of its last 11 games, the IU baseball team starts the Big Ten regular season against a team that was one game away from the college World Series.

Spiderman back again

INDIANAPOLIS -- Spiderman is back again, but he's not in New York City and he's not feared by all. In fact, the people love him when he crawls up the fence and salutes them. And he did just that Sunday.

Around the Game

All-Stars strive to impress

PHILADELPHIA - The city of brotherly love gave the NBA's best and brightest the freedom to be showy, clownish and silly Sunday night at the All-Star game. With spectators such as lovebirds Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, the "Greatest," Muhammad Ali, P. Diddy and Magic Johnson, the East and West stars battled for who-can-be-the-most-impressive.

Burton gets out of slump

LOUDON, N.H. -- Ward Burton, stuck in a miserable slump since winning the Daytona 500, overcame hazardous track conditions and a late caution to win the New England 300 on Sunday.

Hoosiers defeat Spartans

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The defeated Michigan State Spartans had silently filed off the field. The MSU coaches and cheerleaders were long gone, and the Spartan Marching Band was doing its post-game show. But the Hoosier football team was not stepping off the field until it got what it wanted: the Old Brass Spittoon. It's a trophy that has been awarded to the winner of the MSU-IU game since 1950, and IU wanted what it rightfully earned on the field. "This is a tradition," senior quarterback Antwaan Randle El said after the game, holding the Spittoon. "When you win, you get the Spittoon. That's what we've been talking about all week. We said we wouldn't leave until we got it, but we got it and now we can go home."

Punting problem plagues IU

All eyes remain on Antwaan Randle El and Tommy Jones this week, following a poor offensive performance in the season opener against North Carolina State. During and since the game, commentators and fans have wondered aloud if the new offensive plan would work. But quarterback, coach Cam Cameron said, isn't IU's prime concern. "I know the number one thing we've got to solve is our punting problem," he said. "I can promise you. It doesn't matter who your quarterback is. You are not going to be able to overcome our punting performance in that last game."

Season opens with annual regatta

The women's rowing team began its fall season Saturday at the Fourth Annual Lemonhead Regatta at Bloomington's Lake Lemon.

Hoosiers to face Hawkeyes at home

Coming off their first dual meet tie since the 1990-1991 season, the women's swimming and diving team is looking to continue its improvement in today's match-up against Iowa at the Counsilman/Billingsley Aquatic Center at 5 p.m. The Hoosiers are ranked No. 17 by the College Swim Coaches Association of America and bring a 1-0-1 overall record into the meet with an 0-0-1 record in Big Ten duals. Iowa comes to Bloomington with an 0-1 record in both overall and Big Ten competition.

Man convicted for killing player's mother

A man has been convicted of killing the mother of IU running back Levron Williams hours after she watched him play his final collegiate game.

Who's guarding who?

A day before the biggest IU game -- arguably -- since 1993, the Hoosiers are playing "Who's Guarding Who?" Dane Fife on Mike Dunleavy or Fife on Chris Duhon?. Tom Coverdale on Jason Williams? Jarrad Odle on Carlos Boozer? Jared Jeffries on ...?

Comparing greatness

The IU basketball tradition is proven and powerful. When recruits slip on the red and white (soon to cream and crimson, again) warmups, they throw themselves into the fans' eyes and the athletes are doomed to comparisons with their predecessors. This year is no different. The Hoosiers have opened the Big Ten season with four consecutive wins, landing them at the top of the conference standings. Sunday, IU cruised to an 11-point victory over then 13th ranked Iowa at a hostile Carver-Hawkeye Arena. That victory was more than a point below the 12.75 point margin of victory the team has recorded in those four wins.

Athletics department announces new coach

Sara Hayes can see her dreams taking shape. As the new head coach of the softball team, Hayes said she sees IU as a traditionally-excellent university, and she chose to take the position for that reason.

Recker wrecks Hoosiers

INDIANAPOLIS - For those IU fans who aren't fond of Luke Recker, this one wasn't easy to swallow. And it won't be for a long, long time. He did it all - hit a three-pointer to tie the game, got a rebound and timeout to set up his Hoosier heartbreaking lay and drained a jumper as time expired. Recker took his lumps during two losses to his former team this season. Saturday, he closed the final chapter with the last laugh, a bang and a shot that hit nothing but net with nothing but zeros on the clock.

Davis gets praise for success on the court

Mike Davis saw the highlights from IU's win Thursday night on "Sportscenter," brief as they might have been. And he also heard what the anchor had to say. "She said that my critics can leave me alone now because I've won a game in the NCAA (Tournament)," Davis said, smiling. Several people and most of the national media said that same thing in Sacramento this weekend, and that might include some Hoosier fans who still might not believe Davis is the best man to coach IU. With two regular seasons gone and one first round tournament loss last year to No. 13 seed Kent State, Davis said he felt the pressure Thursday night before the win against Utah, probably the same pressure he has felt every day since he was given the job at an interim level in September of 2000.

Basketball notebook: Haston makes 3rd-team All-American squad

SAN DIEGO -- Junior forward Kirk Haston was named to the third team All-American squad Tuesday by the Associated Press. The first-team All-Big Ten player averaged 18.7 points and 8.7 rebounds in all games. During the Big Ten season he led the league in scoring (20.3 points per game), and finished second in rebounding (9.4 rebounds per game).

Back of pack hopeful about race day

The final row in the 2001 women's Little 500 is no different than the final rows in the men's race; most of the teams in the back of the pack lack experience. This row is no different. The final qualifier lost a team member two days before qualifications, and another squad hasn't raced since 1997.

Hoosiers tee off at Xavier Invitational

The Hoosiers are in Cincinnati today to tee off in the two-day, 54-hole Xavier Invitational. IU is coming off of a third place finish in last week's Wolverine Invitational as it heads into the week's 19-team tournament. The Hoosiers will be competing against Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan, Georgetown, Kentucky, Louisville, Marshall, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio, Penn State, Western Kentucky, Wisconsin, Wright State and Xavier.

Been done before, but still scary

Sometimes, the scariest movies don't let you see the thing you are afraid of. Typically, our own fear-inducing imaginations scare us a lot more than what's revealed explicitly. Who hasn't been home alone at night and associated every little noise they heard with an intruder in the house? Well, Mark Pellington, director of "Mothman Prophecies," understands this philosophy. Seeing is sometimes not nearly as scary as imagining.