First Big Ten road win still elusive for IU Hoosiers
After Sunday's overtime win against Northwestern at Assembly Hall, junior guard Jenny DeMuth said she was dissatisfied.
After Sunday's overtime win against Northwestern at Assembly Hall, junior guard Jenny DeMuth said she was dissatisfied.
In the middle of his senior year, former IU quarterback Antwaan Randle El had no clue where his football career would take him after he graduated. Two years later, Randle El stood in the middle of Assembly Hall holding up a framed No. 11 jersey in front of thousands of screaming fans.
It's no secret the success of the IU women's tennis team has been the result of grueling off-season training and the consistency and depth from new talent. But leading the charge for the squad this spring stems from the trio of seniors who lead the team into Big Ten action.
The holiday break is a time for rest, relaxation and being lazy. Students travel away from Bloomington to distance themselves from the responsibilities of the past semester. The IU wrestling team had a different schedule.
Aikman, Irvin and Smith. Ring a bell? Of course it does. These are recognizable names from the dominant Dallas Cowboys squad that earned the label of America's Team, but Brady, Bruski and Law? Are most people aware these are names representing the AFC in this year's Super Bowl?
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- There are two players on the IU men's basketball roster who have become quite the pair on the court -- at home, and away. Sophomore guards Bracey Wright and Marshall Strickland are IU's backcourt, and in the team's 69-61 road victory over Ohio State (9-8, 1-3 Big Ten), the two had a combined 47 points. The two guards were also the top scorers in Saturday's victory over Northwestern.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Two big steals down the stretch by sophomore Bracey Wright allowed IU to pull out another road win in the Big Ten against Ohio State 69-61, Tuesday at Value City Arena. The Hoosiers (9-6, 3-1 Big Ten) converted 10-12 free throws down the stretch to withstand a late Buckeye run. Wright led the Hoosiers with 28 points and IU sophomore Marshall Strickland finished with 19.
An epidemic of football fever swept across Bloomington Sunday as Colts fans showed up en masse and filled every table at Yogi's Bar and Grill to watch their team go for its first Super Bowl appearance in Indianapolis franchise history. However, the New England Patriots defense was effectively able to subdue the Colts offense and the crowd's collective mood in a 24-14 AFC Championship victory. As is often the case before the big game, fans were in good spirits. People razzed the announcers any time they suggested that the Colts might lose, or in the case of Deion Sanders, every time he opened his mouth. When Dan Marino picked the Patriots before the game, someone asked, "What do you know about the Super Bowl?" When quarterback Tom Brady marched the Patriots offense onto the field for the first time, he was met by the cry of "Pretty boy!"
If any word can sum up IU's 58-55 overtime win it, would be streaky. IU and Northwestern traded scoring tirades, traded the lead eight times and tied the score seven times. The Hoosiers faced tough outside shooting from the Wildcats, who hit five of their first six shots from behind the arc. Northwestern's sharp shooting, led by Wildcat freshman Alex Mueller, who hit three consecutive three's in the first half, put IU into an early 23-14 deficit.
The brooms came out Saturday night as the Hockey Hoosiers capped off a sweep of in-state and division rival Purdue. IU won the first game, played in Fishers, Ind., 6-2 and netted their second win of the weekend with a 5-2 effort in Bloomington the following day. The two rivals treated fans to classic contests between the bitter rivals, highlighted by countless penalty minutes and a benches-clearing brawl. With time winding down in the second period of Friday's game, a Purdue defenseman threw an illegal knee on a fast-breaking Hoosier. As the IU team responded to protect their downed skater, the benches from both sides cleared and pandemonium ensued. IU then rallied, putting the game out of reach by killing a five-on-three shorthanded penalty situation. But the damage was already done, as the brawl led nine Hoosiers and several Boilermakers to suspension for Saturday's contest, with a few more suspended into next week.
Senior guard A.J. Moye said he can hardly remember the last time Indiana beat Ohio State in Columbus. "I think I've won there once, and that was my freshman year and we had Kirk Haston hitting shots out the wazoots," Moye said. "It's tough playing there." IU (8-6, 2-1 Big Ten) will face Ohio State (9-7, 1-2) at 7 p.m. tonight at the Value City Arena at Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus, an arena that holding 19,200 fans. "The fans get into it regardless of their record," Moye said. "But we showed good on the road the last time. We need to have a carry-over and I think we will."
Behind a strong defensive effort and hot shooting in the second half, the Hoosiers expanded their one-point halftime lead into an 11-point win Saturday over the Northwestern Wildcats, 73-62, in front of 15,140 at Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers (8-6, 2-1 Big Ten) had six days to prepare for a Northwestern team that knocked them off the last time the teams met. The Wildcats (7-8, 2-2) shot 50 percent in the game but were held to 39.7 percent Saturday.
PHILADELPHIA -- The Carolina Panthers made sure their stunning run to the Super Bowl wasn't stopped by a Philadelphia team flopping at the final hurdle. While the Panthers are headed to their first Super Bowl after a dominating 14-3 victory in the NFC championship game Sunday night, the Eagles fell one win short of the big game for the third straight year.
FOXBORO, Mass. -- Peyton Manning anticipated a perfect ending to his best season. The New England Patriots rewrote the script. In the biggest game of his career, Manning turned in his worst performance of the season -- throwing four interceptions and getting sacked four times as the Patriots' smothering defense sent him home with a 24-14 loss in the AFC championship game Sunday. "Every time you throw interceptions, that's the quarterback," Manning said. "I made some bad throws and some bad decisions."
In recent years, a match-up with Northwestern would mean a win for IU. The Hoosiers (7-6, 2-1 Big Ten) hold the all-time series mark 101-41 and have won nine of the last 10. But that loss came in the teams' last meeting, and the Wildcats (7-7, 2-1) are off to a fast start in the Big Ten, winning at Iowa and beating No. 25 Illinois, Wednesday. The Hoosiers look to defend their home court 2 p.m. Saturday in their Big Ten home opener and knock off the up-start Wildcats.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Colts fullback Tom Lopienski waited all season to touch the football and tight end Joe Dean Davenport went seven games without having a pass thrown his direction. Both delivered when given the chance. With players like Lopienski and Davenport, Brandon Stokley and Reggie Wayne now on Peyton Manning's radar, opponents look almost defenseless against an Indianapolis offense that finds new contributors every week.
A busy weekend awaits the Hoosier wrestling team as they host a meet Saturday afternoon and go on the road to Indianapolis Sunday. The grapplers will face off against Duke, Eastern Michigan, and Missouri Valley in Bloomington with matches starting at 11 a.m.
The IU women's track and field team begins the 2004 season with high expectations this weekend as the Hoosiers take on Michigan. After losing 13 runners to graduation, the Hoosier's season began to look slow, but the appointment of Randy Heisler as the director of track and field in August and Heisler's signing of three in-state sprinters in December have brought the program back up to speed.
After starting the season traveling throughout the Midwest playing in fall tournaments, the No. 51 Hoosiers will begin the regular season by facing the No. 49 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at noon, Saturday at the IU Tennis Center. The Hoosiers will look to continue their success against the Irish, as last year they traveled up to South Bend and defeated Notre Dame, 4-3.
The women's basketball team gets the privilege of returning home this weekend for a match-up with Northwestern on Sunday. Assembly Hall has been a stranger to the Hoosiers in recent weeks. IU has played just one home game since Dec. 22, a 60-39 rout of Wisconsin on Jan. 8. In that same frame, the Hoosiers have trekked to four different schools, including last night's contest at Iowa. Needless to say, the team is eager to return.