Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Indiana
Men's Basketball Loses at No. 25 Indiana, 79-67
3/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 2, 2002
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Northwestern got 24 points from senior Tavaras Hardy and 11 points from reserve Drew Long, but it was not enough as the Wildcats fell to Indiana, 79-67. On Senior Day at IU's Assembly Hall, the 25th-ranked Hoosiers clinched a share of the Big Ten title with the victory.
Tom Coverdale scored 20 points, while Jarrad Odle added 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his home finale as Indiana ended a two-game losing streak.
"Who would have thought this team would come in here and win a championship?" senior Dane Fife said after scoring eight points. "But it's right here - on our shirts."
Just how many teams will share that title with Indiana, and what seeding the Hoosiers (19-10, 11-5) get in next week's Big Ten tournament, are still in question.
Wisconsin clinched its share of the title and the tournament's top seeding by winning on Wednesday. Ohio State also gained a share Saturday night, defeating Michigan in Ann Arbor. Illinois visits Minnesota on Sunday. The Big Ten has never had a four-way tie for first.
Northwestern, meanwhile, learned its fate in the Big Ten Tournament first round as it arrived in Evanston following the game. The Wildcats are the seventh seed and will meet Michigan, who tied for eighth place in the Big Ten with Iowa and Purdue but get the 10th seed due to the first tiebreaker (head to head competition). That first-round game will take place Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at approximately 4:30 p.m. EST/3:30 p.m. CST, and will be broadcast live on ESPN.
For the Hoosiers, a share of the title was just as good as winning it outright - for now.
"I know some people wish we did this outright," coach Mike Davis told the Assembly Hall crowd during postgame senior ceremonies. "There's a lot of time left to do that. But we had to get one before we got two."
Getting the first was no easy task, though, and Northwestern made sure of it.
The Wildcats (16-12, 7-9) were sharper early, ran the clock, took advantage of mistakes by the Hoosiers defense and even charged back at the end.
Their deliberate offense led to several first-half layups, and center Aaron Jennings was too much for the Hoosiers to handle when the Wildcats took a 17-6 lead.
"It was good to see our guys come out and seem to play with some confidence," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "I'm certainly not happy we lost, but I'm glad we played a little better than we had been playing."
The Hoosiers, who started slowly, refused to let their last chance to win their 20th Big Ten title slip away.
"We had too much heart to do that," Fife said.
They also got some help.
When Jennings drew his second foul with 8:54 left in the first half, the Hoosiers took advantage. They scored the next nine points to tie the score at 19 and managed to take a 33-32 halftime lead.
Northwestern was never the same again.
Indiana, meanwhile, surged.
They used an 8-0 run early in the second half to take control and when their 22-8 run ended with 8:09 left, the Hoosiers led 62-47.
Indiana's coronation was marred late when Fife drew a technical foul for pushing Hardy in the chest after having a layup blocked in spectacular fashion by Long. Fife was replaced on the floor and engaged in a brief shouting match with Davis on the sideline. The technical allowed Northwestern to complete a five-point play.
"I plead insanity on that one," Fife said. "When I got to the bench, Coach Davis said 'What in the world are you thinking?"'
Northwestern used the technical to close to within 73-67, but then the Hoosiers put away the Wildcats for the 28th straight time at Assembly Hall, where the Wildcats have never won.
Portions of this story were taken from the Associated Press account of this game.
