Hoosiers Avenge Loss To 49ers, White Returns
by Zach Smart
The Indiana Hoosiers kept seeing flashes of it. It was right there, still fresh in their minds, months and months after Brendan Plavich’s half-court prayer at the buzzer found the bottom of the net and robbed Indiana of the victory.
The Hoosiers buried three-pointer after three-pointer and then the 49ers, 71-54, at Charlotte Monday evening to exact some revenge for last year’s one-point loss. With that, they buried and erased the memories of Plavich’s questionable (the Hoosiers strongly felt that Plavich released the ball after time had expired) buzzer-beater.
The Hoosiers connected on 13-of-23 from behind the arc, with Marshall Strickland and Robert Vaden netting four apiece. Crisp ball movement, especially when making the extra pass for an easy bucket, was also key for the Hoosiers.
Auburn transfer Marco Killingsworth, 20 days after his coming-out party against Duke (when he gave Shelden Williams the business and got the better of the Blue Devil big man), continued his strong play down low. Killingsworth finished with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a three-pointer during the run.
Despite not playing in nine days, the Hoosiers shot 53 percent from the floor.
The No.18 Hoosiers have been shooting treys as well as anyone in the nation as of late. Throughout history, the program has been known to produce dangerous three-point assassins. There was Steve Alford, Calbert Cheaney, and the man with the lightning-quick release shot, Kyle Hornsby, who played on the 2002 team Hoosier ballclub that advanced to the championship game of the NCAA tournament.
A barrage of three-pointers fueled a 22-2 first half spurt for the Hoosiers.
A posterizing dunk by the 49ers’ Curtis Withers tied the game at 13. Withers soared to the basket and threw it down with authority, firing up the Niners early on.
Charlotte’s intensity level wouldn’t stay high for long. Roderick Wilmont (3-3 on three-pointers, 9 points) connected on a trifecta to give Indiana a 21-18 lead with 7:29 remaining. This lead changed to 30-20 after IU let off a freefall of threes. Long range shots from Vaden, Strickland, and Wilmont all cuffed the bottom of the nylon.
Killingsworth then stepped back to net a three of his own, increasing the Hoosier lead to 13 with 5:07 left to play in the half.
“It’s not like it’s a fluke or anything,” Charlotte’s Mitchell Baldwin said to ESPN after the game. “They got into a flow where they were moving to open spots and hitting threes. We just had to get to their shooters.”
Charlotte had one surge in the second half, concluded by a technical foul on Davis, that trimmed the lead to six. Indiana responded as Ratliff drained a three, and the Hoosiers pulled away from that point on.
D.J. White saw his first action of the season and came off the bench in the first half for the Hoosiers. The 6-foot-10 sophomore had been out with a broken foot that he suffered during the exhibition season.
White, though not yet at full stride, showed signs of what he’s capable of doing. He ran the floor and threw down a nasty two-handed jam to make the score 63-49 and had two blocks at the other end of the floor. Three blocks really, but a questionable call converted one White swat into one of his three personal fouls. He finished with eight points and five boards in 17 minutes.
