Loading ...Final score: Indiana 77, Western Michigan 69
9 comments
by Chris Korman | Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - 7:01 pm UTC
Indiana was a little bit too tenacious on defense in the second half, and Western Michigan couldn’t keep up.
Thanks for joining us.
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Armon Bassett has the hot hand, but everytime it looks like the Hoosiers are about to pull away Western Michigan drains a 3 or gets a layup. It’s 59-53 Indiana with 6:25 left.
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Indiana pulls ahead with some fast break baskets and a couple of Wilmont 3s early in the second half. Hoosier lead 46-41 with 12:30 left.
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Halftime stats: Ratliff and White: 7-of-12 shooting combined; the rest of the Hoosiers: 5-18. Western Michigan ahead in rebounding 21-17. IU 2-of-13 on 3s.
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Halftime: Western Michigan 30, Indiana 27
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The Hoosiers look bad right now. Stemler misses an open 3, grimaces and then makes a foul on the other end. He’s out. Ratliff comes in and scores his eighth and ninth points on a drive. Indiana trails 28-27 with a couple of minutes left in the half.
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Indiana has picked up its defense the last few minutes and has throttled the Broncos to pull within one at 24-23 with 4:44 left in the half. Another real offensive showcase.
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Both teams picking up the pace offensively. D.J. has seven points and is about to go to the line after a timeout. Western Michigan ahead 21-16. Ratliff is having a good first half, too. He may meet Sampson’s goal of two straight good games. Stemler’s only basket was a lay-up. He still hasn’t hit a jumper since Keeling kicked him in the head.
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The crowd has had one thing to get loud about thus far. Suhr came in the game. Hoosiers now trailing 17-12.
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Indiana trails 15-12 at the 11:26 point in the first half. D.J. White has a size advantage and is off to a better start offensively than he had against Southern Illinois, but otherwise this isn’t much of a performance by the Hoosiers so far.
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Fewer than 10,000 people here I’d say as lineups are being introduced. For Indiana: Calloway, Ratliff, Wilmont, Stemler, D.J. White
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The Santa Claus on stilts is off the Assembly Hall court now, so it must be almost gametime.
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It’s a lovely night for basketball here in Bloomington, Indiana. And by that I mean that it’s absolutely miserable outside and the best thing to do is cozy up with other fans here at Assembly Hall.
The Broncos have six players from Indiana compared to five for the Hoosiers (and two of them are seldom used Kyle Taber and Adam Ahlfeld). So maybe the Western Michigan kids will have some motivation to beat the marquee school in their home state. But that’s such a tired story line I don’t want to say anything more about it.
A lackluster start for the Hoosiers in front of a lackluster crowd. Trailing 10-6 four minutes in. This game has all the electricity of the school board meetings I used to cover.
With 7:42 left in the first half the Hoosiers are shooting 31 percent (5-for-16) and are 1-for-7 from 3-point.
They’re also being out rebounded 14-8.
Well, with 4:45 left in the first half, I think it’s safe to say this is probably the worst half the Hoosiers have played all season. There’s some shabby basketball going on. I need a Red Bull.
Now the 3-pointers are falling. Wilmont just hit one off a nice feed from Bassett. Those two seem to have a little chemistry playing up top. Bassett moves so well that it backs off the entire perimeter defense, allowing Wilmont a bit more room.
Bassett drove the lane earlier in the half on a nice play, so now the Broncos are a bit weary of him.
Hack a Hoosier is Western Michigan’s new strategy. Bodies are flying everywhere. Calloway is 4-for-4 from the line this quarter and Indiana looks like it might finally have control of the game.
Little Bassett can jump. He went in all alone and elevated up for the dunk.
He’s also utilizing the short jumper, going into the lane and either stopping and shooting or even stepping back out to hit from there. He’s finding his way nicely.
Hoosiers up 56-50 with 7:39 left, and they’re doing the flag drill. My question, for all you IU historians, is this: has anyone ever been injured during this thing? It appears to take a high level of skill and a little bit of luck.
I don’t recall anyone ever being injured, but I do recall some rather embarassing instances of poor timing leading to poor spelling.
Nice jumper there by White. He’s getting his feel back and hitting with more regularity from there.
White has been good all around tonight but there’s not much traffic down there.
No sign of Allen yet. Guess Sampson is choosing to be cautious with the big guy from Australia. He’s probably not yet in game shape.