Hoosiers hope to advance

It's been 12 years since the men's basketball team lost a game in the National Invitation Tournament, and the Hoosiers are looking to extend a nine-game NIT winning streak at 8 p.m. against South Alabama at Assembly Hall.\nIU (1-0) advanced to the second round Tuesday with an 80-68 win against Pepperdine. South Alabama defeated Marquette 67-54 in another first-round game. The Hoosiers hold a 2-0 record against the Jaguars. The last time the two teams met was Dec. 13, 1997, in the Indiana Classic when IU won 64-56. \nSouth Alabama returns four starters, including center Virgil Stanescu, a 6-foot-10 Romanian who averaged 13.4 points and 6.9 rebounds last year. Stanescu could be a problem for the Hoosiers in the middle if he stays out of foul trouble. Senior guard Ravonte Dantzler, who averaged 12.3 points per game last season, scored a game-high 20 points against Marquette -- 18 of which came in the second half. Sophomore guard Demetrice Williams and senior forward Reggie York also return from last year\'s starting lineup. \nSouth Alabama finished with a 20-10 record last year and was a Sun Belt conference tournament finalist. Coach Bob Weltlich, in his fourth season at South Alabama, earned last year\'s conference Coach of the Year Award. \nInterim head coach Mike Davis' record is just beginning. It wasn't until the second half of Tuesday's game that IU overcame its opening-game jitters and began to play comfortably. The Hoosiers had five turnovers in their first seven possessions, and junior guard Dane Fife said mistakes like that will have to be eliminated tonight. \n"We've got to come out stronger," Fife said. "The guards came out and struggled a little. Our effort defensively kept us in the game."\nSo did the effort of junior forward Kirk Haston, who tied a career-high with 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds against Pepperdine. It was the best season opening performance by a Hoosier since since 1982, when Randy Wittman scored 28 points against Ball State. Davis said he has been counting on Haston and freshman forward Jared Jeffries for strong performances inside. Jeffries finished with 15 points and five rebounds in his freshman debut.\n"What I want to do is get Kirk Haston and Jared Jeffries in the post immediately and get the ball to them," Davis said. "There's no one that can stop Kirk Haston if he gets the ball inside. He has a hook shot, jump shot. It's going to be hard for people go on Kirk Haston and Jared Jeffries in the post."\nHaston, Jeffries, Fife, junior forward Jarrad Odle and sophomore guard Tom Coverdale are tonight's expected starters.