Trip motivates team

Freshman A.J. Moye heard the question during every huddle and timeout of IU's 70-62 victory against South Alabama: "Do you all want to go to New York?"\nOf course he and the rest of the Hoosiers answered "yes" Friday night, but before IU could advance to the semi-finals of the NIT, they had to overcome a five-point halftime deficit and very low morale.\n"You could see it in their eyes at halftime," interim head coach Mike Davis said. "You would have thought the world was over by the look on their face. They did not want to go back on the court the way things looked."\nThe Hoosiers were down by five, losing the rebounding battle 23-12, making only 40 percent of their free throws and having difficulty defending the Jaguars' small lineup. At one point, four IU guards were on the floor trying to stifle South Alabama's offense, which ended the half on a 16-5 run.\n"Our matchups were bad the whole night," Davis said. "It's hard for guys like (sophomore forward Jeffrey) Newton and (freshman forward Jared) Jeffries to understand that when you're playing perimeter people that you have to dig in and play all out. We were casual, hoping they would miss shots."\nFreshman guard Andre Owens wasn't satisfied with how IU played in the first half.\n"We didn\'t come out as focused and we just didn\'t come out ready to play," said Owens, who scored five points. \nAfter listening to Davis' halftime talk -- in which he told the players to stay together, rebound better, not worry about missing shots and just go play basketball -- the Hoosiers briefly gained the lead on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Tom Coverdale, who finished with 13 points. \nThe Jaguars then scored nine consecutive points. IU countered and tied the game at 49 with 12:46 remaining on a layup by junior forward Kirk Haston. The game was tied five times in the second half, the last time with five minutes remaining. \nJeffries gave IU the lead with 3:14 remaining. He could have extended the lead to three with 1:36 remaining, but he missed two free throws, a problem that plagued the Hoosiers all night. IU shot only 58 percent from the line.\n"In this league, at this level, you\'ve got to hit your free throws," junior forward Jarrad Odle said. "You just have to go up there, concentrate, have some faith and just shoot them."\nThe teams exchanged possessions before Coverdale made the offensive play of the game. He grabbed the ball, crossed midcourt, hesitated at the top of the key, drove toward the basket with his right hand, and lofted the ball off the glass backboard and through the hoop, giving IU a three point lead with 46 seconds left. \n"He understands how to play basketball," Davis said. "If we don't have Tom Coverdale, it's tough for us to win the basketball game." \nThe Jaguars called a timeout and set up a play that would give Emmett Thomas an open three-point shot. As he shot the ball from behind the arc on the right side, Newton jumped with him and partially blocked the shot. Haston grabbed the ball and passed to Coverdale who was fouled. Coverdale made both free throw shots, sealing the victory for the Hoosiers, and sending them to New York for Thanksgiving.\n"I think our guys will go to New York and have some fun," Davis said. " When we get there we'll be a better basketball team."\nMoye said he is looking forward to the road trip, in which IU will play Temple Wednesday, and either Texas or Duke Friday. \n"I'm pumped about going to the big city," Moye said. "That was our motivation. We're kids and sometimes we need some motivation, like if you win, I'll get you the shiny new Transformer. \n"We won something, and now we're getting our reward"