Hoosiers trounce Gophers

The final home game of the season is usually dedicated to the seniors on the Hoosier roster, but this team doesn't have any. Instead, IU played like it was the last game in Assembly Hall for interim head coach Mike Davis, whose future at the University remains uncertain.\nThe Hoosiers went out and made a statement about Davis' future. \nIU devastated Minnesota 89-53 before a crowd of 17,187, maintaining fourth place in the conference, a game behind third-place Ohio State. \nIt was the Golden Gophers' worst loss of the season as the visitors shot a season-low 27 percent. \n"Right now we're playing really good basketball," Davis said. "Offensively we're really executing well. If we continue this pace, I think we can make some noise in the tournament. Our guys are playing with a lot of confidence and having a lot of fun. I'm more tired than the players are."\nWith less than three minutes remaining in the game, the Hoosiers were ahead 86-53 and four starters were on the bench. It was the second consecutive game IU stretched the lead to 30 points. It was also the most points IU has scored against a conference team this season.\nOffense was generated from every position, something Davis had been looking for since the beginning of the season and found in last weekend's 85-55 win against Wisconsin.\nThe same four players who led the offense against Wisconsin did it again -- freshman forward Jared Jeffries, junior center Kirk Haston and sophomore guards Tom Coverdale and Kyle Hornsby each scored in double digits. Haston led the Hoosiers with 21 points and 14 rebounds, his 12th double-double of the season.\n "This has been pretty fun the last couple of games," Haston said. "(The guards) have really opened up our offense. Once we get our leads, we're not backing off and that's key."\n IU opened with a 13-2 run in the first five minutes and extended the lead to 35-22 by the half. The gap only widened from that point, as the Hoosiers opened the second half with a 10-0 run, giving them a 45-22 lead with 17:21 remaining.\n The Gophers' drought ended when guard Terrance Simmons, who averages 13.8 points per game, scored his only basket of the night at the 16:48 mark. He finished with two points on 1-of-11 from the field.\n Minnesota junior guard Kerwin Fleming led the Gophers with 17 points, but was only 3-of-11 from the field.\n The Hoosiers have been punishing opponents at the line recently. Since the Michigan State game Feb. 20, the Hoosiers have made 25 of 25 free throws, tying a school record set in 1963 against Michigan. A Jeffries miss from the line ended the streak at the 10:58 mark and the Hoosiers finished 29-of-31 from the line for the night.\n"Tonight we stepped up and made free throw after free throw after free throw," Davis said. "I'm proud of these guys. They played well and they played hard and they gave Indiana everything they could give on the basketball court."\nThe Hoosiers will close the regular season 8 p.m. Saturday at Purdue.