A tough lesson learned

ATLANTA -- Junior Jeff Newton's right shoulder and bicep is emblazoned with artwork that is surrounded by the phrase "Refuse Limitations." Newton lived up to the tattoo Saturday night, scoring a career-high 19 points to lead the Hoosiers past Oklahoma in the national semifinals. \nSunday, Coach Mike Davis joked that he hopes Newton doesn't get much better before this summer. Davis would like to have the junior forward one more year.\n"If Jeff plays any better (than Saturday night), he'll probably put his name in the NBA draft next week," Davis said. "He was great."\nAn Atlanta product, Newton has drawn some inspiration, playing in the same town where he and sophomore A.J. Moye got to know Travis Davenport. At 19, after Newton's freshman year at IU, Davenport passed away due to a heart problem. \nThe trio had played together in pick-up games and on AAU teams. A bigger player than himself, Newton said Davenport would have liked the way Newton was able to go against the big boys of Oklahoma.\nBut things didn't start well for Newton Saturday night. He came into the game for senior Jarrad Odle with 14:37 left in the first half and the Hoosiers trailing, 7-5. Newton missed a 17-footer, committed an offensive foul while trying to set a screen for senior Dane Fife and traveled on the next trip down.\nHe did all that in a matter of 96 seconds. After he lost a pass from freshman Donald Perry out of bounds, Davis replaced Newton with Odle at the 12:19 mark with the Hoosiers still trailing, 7-5. As he went to the bench, Newton got a message from Davis.\n"(Davis) just told me to let him know when I was ready to play," Newton said. "So two seconds later I told him that I was ready."\nNewton's timing couldn't have been better. With Oklahoma's Aaron McGhee forcing sophomore Jared Jeffries into a second foul less than nine minutes into the game, Newton was back on the floor at the 11:12 mark and IU facing a 13-7 deficit. \nThe Hoosiers fell behind 17-9 before Newton ran off six straight on a pair of three-point plays. On IU's next trip, he set up Odle for a bucket in the post.\n"I think Newton came in early in the game and struggled a bit right at the beginning and then I think I remember (Davis) getting on him," Dane Fife said. "Then all of a sudden, Newton just took off from there."\nIn the second half, Newton had 13 points and four blocks to help the Hoosiers rally from a 34-30 halftime deficit. At the same time, Newton was able to lure McGhee into his fifth foul with 4:40 left in the game. \nAt that point, the bigger McGhee had scored 22 points and was the Sooners' only steady offense since Fife was shutting down Hollis Price.\n"That was the plan, to try to go at those guys and be aggressive and try to get them in early foul trouble," Newton said. \nBeing on the floor late in the game is nothing new to Newton. He was playing last night in usual role, coming off the bench to give a lift to the Hoosiers. To his credit, Newton never sulked that he had to play behind Odle.\n"About three games into the Big Ten season, we were in the locker room and I looked at Newton and said 'You want to be starting.' Newton said 'Hey, why mess with what's working,'" Odle said Sunday. "Newton knows his role. He knows he's going to start next year. \n"We're basically splitting roles. His play is obviously showing how hard he's worked."\nIn this NCAA tournament, Newton has hit 23 of his 29 field goal attempts. More than that, Jeffries said Newton's defense has been critical of late.\nAt times, Jeffries said he doesn't even have to talk to Newton on the court. He may have needed a little pep talk from his coach Saturday night, as did his team at halftime. But by the end of the game, Newton and the Hoosiers were living up to their mantra of refusing limitations.\n"Enough can't be said about how Newt has been playing, especially this whole tournament," Jeffries said. "It meant a lot for him to come back to Atlanta and play in front of his home crowd. \n"Whenever (Newton) can come in and focus, he'll have a big game and he'll continue to do that"