Hoosiers blow past Utah

SACRAMENTO - IU coach Mike Davis admitted it after the game Thursday night. Truth be told, he didn't have to wait that long to divulge his secret. It was obvious to his players that Davis was nervous before the Hoosiers took on Utah Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Arco Arena in Sacramento. "I was so tight it was unbelievable," Davis said with a laugh.\n"(junior Tom) Coverdale walked over to me today during the shoot around and said, 'Coach, just relax, we're going to win.' I was wound up so, so tight because this game, this game was so important for Indiana basketball, for me, for ourselves and for our team."\nWith so much on the line, Davis was justifiably nervous. But after the Hoosiers whipped Utah, 75-56, Coverdale appeared to know what he was talking about heading into the game.\n"We felt like coming into this game that we could beat them, as long as we played our type of defense and executed and just played well for 40 minutes," Coverdale said. "I think in the back of everybody's mind was that we thought the same thing last year and look what happened.\n"It just feels good to get over this hump." Saturday, the Hoosiers will play 13th-seeded North\nCarolina-Wilmington. The Seahawks upset fourth-seeded USC in overtime Thursday afternoon, one of the biggest upsets of the day. Tip will be around 7:45 p.m. Bloomington time Saturday night.\nLast year the Hoosiers lost in the first round as a fourth seed to Kent State after leading by 8 at halftime. This year, though, IU played well throughout the game. Coverdale led the way with 19 points and eight rebounds. Jeff Newton came off the bench with 15 points and Jared Jeffries added 12 points.\nUtah's Phil Cullen came off the bench to score a game-high 25 points in just 26 minutes. Cullen hit 7-of-8 three-pointers to keep Utah from being completely blown out.\nThe Hoosiers (21-11) played their most complete game in some time. IU shot more than 55 percent from the field and held the Utes (21-9) to 44 percent from the floor despite Cullen's near perfect effort from three-point range.\nThe Hoosiers used their edge in athleticism to slow down Utah offensively. Newton and Jeffries combined to frustrate Britton Johnsen, the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, to just 2-of-7 shooting and four points. IU outscored the Utes in the paint 36-10.\n"We have just no inside presence," Utah coach Rick Majerus said. "They just whipped us."\nSenior guard Dane Fife had seven points and four assists, but was even more of a factor on the defensive end. Fife slowed down Utah's leading scorer, Nick Jacobson. Although he finished the night with 11 points, most came when the game was out of reach.\nIU jumped to a 7-0 lead early in the game. An 8-0 Hoosier run gave IU a 30-17 lead with 6:14 left before halftime on a three-pointer by Coverdale. The closest the Utes would get the rest of the game was 12 as the Hoosiers protected a 42-27 halftime lead the rest of the way. Utah had a chance to get closer with three minutes left and the Utes trailing by 14. Cullen and Jacobson each missed three-pointers and Cullen missed a 17-footer before he fouled Coverdale. After two free throws by Coverdale, the lead was back to 16 and Utah would never be closer than 14.\nIU never trailed in the game.\nWith the win, the Hoosiers have now won 30 straight when scoring at least 75 points. That steak goes back to the 1999-2000 season.\nA longer streak for IU is its drought in NCAA Tournament wins. \nThe Hoosiers had lost to Pepperdine and Kent State the last two years in the first round and have not been to the Sweet Sixteen since 1994.\nAfter getting what he called a bear off his back in winning his first NCAA Tournament game, Davis canâ^À^Ùt help but feel excited. As he iced his injured left foot after the game, Coverdale reasserted his confidence in his team.\n"We came here to win two games. We have one left to go," Coverdale said. "We're feeling pretty good right now"