Hoosiers can't miss in blowout victory

It was the same offense IU had run all season. \nA carbon copy, Mike Davis said. \nJust this time around, Tom Coverdale couldn't miss. Dane Fife couldn't either. \nKyle Hornsby was on. So was Jared Jeffries. \nThe result was IU's overpowering 83-65 win over Michigan State in front of 17,456 in Assembly Hall Tuesday night behind 22 points from Coverdale, 21 from Jeffries and 14 from Fife.\nAloysius Anagonye and Marcus Taylor, who played through back spasms after sitting out the MSU loss at Minnesota, scored 17 each to lead the Spartans.\nThe victory kept IU (10-5, 3-0 Big Ten) in the league's top spot, sent the No. 25 Spartans (9-6, 0-2) to their third consecutive loss and marked the first time since the 1993-1994 season the Hoosiers have kicked off conference play with three straight wins. \n"That was a really good basketball team that we played tonight," Davis said, adding that the Hoosiers haven't been aggressive enough on the offensive end. "The difference was we hit shots."\nBoy oh boy, did they -- early, often and again later. \nIU hit 14 three-pointers -- two short of the school record set earlier this season against Alaska-Anchorage -- and shot 57 percent from the field, while holding the Spartans to 44 percent and just 26 first-half points. \nBy that time, IU had done its damage. \nAfter Michigan State missed its first five shots -- thanks to a pair of blocked shots from Jeffries and tight IU defense -- Fife jump-started the three-point celebration with 16:35 to play.\nThen Coverdale drained his first try. Then Fife. Then Coverdale -- twice more. \nAfter a Jarrad Odle two-point bucket, Jeffries worked his magic, flinging up a three-pointer just before the shot clock expired. Jeffries' shot bounced high off the rim, clearing the backboard and dropped straight into the bucket, giving IU a 24-9 lead and increasing a lead that reached as many as 24 in the first half.\nCoverdale finished off IU's shooting bonanza with three consecutive threes in the first half's final 2:23. His final shot came from several feet beyond the three-point line and hit nothing but net. \n"Give a lot of credit to IU," Spartan's Head coach Tom Izzo said. "They played awfully hard and shot the ball incredibly well. Once they start making some shots it was like an ambush. When Jeffries hit that one that bounced around, and Coverdale hit that one from somewhere in the gym, I was somewhat concerned."\nCoverdale was perfect in the first half, hitting all six of his three-point tries. His 20 points carried IU to a commanding 48-26 lead. \nAnd the junior point guard said he didn't even feel good before the game. \n"We just showed how good our offense can be," said Coverdale, who scored a game-high 22 points. "After I hit a couple, I knew I was feeling pretty good. I shot the ball pretty well in the warm-ups, but I didn't think I was into it until the game actually started. Hopefully, I feel that way before every game if I can shoot like I did tonight."\nMichigan State, playing without starting forward Adam Ballinger who averages 10.6 points per game, had a handful of chances to draw within striking distance of IU in the second half, but never trimmed the lead to less than 14. \nMichigan State had three possessions to cut the IU lead closer to single digits, but squandered each opportunity. \nA 15-4 Spartan run made the score 60-46 with 9:50 to play, but back-to-back three-pointers from Jeffries, who scored 21 points, pulled down eight rebounds, dished out seven assists and blocked six shots, and Hornsby sidetracked the Spartans for good. \nIU opened up its biggest lead of the game when a Fife three-pointer made it 81-56 with 2:27 to play. Fife finished with 14 points and helped IU to its first three-game winning streak of the season.\n"You can look at every game we played," Davis said. "Tonight the basketball went in."\nIn nearly every manner and from nearly everywhere.