March sadness

SAN DIEGO -- Freshman guard A.J. Moye tried to fight back tears when he walked off the court after IU's 77-73 loss to Kent State Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament.\nMoye had just finished playing the best game of his career. He scored a career-high 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds, including two on offense in the final four minutes that delayed the inevitable -- the upset loss to the 13th-seeded Golden Flashes.\nJunior guard Dane Fife said the rest of the team didn't give the same effort as Moye.\n"Some guys just quit," Fife said. "You could tell they didn't want to be out there."\nAssistant coach Julius Smith and sophomore guard Kyle Hornsby dismissed Fife's remarks as frustration and anger. But sophomore guard Tom Coverdale echoed Fife's sentiments.\n"I think some of us quit," Coverdale said. "There was also some of us out there playing as hard as we could. I don't know what to say. I don't understand what was going through some people's heads, and I'm one of them. I didn't move as quick as I could have and we all made mistakes we usually don't."\nCoverdale had an excuse for his lack of speed. Late in the first half, he injured his hip while diving for a ball and making a steal. He said it tightened as the game went on.\nBut Coverdale gave the Hoosiers an eight-point lead heading into halftime by making a three-pointer seven seconds before the buzzer sounded. The Hoosiers controlled the game and had momentum on their side heading into the locker room.\nIU extended its lead to 12 points with 13:41 remaining. Then things began to fall apart. Kent State went on a 12-2 run during the next three minutes. The Golden Flashes took their first lead with 5:38 remaining when guard Trevor Huffman layed in a shot high off the backboard.\n"There was a five-minute stretch where we looked line a seventh-grade team," interim head coach Mike Davis said. "We weren't composed at all, and we started panicking."\nOne instance typifies IU's effort. Kent State was up by one and had to inbound the ball with 2:35 remaining on the clock and one second on the shot clock. Huffman received the pass and buried a three-pointer, breaking IU's spirit and converting the crowd into Kent State fans.\n"Our effort was poor," Moye said. "It was there in bits and pieces, but it has to be continuous. You can't push for five minutes, then take two minutes off. You'll get beat like that."\nMoye made one of his tip-ins with 49 seconds remaining to bring the Hoosiers within 70-72. But Huffman made three of four free throws and Andrew Mitchell added a short jumper after Moye's offensive effort to finish the game.\n"We're real embarrassed," Coverdale said. "I hope everybody remembers this feeling and that it will give us something to motivate ourselves over the summer"