INDIANAPOLIS- Luke Recker was definitely the star of Saturday's first Big Ten semifinal at Conseco Fieldhouse. But sophomore A.J. Moye was the star for the Hoosiers.\nIn his usual role of coming off the bench, Moye gave IU a huge lift throughout the game Saturday, scoring 14 points in 25 minutes of action. He also drew an offensive foul and played terrific defense on whomever he was guarding.\nBy the time he was done, Moye had the crowd chanting his name. He also had IU coach Mike Davis smiling. "(Moye) played with a lot of energy," Davis said. Moye has been playing his best basketball of the season for the past month, constantly giving the Hoosiers energy when they need it. Davis said several IU players were not playing with the intensity he wanted.\nIt was a stark contrast to Friday, when the Hoosiers' performance had Michigan State coach Tom Izzo envious of their effort, especially on the defensive end.\n"A.J. came out and set the tone tonight," Davis said. Moye hit five of his six field goals, including both of his three-point field goals. If the rest of the Hoosiers had taken a cue from Moye, IU might have won. But Davis said the intensity just wasn't there. "I was disappointed in how some of our guys played, but overall I thought our guys played hard, but they played harder than us," Davis said.\n"They played the way we played (Friday). They fought like crazy. "They played us extremely physical. They really attacked us on the offensive glass and they went for loose balls like their life depended on it."\nAt the end of a season that has been filled with emotion, Davis isn't worried that his team is running out of gas.\n"Our whole season has been emotional," Davis said. "We have to just grow from this."\nThe other Indiana boy\nBrody Boyd was the star last year when Iowa knocked off the Hoosiers, 63-61, in the Big Ten Tournament Final in Chicago. A native of Digger, Ind., Boyd had 22 points with Recker watching from the bench. Saturday, Boyd came off the bench early in the first half and hit three straight three-pointers on his first three shots, putting Iowa up 17-11 less than nine minutes into the game.\nBoyd scored only one more point on a free throw in the second half.\nEvans shows up\nReggie Evans probably wasn't too excited to see the Hoosiers Saturday. In the three games Evans has played against IU since transferring to Iowa from junior college, he has averaged less than eight points per game.\nSaturday, Evans looked closer to his usual form, getting his normal double-double. He had 11 points and 10 rebounds, but still shot just 2-of-10 from the field.\nStill, Evans performance was good enough to earn the praise of Recker after the game. "Reggie Evans is my boy," Recker joked.\nRandom number\nFor the second straight game, IU sophomore Jared Jeffries finished the first half with just three points. He didn't make a field goal in the first half. Jeffries finished against the Spartans with 14 points, but only had 10 Saturday, hitting just three of 10 field goal attempts" The Hoosiers scored 23 points off 14 Iowa turnovers"
The Hawkeyes aren't used to winning these types of games. After Saturday's win, Iowa is now just 3-10 when it scores less than 70 points.
