Hoosiers conquer Commodores behind Wright's 31

Two hours before No. 7 IU faced Vanderbilt Monday night, freshman guard Bracey Wright went onto the Assembly Hall court by himself for an early shoot-around. He shot some threes, practiced his free throws and went into pre-game warm-ups with some extra confidence.\n"In warm-ups, I felt it," he said. "I wasn't missing any shots … it just carried over."\nIn a big way.\nWright scored IU's first 8 points, had 20 in the first half, and finished with a career-high 31 in IU's 73-56 win against the Commodores, who were never really close. Wright's performance marked the highest scoring effort by a freshman since A.J. Guyton netted 31 against Purdue in 1997.\nThe Hoosiers are now 7-0, their best start since the 1989-90 season when the team opened with 10 straight wins.\nIU went into the locker room at halftime up by 14, and as the second half got underway, Wright showed just how confident he was. \nAfter senior point guard Tom Coverdale blocked a shot attempt by Vandy guard Russel Lakey, he pushed the ball up the court and passed it to Wright, who was well behind the three-point line at the top of the key. He pulled up and sank the 25-footer to put the Hoosiers up 46-31.\nVanderbilt attempted to fight its way back into the game behind the strong play of junior forward Matt Freije, who scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the second half.\nThe Commodores were within 11 with under 12 minutes left, but could get no closer. Senior forward Kyle Hornsby's drained one of his four 3-pointers to cap a 14-5 run and boost IU's lead to 20 late in the game.\n"I thought we played hard on defense, but we couldn't score well enough," Vandy coach Kevin Stallings said. "We didn't have enough offense to get the game where we needed it to be."\nVandy's struggles on the offensive end were due, in part, to a pair of solid outings by IU's front court tandem of junior center George Leach and senior forward Jeff Newton.\nNewton recorded his fourth straight double-double, scoring 10 points, pulling down 14 boards, and notching three blocks while Leach grabbed 14 boards and swatted six shots, tying his season high.\n"With George and Jeff, I think we have the two best shot blockers in our conference by far," said Coverdale, who was named co-Big Ten Player of the Week Monday. "Whenever you have (those) type of presences, it is hard for (teams) to score inside."\nThe fact that Wright began the game with such a hot shooting hand did not help Vandy's cause either. \nIn the first half it was all Bracey Wright. \nHe took over the game at the opening tip, scoring the Hoosiers first eight points. He knocked down a quick three, scored a baseline lay-up on an assist from Leach, and then hit another three from the wing. \nThe quick start boosted the Hoosiers to a 23-8 lead, to which Wright contributed 16 points.\nStallings attempted damage control, subbing in four players at the 9:53 mark in order to keep fresh legs in the game. He also began to double-team Wright. \nBut the extra attention given to the freshman shooting guard only gave wide open looks to freshman point guard Marshall Strickland and Hornsby, who both hit threes of their own.\n"(Wright) is very fluid and takes things at his own speed," Hornsby said. "It helps that he is athletically gifted. His own speed is a notch higher than everyone else's. That is a big reason for the way he is, and the fact that he can shoot the lights out."\nIU coach Mike Davis said Vandy was well prepared for the Hoosiers. He cited the outside shooting ability of their big men and their tough defense as the Commodores greatest assets.\n"Any time you're ranked in the top ten in the country, teams are gonna come out strong, Vandy did tonight," Davis said. "If they play the way they played tonight against everybody else, it will be tough to beat that team. They played well. Bracey just made some shots"