Team returns from Maui with goals accomplished

The IU men's basketball team traveled to the Maui Invitational last week with a couple of goals in mind. One was to win the tournament championship; the other was to prove that they had been underrated in the polls.\nThe No. 20 Hoosiers flew back to the mainland Wednesday having accomplished those goals, with the Maui Invitational trophy in tow. It was the fourth time IU participated in the tournament, but the first time they won the championship.\n"It was a real tough tournament out there, and our goal was to win it," freshmen guard Marshall Strickland said. "And I think we played well; everybody had to contribute."\nThe Hoosiers opened the tournament Monday with an 84-71 victory over the University of Massachusetts. All five of IU's starters scored double figures in the game.\nPoint guard Tom Coverdale led all scorers with 20 points, but was just 5 of 20 from the field. Four of his field goals came from behind the three-point line.\nSenior center George Leach had a career day, scoring 19 points on 9 of 13 shooting. He also grabbed 16 rebounds and blocked three shots.\n"If we don't have George Leach, it's a different ball game," coach Mike Davis said. "He can really rebound when he wants to."\nSenior forward Jeff Newton contributed a balanced stat line with 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Guards Bracey Wright and Kyle Hornsby rounded out IU's starting five with 10 and 14 points, respectively.\nThe following day the Hoosiers faced a tough matchup against a physical Gonzaga team (No. 21 ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll). They headed into the locker room at halftime down by one point but came out in the second half with more offensive fire power. They pushed the lead up to 17 points and appeared on their way to a victory when the Bulldogs made a push in the final minutes to close the gap. \nWith only seconds left, Gonzaga inbounded the ball down by a mere three. They missed their attempt from beyond the arc, and settled for a buzzer-beating lay-up, which gave IU a 75-76 victory.\nCoverdale and Newton shared top scoring honors with 16 points each. Hornsby ended the game with 14 points, 12 of them coming from 3-point range and Wright contributed 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. \nWright said the Bulldogs provided the Hoosiers with the largest challenge in the tournament.\n"The toughest team was Gonzaga," he said. "They were big; it was physical. They weren't the most athletic team, but they played together as a team. And that's really gonna take them a long way."\nThe win put IU in the championship game against Virginia, who had upset No.16 Kentucky the night before.\nIn the first half, the Hoosiers and the Cavaliers traded the lead on numerous occasions. Neither team could find offense rhythm as the fatigue of playing three games in three nights became apparent.\nBut in the second half Strickland came off the bench and combined with Wright in the backcourt to give IU a much need energy boost. \nStrickland scored 12 of his fifteen points in the second half, highlighted by a four-point play in which he sunk a baseline three while being knocked backward. Wright netted 11 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, leading the Hoosiers to a 70-63 win. It was the Hoosiers third trip to the title game in Maui, having been there in 1990 and '98 as well, but it was their first ever win.\nAfter the game, Wright was named the tournament MVP, becoming only the second freshman in the invitational's history to earn the honor. \n"For me it was a big confidence builder," he said. "It let me know I can play, and I got used to the college game. Playing against Gonzaga and Virginia, two really good teams, that was big for me."\n"I think we're really underrated, and I think people think about Indiana basketball," Wright said. "And they overlook us and overshadow us. They don't think we're capable of doing things the top ten teams are doing. But they'll quickly find out"