Pressure gets to Hoosiers in second half

LOUISVILLE, Ky -- It was still halftime and the No. 8 Louisville Cardinals (16-1, 6-0 Conference USA) had already listened to coach Rick Pitino's locker-room speech and were back out on the floor warming up. \nBut before they took the court for the second half to attempt a comeback against the No.19 Hoosiers (14-6, 4-3 Big Ten), they would hear from one more source of motivation: John Belushi. \nThe comedian, who was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, popped up on Freedom Hall's big screen scoreboard as the character Bluto Blutarsky, the slacker college student he made famous in the movie "Animal House." \nAs the final seconds ticked off the clock toward the second half, the monitor displayed the famous scene in which Blutarsky gives an inspired address to his fellow fraternity brothers, who had been expelled and were about to give up.\n"Over? It ain't over until we decide it is!" Belushi yelled. "It ain't over now 'cuz when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Who's with me?"\nAnd with that, the buzzer sounded, the Freedom Hall crowd went wild and the Cardinals came back from a 43-35 first half deficit to defeat the Hoosiers 95-76.\nIU had led by as much as 16 points in the first period and did not appear to be intimidated by Louisville's constant full-court press. They also out-rebounded the Cardinals 22-15 while holding them to 29 percent shooting overall and a mere 1-12 from three-point range.\nThe second half was an entirely different story.\n"In the first half we continually do the same thing," Pitino said. "We let our lack of offensive proficiency affect our defense, and they were dominating the glass. (But) we flat out got after it in the second half on the defensive end … (This) win is tremendous, and I thank John Belushi for the assist."\nAlthough IU had been poised in first half, executing their offensive sets and playing aggressively, Louisville's tough press began to wear the Hoosiers down in the second.\nIU was able to maintain their lead for the first eight minutes, but the Cardinals continually chipped away and kept the margin within single digits.\nWith 12 minutes to go and the Hoosiers up 56-53, Louisville would gain the lead when junior forward Ellis Myles was fouled in the paint by IU junior center George Leach.\nMyles sank his first free-throw, but bricked the second. Myles' teammate, junior center Kendall Dartez, pulled down the rebound and passed it to freshman forward Francisco Garcia, who hit a three on the wing to make the score 57-56.\nSenior point guard Tom Coverdale, who led the Hoosiers with 14 points, answered with a three of his own that put IU back up by two. \nBut then, with 7:55 left in the game and the Hoosiers up by one, Coverdale would hit a jumper in the lane and that would be the last field goal that IU would score as Louisville ran away with the game.\nCoverdale said the Hoosiers were unable to get comfortable in their offense in the second half and were more focused on "trying not to lose than on trying to win."\n"Basically we just didn't get into anything," Coverdale said. "We panicked instead of handling the pressure like we did in the first half."\nWith three minutes left and the Hoosiers down 76-78, the Cardinals delivered the knockout punch in the form of a 17-0 run. \nIt began with three straight threes -- one by Garcia and two by freshman guard Taquan Dean -- and ended with a fast-break dunk by Garcia, who led with 23 points. \nThe shift from a 16-point Hoosier lead in the first half to the final score marked a 35-point swing in favor of Louisville.\nCoach Mike Davis said the Hoosiers were able to play through the Cardinals ceaseless full-court pressing and aggressive style of play for much of the game, but it finally caught up with them in the end.\n"You read about them and watch them on tape but until you're right there in the fire with them, you can't understand how demanding it is to keep your composure," Davis said. "What they do is they get you into this panicked rush type of basketball game, and if you're not used to practicing that way and not used to playing that way prior to the game, it's very difficult to do it for 40 minutes"