IU gets back to the basics

CHICAGO -- Before the IU men's basketball team played their first game in the Big Ten Tournament Thursday they gathered to watch a game tape.\nBut this wasn't just any game; it was the IU-Oklahoma 2002 Final Four game. And the purpose of showing this video wasn't just for fun; it was to make an impression on the team. The video was to remind the Hoosiers why they were successful last year and what going to the finals really stands for.\nBottom line, it was to impress team basketball on a Hoosier team that seems to have forgotten exactly what that entailed. Something on the tape must have clicked, as IU routed Penn State, 77-49. IU (19-11) advanced to the second round as the Nittany Lions (7-21) were eliminated.\n"It gave people who weren't here last year an opportunity to see what made us so successful," junior guard A.J. Moye said. "It wasn't individual play. And it gave the guys who forgot what made us so successful an opportunity to remember that and remember what that feeling was like."\nIf IU wanted any reassurance in regards to a berth to join 64 other teams in the competition for a national title, there was arguably no question that they would need to pick up a win in the conference tournament.\nBut the question facing IU before the game was which team would show up to play. Following last Saturday's loss at Penn State, freshman Bracey Wright attributed IU's team woes to the mindset of the players. Some came to play, some didn't, was how Wright described the IU team on any given night.\nIn practice all week, the team concentrated on more passing and less trying to do it all yourself. The Hoosiers combined what they saw in the Oklahoma video and what they learned in practice to get back to the level they had been with the 8-0 start to the season.\n"I would say there was a lot more passion going on and a lot less one-on-one," senior guard Kyle Hornsby said. "Until there is 10 to 15 seconds left on the shot clock, we are going to be passing, trying to get inside or trying to get the wide-open shot. We did a good job of that tonight."\nIt appeared, however, as if IU had forgotten that it was the Nittany Lions who put them back on the bubble in regards to an NCAA tournament berth. The game remained close between the two teams. However, that lasted only until the half.\nA quick second half start has been problematic for the Hoosiers all season, but IU had built a 12-point lead in the first half that they would only build upon the remainder of the game.\nAt the vocal point of the attention last weekend was senior forward Jeff Newton who was uncharacteristically quiet while giving up 25 points on defense in the loss.\nNewton wasted no time making up for that performance by scoring a team-high 23 points in 33 minutes of play. He also led the team in boards with seven and had five assists.\nNewton wasn't the only contributing player for the Hoosiers who as a team dished out 23 assists. \nThree other players, besides Newton, scored in double digits. Junior center George Leach, senior guard Tom Coverdale and freshman guard Marshall Strickland had 11, 13 and 10, respectively.\nIn addition to the passing of the ball, IU also won on the defensive end, picking up nine more rebounds than the Nittany Lions. The offensive end added to the mix as the Hoosiers hit 26 of their 50 field goals, including 7-of-13 shooting from beyond the arc.\nThe team gets to test this newfound winning recipe tonight when they face the Michigan Wolverines in the second round of the tournament. \n"When we play team basketball like we did tonight and we play defense, we're a tough team to beat," Coverdale said. "We realize that. We just have to keep going from here and build on this win today"