Moye muscles IU to Michigan win

CHICAGO -- The Michigan men's basketball team was playing for its equivalent of a national championship Saturday night. After banning themselves from postseason play, the Big Ten Tournament was the their only chance at any type of title.\nIU's A.J. Moye disrupted the Wolverines in their quest for the conference's top prize.\nThe junior guard/forward came off the bench to single-handedly put the Hoosiers back in the game. He led all scorers for IU with 18, 16 of which came in the second half, and made all of his six shot attempts. His second half efforts helped propel IU over the Wolverines, 63-56.\n"It is a luck of the draw type thing," Moye said. "They were leaving me open and I just took advantage of that."\nThe second half started disastrously for the Hoosiers. After heading into the locker room with a five-point deficit, IU let the Wolverines build the lead to eight less than five minutes into the half. \nMichigan was aided in the early 7-4 scoring run with two fouls on IU's junior center George Leach. Leach picked up his third and fourth fouls within two seconds of the half and promptly found himself on the bench.\nEnter Moye. He saw just six minutes of action in the first half, lending just two points and one foul to the Hoosiers' game.\nBut the second half was a whole other story. IU trailed by eight when Moye recovered a senior forward Jeff Newton block and took it to the other end of the court. His drive to the basket resulted in two points and a free throw, which he sank. The Hoosiers trailed 37-32 with 15 minutes left.\n"Give a lot of credit to Indiana. (Senior guard Tom) Coverdale and Moye were very difficult for us to guard," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "Moye, his aggressiveness around the rim and finishing three-point plays was big for them."\nJust over a minute later, Moye once again found the basket from a Newton pass and drew a foul. The free throw spun in and out, but IU was within three.\nAfter senior guard Kyle Hornsby went one-for-one at the line, Moye was sent to the charity stripe for two shots. Both went in, and the score was tied at 44.\nThe Hoosiers finished on a 15-6 run to take the game from the Wolverines. Also contributing for IU were Newton and Coverdale who scored 15 apiece.\n"We just try to go in there and play hard and fight," Moye said. "Good things happen when you play hard, it's just contagious."\nMichigan came out on fire in the first half, beginning the game with a 7-0 run. \nCoverdale ended the Hoosier scoring drought when he hit a three from the wing and Wright hit a jumper on the following IU possession to cut the lead to 7-5.\nAlthough IU's offense had finally come to life, Michigan's seven point head start gave them enough of a cushion to maintain the lead.\nMichigan senior wing forward LaVell Blanchard did not want to see his career as a Wolverine come to an end, and scored 14 of his team's 30 points before halftime.\nBut the Hoosiers continued to chip away at the lead behind the strong play of Coverdale, who tallied ten points in the first half. \nWith just under four minutes to go in the half, he grabbed a key steal and hit a lay-up on the ensuing fast break to tie the game at 24. \nThat was as close as the Hoosiers would get, however, as Blanchard hit a baseline jumper on the next possession to regain the lead for Michigan.\nIU would score only one more point in the half, on a free throw by Newton. \nThe Wolverines then went on a small run, scoring four unanswered points to head into halftime with a 30-25 lead.\nIU will face 2nd seeded Illinois in the second semifinal game tomorrow at 3:05 p.m.\nCoach Mike Davis said the Illini, led by senior Big Ten Player of the Year Brian Cook, is the team to beat in the conference. \n"Illinois is the best team in the Big Ten, no question about it," he said. "They can get on a roll and beat you by 30 or 40 if you're not careful. Coach Self is an outstanding basketball coach. He's playing the young guys (freshmen Dee Brown, Deron Williams and Brian Augustine) with Brian Cook so it's going to be a tough matchup for us. I just hope we come out to play"