Hoosiers find way to win

INDIANAPOLIS -- IU coach Mike Davis paced the sidelines and watched his Hoosiers give away the 14-point halftime lead they built over Xavier Saturday. He watched them battle back and send the game into overtime, only to watch them fall behind again.\nBut sophomore guard Bracey Wright took control in the overtime and scored eight of his game-high 27 points, leading the Hoosiers to an 80-77 victory over the Musketeers. It was IU's first appearance in the John R. Wooden Tradition at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.\n"I don't think you can question our ability to play," Wright said. "We showed tonight, going into overtime, we were down most of the latter part of the game. We found a way to win, and that's what we stress on this team."\nAnd yet Davis had other things on his mind. He learned shortly before the game that his oldest son, Mike Jr., had been taken to the emergency room after reacting to a medication to treat repeated migraines. Early in the week, his sister-in-law had been in a serious car accident. Davis found out during the game that Mike Jr. was OK, but he said it has been a rough week for him.\n"My mind really wasn't in the game to be honest with you," Davis said. "I thought coach (Ben) McDonald did a great job of preparing us for the game … He really deserves the majority of the credit for this win."\nIU (2-1) took its first and only lead in the overtime with 35.3 seconds left when Xavier sophomore Dedrick Finn fouled Wright on a fastbreak lay-up. Wright made the foul shot to put the Hoosiers up one. Junior guard Donald Perry added two more free throws with 11.6 left, and the Hoosiers held on for the win. Wright admitted that he did not think he was fouled.\n"I told him I didn't think he touched me at all," Wright said. "I guess that gave it to me because I was aggressive going to the basket. When Donald was shooting his free throws, I went to the bench and told him it was one of the most suspicious calls that I've seen in college basketball, but I'm glad it went my way."\nThe call against Finn was the second controversial call that went against the Musketeers (3-2). With 36.4 seconds left in regulation and IU down by three, Xavier's leading scorer, senior Romain Sato, fouled out on Wright's three-point attempt.\nXavier led by three with under 20 seconds remaining when Wright was there again to rescue IU. He pulled an offensive rebound, made the put-back and completed the three-point play to send the game into overtime.\nThe Musketeers jumped out to a five-point lead early in the extra five minutes. IU battled back with tough defense down the stretch.\n"Obviously we wanted to come out of here with a win, and it crushes you," Xavier coach Thad Matta said. "You have a chance to come in here and knock off Indiana, and you watch it slip away there in the last few seconds. It's hard to take."\nDavis said the key to the game was sophomore forward Sean Kline. Kline had 12 points and seven rebounds, and at times, he was the only big man on the floor for IU, which was without senior center George Leach. Leach left the game in the second half with a knee injury. Leach was scheduled to have an MRI, and his status for next game is unknown.\n"When you look at his numbers, he had 12 points, seven rebounds. He's only a sophomore," Davis said. "He's getting better game by game. I was definitely proud of him. Bracey scored the points, but if there was a player of the game today, it was definitely Sean Kline."\nIn addition to Wright and Kline, two other IU players got into double digits in scoring. Senior guard A.J. Moye and sophomore guard Marshall Strickland each had 11 points. Sato led the Musketeers with 19 points, and sophomore Will Caudle had 18.\nMoye said the win was big for the Hoosiers after last week's game at Vanderbilt. The team heads to Winston-Salem, N.C., Tuesday to take on Wake Forest as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.\n"Any time you are going on the road, you want to get as many wins as you can, especially coming back from our previous loss at Vandy," Moye said. "This could have made or broken our spirits as far as heading into the next game. This team, we're never down and out, but we can get down. We would have been slightly discouraged. But it's great. It's a good thing to keep the ball rolling"