Hoosiers pull off 86-81 OT win

MINNEAPOLIS -- From the second the IU men's basketball team (10-6, 4-1 Big Ten) stepped onto the hardwood floor in Minneapolis, shots began to fall. The team was successful in 58.6 percent of their field goals in the first half. \nIt was no surprise then with five different IU players scoring in double figures, they pulled off the 86-81 overtime win over Minnesota (8-9, 0-5).\n"We're playing with confidence now, and that's what a few wins will do for you," senior guard A.J. Moye said. "We felt when we took the floor that we would win."\nMoye had two assists and 20 points, tying his career high.\nIU's leading scorer, sophomore guard Bracey Wright, posted 22 points and had five assists.\nThe day before the game, Minnesota junior guard Moe Hargrow announced that he was leaving the team and transferring schools. Hargrow averaged 13.2 points a game for the Gophers last season. A broken wrist that required surgery kept Hargrow to a slow start this season, but he still averaged 11.4 points.\nSophomore forward Sean Kline said the coaching staff made the players aware that Minnesota was going to come out and play with extra heart and extra strength.\nEven through Minnesota's tough efforts, IU was able to have the lead the entire first half. \nSenior center George Leach scored all 12 of his game points in the first half and had three blocks in the game.\n"It's a big plus having a 7-footer back," Moye said of Leach. "It's easier for teams to shoot floaters over me and Kline than it is George."\nAfter a stellar first half, 42-34, the IU team came out a little rusty in the second half, making only 36.4 percent of their field goals and blowing an 11-point lead.\nMoye said he remembers playing at Minnesota his freshman year and said the Hoosiers were up by 13 with two minutes left in the game and the team still lost.\n"We knew deep down that we were going to win," Moye said. "Bracey kept telling us after every possession that we were going to win."\nWith less than a minute and a half left in regulation, a pair of free throws from Wright put IU in the lead 74-71. But a field goal from Minnesota guard Ben Johnson with a minute to go made it a one-point ballgame.\nA foul sending junior guard Donald Perry to the charity stripe gave IU a two-point lead, but Minnesota's leading scorer, freshman forward Kris Humphries, scored a field goal in the final seconds of regulation, sending the game into overtime. \nHumphries was Minnesota's leading scorer with 24 points.\nMoye scored the first six points for IU in the first few minutes of the extra period. From then on, it was IU's ballgame, as they kept the lead throughout overtime.\nWith 31.1 seconds left in overtime, IU was up by two, 81-79. Wright made a drive right by the Minnesota defense and scored the basket that put IU ahead by four.\nTwo good free throws from sophomore guard Marshall Strickland and one from Perry gave IU their last three points of the ballgame.\nThe victory in Minnesota is the third for IU this season on the road in the Big Ten.\n"To get three road wins, that speaks for itself," Davis said. "And I can't tell you the last time we had 5 guys score in double figures, even in practice."\nMoye attributed the road win to playing with more confidence.\n"We just got tired of it man, of people saying we were going to be the worst team in the conference," Moye said. "I know George and myself, we don't want to be a part of that."\n-- Contact staff writer Natalie A. Trout at natrout@indiana.edu.