IU's comeback falls short

For a ten-minute stretch in the second half, the IU basketball team did little wrong.

The problem: the team had to play the other 30 minutes, too.

The result: Loyola walked out of Assembly Hall on Tuesday night with a 72-67 victory, despite a fervent Hoosier comeback that erased a 24-point first-half lead by the Greyhounds.

Trailing 58-38 with 14:10 remaining, IU went on a 27-4 run through the next ten minutes of the game to take a 65-62 lead. The run, jumpstarted by two 3-pointers from freshman guard Maurice Creek, came from pressure defense out of a full-court press that forced seven Loyola turnovers.

But despite the momentum, IU could not close out the game. Junior guard Jeremiah Rivers missed four free throws in the final two-and-a-half minutes and also fouled Greyhound guard Brett Harvey on a 3-pointer with 1:51 remaining to give Loyola a four-point play and the lead.

Rivers missed a short, contested shot with 37 seconds left, sealing the loss for the 5-6 Hoosiers.

Sophomore guard Verdell Jones said the mistakes and missed free throws at the end were identical to the reason why the Hoosiers fell behind early.

"We went back to our ways in the first half, instead of doing what we did in the second half that got us the lead," Jones said.

IU coach Tom Crean did not blame Rivers - who led IU in scoring with 15 points - for the loss.

"We don't make the comeback without him, either," Crean said.

Crean credited that comeback to the team playing cohesively.

"The second half was a very collective effort to understand that we are not winning it individually, we are not winning it in a couple of minutes - we are going to have to play together no matter what," Crean said.

In those ten good minutes for the team, Creek scored all nine of his points for the game, the Hoosiers shot 8-for-12 from the field and IU turned the ball over just three times.

"Of all the games I think I've ever coached, it was a tale of two games even more than anything I've ever seen," Crean said.

Through the first two-thirds of the game, it appeared Loyola had a stranglehold on the Hoosiers.

The Greyhounds jumped out to a 15-0 lead to open the game as IU committed eight turnovers and missed all five of its field goal attempts. Loyola built its biggest lead at 46-22 late in the first half.

Meanwhile, IU committed 14 first-half turnovers while shooting 8-for-24 from the field.

Crean credited Loyola for the fast start but also said his team was making too many mistakes. He also said his players were not playing team basketball.

"We did not come out aggressive enough," Crean said, "and they put us back on our heels in a big way."

IU freshman forward Christian Watford said the first half was simply too much to overcome.

"We did all the fighting we could do," Watford said. "At the end of the game, we juts wore out and wore down."

Loyola's Harvey led all scorers with 25 points. Watford (10 points) and Jones (14 points) joined Rivers in double figures for the Hoosiers.