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IU football coach Bill Lynch has signed a contract renewal and will be signed through 2012, IU media relations announced today.\nThere will be a press conference today at noon to announce the details.\nFor more information, go to Under the Rock.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Mike Green and Butler rode the 3-point shot all the way to a championship in the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.\nGreen scored 23 points and No. 22 Butler made 16 3-pointers to beat Texas Tech 81-71 Saturday night and set a record for 3-pointers in the tournament.\n“Sixteen for 24 probably sums it up. I’d like to say we hit timely shots, but I think that probably sums it up,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said about his team’s success shooting 3s in the final.\nA.J. Graves was 6-of-8 for 3-pointers and had 18 points, and Green made all four of his shots from beyond the arc for Butler, which set the tournament record with 47 3-pointers in three games, smashing UC-Irvine’s mark of 34 set in 1990.\n“They play extremely smart basketball, they take advantage of what they can do and they do it really well,” Texas Tech coach Bob Knight said. “The best compliment I can give them is that I wish we played as smart as they do.”\nLeading by two at the half, Butler (6-0) made four 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the second frame to open a 48-36 lead. But the Red Raiders rallied behind Alan Voskuil’s three 3s, cutting the lead to 55-50 with just under 12 minutes left.\n“Their offense is run as quick as any time I’ve seen in a long time,” said Knight, entering his 42nd season. “They shot it extremely well. We didn’t really get hurt rebounding, we ended up with just one or two turnovers in the second half. That is a really, really well put together team.”\nOver the next five minutes, Butler added five more 3-pointers, pushing the lead to 71-57. Texas Tech never got closer than nine after that.\n“We’re not a very big team, so we’ve got to use our strengths. Our strengths are playing motion basketball, penetrating, kicking, setting screens and just being patient and looking for the open shot,” Graves said. “More times than not, when we run it around, it’s just coincidence, to be honest, that we just get a lot of 3s.”\nZeno Martin led Texas Tech with 17 and John Roberson added 15.\nBoth teams got off to a slow start. Texas Tech (4-2) scored only two baskets in the first seven minutes and turned the ball over six times.\nButler built a 31-19 lead with 3:55 to go in the first half behind four 3-pointers, but Voskuil made a 3-pointer with six seconds left in the half to cut the lead to 34-32.
SOUTH BEND – Rebuilding.\nNotre Dame coach Charlie Weis started the season by vowing never to use the word. Now he will spend the next nine months trying to accomplish it after the Fighting Irish (3-9) went from earning consecutive Bowl Championship Series berths to becoming the target of late-night talk show jokes.\nWeis got started right away. Instead of returning to South Bend after the Fighting Irish beat Stanford 21-14 on Saturday, Weis stayed out west trying to build on a recruiting class some analysts already rate as the nation’s best.\nWhen Weis returns, he plans to dissect the season to determine exactly what went wrong. He then plans to travel to New England in February to meet with his former coaching colleagues on the Patriots so they can point out his mistakes.\nWeis already knows some of his mistakes. He plans to make practices in the spring and during the preseason more physical, possibly even allowing quarterbacks to be tackled during practices.\nThe lack of hitting this year hurt the Irish, especially early in the season, when they were repeatedly overpowered. \nWeis knew the Irish would struggle after losing players like Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija, Darius Walker and others, especially because the senior and junior classes were small and unheralded. But no one expected the Irish to be this bad.\n“You knew there were going to be some voids of experience this year,” Weis said. “Just numerically, you knew there were going to be some voids. What you hoped was between the guys that came back for a fifth year and the half dozen or so guys that were in the senior class, you hoped that they could hold the fort enough while the young guys got their feet wet and ready to go. You were hoping it wasn’t such a dramatic dropoff as far as wins and losses go.”\nThe good news for the Irish is they don’t lose much next year. The biggest losses will be tight end John Carlson, center John Sullivan, defensive end Trevor Laws, linebacker Joe Brockington and safety Tom Zbikowski.\nOne of the biggest needs for the Irish is to develop a respectable kicker. Weis’ lack of confidence in the kicking game may have cost Notre Dame a victory against Navy, when the Irish went for it on fourth-and-8 from the Navy 24. Evan Sharpley was tackled for a 7-yard loss and the Irish lost in overtime.\nThe Irish also need better play at quarterback. Jimmy Clausen ended the season strong. After his first seven games, six of them starts, Clausen had a completion rate of 57.4 percent, for 618 yards with one touchdown and five interceptions, an efficiency rating of 89.51.\nIn his last three games, he had a completion rate of 54.8 percent for 636 yards with six touchdowns and one interception, a 123.9 efficiency rating.\nThe question is, how much better can Clausen and his young teammates get? The offense was one of the worst in school history. The Irish averaged 242 yards a game of total offense, which was worst in the nation and the second worst total for Notre Dame in 61 years. Even worse, they averaged 75 yards a game rushing, by far the worst for Notre Dame since at least 1946.\nNotre Dame hit a lot of lows this season, including: worst start in school history (0-5); worst home losing streak (six straight); two of the 10 worst losses ever (38-0 to Michigan and USC) and the first nine-loss season.\n“It’s still 3-9. Let’s not kid ourselves,” Weis said. “But at least it’s 3-9 with two wins at the end of the year.”\nThe real challenge, though, is for the young players to develop into dependable players who can help the Irish win.\n“There’s a lot of promising young players here,” Weis said. “They’re going to have to take the next step to move us in the right direction.”
INDIANAPOLIS – LeBron James had his fourth triple-double of the season, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Indiana Pacers 111-106 Sunday for their third straight win.\nJames, the league’s leading scorer, finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. It was the 14th triple-double of his career.\nDrew Gooden had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Sasha Pavlovic added 22 points and five assists for the Cavaliers (8-6).\nMarquis Daniels scored 19 of his season-high 25 points in the second half for the Pacers. Jamaal Tinsley had 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, but he had eight turnovers and shot 7-for-20 from the field for Indiana (6-8).\nIndiana forward Jermaine O’Neal missed his third straight game with swelling in his left knee and lower leg. The timetable for the six-time All-Star’s return is uncertain.\nIt was Cleveland’s fourth straight win in the series.\nCleveland led 109-106 with 8.8 seconds to go. James missed two free throws to give the Pacers a chance to tie, but Shawne Williams missed a 3-pointer, and Pavlovic rebounded. He made two free throws at the other end to close out the win.\nThe Cavaliers led 71-63 in the third quarter when James went to the bench to rest. With James out, the Pacers went on a 12-2 run to take a 75-73 lead at the end of the period.\nDaniels scored six points during the run. During that stretch of nearly four minutes, the Cavaliers had five turnovers and took only two shots.\nThe Cavaliers led 88-86 with 6:31 to play when Daniel Gibson was called for a foul while boxing out Jeff Foster. It was Gibson’s sixth, and he was issued a technical foul for arguing the call and throwing his mouthpiece. Tinsley made the technical free throw, and Foster made one of two free throws to tie the score at 88.
The IU wrestling team continued its hot start to the season by going undefeated at the Hoosier Duals this weekend. Extending their record to 6-0, the Hoosiers dominated the competition at Assembly Hall on Saturday by posting dual match team victories of at least 23 points in each match.\nIn the duals, four matches went on simultaneously every two hours. Teams rotated to opponents they had not faced every two hours until all teams faced each other. Joining IU at Assembly Hall were University of the Cumberlands, Duke, Liberty, Ohio and Oregon. IU crushed the competition, highlighted by a 50-0 shutout of the University of the Cumberlands.\nIU saw outstanding performances by sophomore Matt Coughlin in the 165-pound weight class in the victory. Coughlin, ranked fourth in the country, improved his overall season record to 11-0 in matches by going 5-0 in the duals. \nSophomore Trevor Perry increased his team-leading pin total to six by taking down three of his five opponents in the 174-pound weight class on his way to a 5-0 day as well.\nJoining Coughlin and Perry in the undefeated ranks on Saturday were a pair of cousins, sophomore Angel Escobedo and junior Andrae Hernandez, who each earned victories in all five matches.\nAlso with a perfect record this weekend was two-time All-American senior Brandon Becker. Becker backed up his No. 9 national ranking by taking down No. 19th-ranked Jacob Frerichs of Ohio in his final bout of the day.\nFreshman Kurt Kinser won all three of his bouts by three pins, netting the Hoosiers the maximum total of 18 possible points in the 149-pound weight class. \nWhen it wasn’t Kinser, it was sophomore Nick Walpole taking care of business for the Hoosiers in the same weight class. Walpole won twice, giving the Hoosiers a flawless record in the 149-pound weight class.\nThe Hoosiers have some time off from competition before they travel to Chicago to compete in the FITE Duals on Dec. 16.
The IU women’s basketball team fell to Wake Forest on Thanksgiving 55-53 in the first game of the Paradise Jam Tournament, held in the Virgin Islands. The loss is their first of the season. \nThe Hoosiers were led offensively by sophomore guard Jamie Braun, who scored 17 points, and junior forward Amber Jackson dropped in 11 while grabbing eight rebounds. \nIU opened the game with a 15-4 lead and went into halftime leading 33-22, but couldn’t hold itsadvantage. The team shot just 30 percent from the field, as poor shooting continues to plague the young team. \nThe Hoosiers forced Wake Forest to turn the ball over 25 times in the game, and junior guard/forward Kim Roberson tied an IU single-game record with nine steals. But the Demon Deacons shot 44 percent from the field and rode a strong second-half performance to victory. \nIU will take on Wichita State at 1 p.m. Friday.
The IU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams wrapped up the three-day Hoosierland Open on Nov. 17 in Bloomington with several good performances from both teams.\nSophomore Presley Bard carried the torch on the final day of the event for the women’s team, notching a 10th-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke. Freshman Amy Harriman took fourth in the consolation final, and won a game cap for her performance over the weekend.\nOn the men’s side, senior Todd Patrick took home first in the men’s final, while senior teammate John Kevin Koehler followed him closely, coming \nin fifth. \n“I thought this was our best day,” said head coach Ray Looze in a statement. “The men continued to perform very well. They struggled a bit in the morning session but finished strong. \n“The women did a much better job and showed more spirit today. I think things ended well for both teams and now they will have a few days off to spend some much-deserved time with their families.”\nThe teams will resume competition on Nov. 22 in the Grand Prix Italy.
Two games into the young season, the IU women’s basketball team will travel to Muncie to take on the Ball State Cardinals in the Hoosiers’ first road game of the year. The Hoosiers are 2-0 after home wins over Albany and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. \nLeading the way for the Hoosiers so far this season is junior forward and transfer Amber Jackson, who dropped 22 points in her Hoosier debut against Albany and followed that with a 12 point, nine rebound performance against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Junior forward Whitney Thomas has also come on strong in the early going, notching 21 points and nine rebounds against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. \nThe buzz word for the Hoosiers all year has been youth – they have six freshmen and only one senior. This is the first road test the newcomers will have to face since coming to IU, and it won’t be easy. \nBall State is 1-1 on the season, with a win on the road against Wright State and a home loss to No. 22 Louisville. Leading the Cardinals on the floor this season is sophomore guard Audrey McDonald, who averages 13.5 points per game. Senior forward Lisa Rusche also averages 12 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. \nThe Hoosiers have struggled mightily this season with turnovers. They had 17 against Albany and 22 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said after Tuesday’s game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff that holding onto the ball is something the Hoosiers would work on in practice before traveling to Ball State. \nThe Hoosiers have also struggled with shooting early in the season. They shot 37 percent from the floor and 68 percent from the line against Albany, and 43 percent from the floor and 60 percent from the charity stripe against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. However, against the latter opponent, things markedly improved, as IU shot 61 percent from the floor and 79 percent from behind the arc in the first half before cooling off in the second frame. \nBall State is the last opponent the Hoosiers will play on the American mainland until Nov. 30. They travel to the Virgin Islands for three games – Wake Forest, Wichita State and Texas A&M – from Nov. 22-24.
Last Wednesday, the IU volleyball team faced off against rival Purdue for the second time this season. After tQaking the first game 30-16, the Hoosiers dropped the match by losing three straight games, 23-30, 26-30, 24-30, respectively. Although IU dropped to 15-14 after the match, they gave Purdue the worst one-game loss the Boilermakers have suffered since 2002. \nBut there was a bright spot.\nSenior defensive specialist Juli Pierce became the all-time single-season leader in total digs on Wednesday night. At the end of the night, she had 442 digs, passing previous leader Lynn Crawley who had 436 digs in 1994. Pierce recorded nine digs on the night in West Lafayette. \nFreshman middle blocker Ashley Benson also came closer to a team record Wednesday night. With 125 blocks on the season, she sits one behind the record of most blocks by a freshman, set by Melissa Brewer in 2000. Benson tallied 10 blocks on the night.\nThe Hoosiers dominated game one with help from junior outside hitter Erica Short, who had nine kills in the game and 20 kills on the night. Freshman defensive specialist Morgan Miller recorded her first start as a Hoosier in game one. \nHowever, battling throughout each game, Purdue combined with their home crowd to overcome the game one loss and take the next three games and the match. The Boilermakers won those three frames by a total score of 90-73. The Hoosiers are now in second-to-last place in the Big Ten.\nIU will host Michigan on Saturday with a 7 p.m. tip-off scheduled. Earlier this season in Ann Arbor, Mich., the Wolverines defeated the Hoosiers 3-1.\nMichigan currently sits fourth in the conference with a record of 20-8, 8-8. They are coming off of a win at Illinois and have won three of their last four matches. They will play Purdue on Friday before coming to Bloomington.\nConversely, IU has lost seven of their last eight matches in the conference and has but a slim chance of making the NCAAs. This is the Hoosiers’ second-to-last weekend of the season, and they only have three total games remaining.
SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds was indicted Thursday on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, culminating a four-year federal investigation into whether he lied under oath to a grand jury looking into steroid use by elite athletes.\nThe indictment came three months after the 43-year-old Bonds passed Hank Aaron to become baseball's career home run leader. Bonds parted ways with the San Francisco Giants after the season.\nWhile Bonds was chasing Aaron, a grand jury was working behind closed doors to put the finishing touches on the long-rumored indictment.
INDIANAPOLIS – Dwight Freeney’s season is over, and now Simeon Rice has a chance to start anew in Indianapolis.\nFreeney, the three-time Pro Bowl defensive end and highest-paid defender in the league, was placed on injured reserve Wednesday by the Colts. He’s scheduled to undergo surgery later this week or early next week on his injured \nleft foot.\nThe blow is potentially devastating to Indianapolis, which has already been depleted by injuries. Seven starters missed Sunday’s game in San Diego, and Indianapolis lost four more starters, including Freeney, during the game.\n“Dwight is a player you cannot replace,” former Pro Bowl safety Bob Sanders said. “But we’ll continue to move on, continue to get better. We’ll put new guys in and continue to roll. That’s what Dwight would want us to do.”\nThe Colts (7-2) don’t have \na choice.\nFreeney injured the foot while making one of his patented spin moves on a pass rush during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 23-21 loss. He immediately crumpled to the ground, hopped off the field and then could not put any weight on the foot while standing on the sideline. Eventually, he was taken to the locker room on a cart.\nCoach Tony Dungy originally said he did not believe the injury would be season-ending, and team president Bill Polian indicated on his weekly radio show Monday night that Freeney was likely to miss at least three or four games.\nFurther examination Tuesday revealed a more serious injury in the midfoot area where a cluster of bones forms a small arch between the ankle and toes. The official diagnosis is a Lis Franc injury.\nIn a statement released just before Dungy spoke with reporters, the Colts said Freeney was expected to make a full recovery in time for next season.\n“You just have to move forward, you can’t move back,” Dungy said.\nTo help fill the void, the AFC South-leading Colts claimed Rice, a two-time All-Pro defensive end, off waivers Monday. Rice spent the first half of the season with Denver, which signed him to a one-year, $3 million contract in September.\nRice’s transition should not be difficult because he spent six seasons in Tampa Bay, where he played in the same system used by the Colts. Rice is also familiar with Dungy, who helped persuade Rice to join the Buccaneers \nin 2001.\nIt’s the second straight year the Colts have brought in one of Dungy’s former defensive linemen to fill holes. Last year, they traded a second-round draft pick to Tampa Bay for defensive tackle Anthony McFarland after Corey Simon was lost for the season.\nMcFarland eventually helped shore up a leaky run defense, which aided the Colts’ run to the Super Bowl title.\nRice, who feels Indy’s system is a better fit for his skills than Denver’s, hopes to make the same impact.\n“I went there with the mind-set that they would play me the same way I played in the past, and that wasn’t the case,” Rice said of the Broncos. “It wasn’t a good fit for me. This fits me. I like this situation, and I helped build this thing in Tampa.”\nRice, in his 12th NFL season, has the second-most sacks of any active player in the NFL (121) and is expected to initially play the right side, where Freeney did.\nIt’s uncertain how much playing time Rice might get this week against Kansas City, and Dungy indicated he may start Josh Thomas and use Rice primarily in \npass-rushing situations.\n“One thing we can’t do is think that he (Rice) is going to be the savior or a knight in shining armor who is going to make everything OK,” \nDungy said.
NEW YORK – Bob Melvin and Eric Wedge barely made a ripple as players. Backup catchers, they both batted a pedestrian .233 in the big leagues.\nAll that time spent pondering on the bench paid off. Far more successful in the dugout than on the field, they were honored Wednesday as managers of the year.\nThe Fort Wayne native Wedge became the first Cleveland manager to win the AL award. He was chosen by a wide margin after the Indians and Boston tied for the best record in baseball. Melvin was the first Arizona manager to get the NL prize, picked after leading his young team to the top mark in the league.\nWedge and Melvin are among nearly a dozen former catchers who manage in the \nmajors.\n“There’s been quite the trend,” Wedge said on a conference call. “The catcher has to be aware and knowledgeable of every aspect.”\n“It’s a leadership position. That position demands a great amount of passion for your teammates and the game of baseball,” he said.\nWedge said he knew Melvin mostly from across the diamond. Their paths crossed years ago – a month after Colorado took Wedge from Boston in the November 1992 expansion draft, the Red Sox wanted a second-string catcher and signed Melvin as a free agent.\nWedge received 19 of the 28 first-place votes and got 116 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, finishing ahead of the Angels’ Mike Scioscia (62 points). Joe Torre, who walked away from the Yankees last month, was next with 61 and Terry Francona of the World Series champion Red Sox got 13.\n“There’s always challenges and unexpected challenges you go through over the course of six months. I think we were the extreme of that,” Wedge said.\nWedge, a no-nonsense guy with a John Wayne calendar in his office, guided the Indians to a 96-66 record. Cleveland made its first playoff appearance since 2001, then lost to the Red Sox in Game 7 of the AL \nchampionship series.\nMelvin was chosen on 19 of the 30 first-place ballots and received 119 points. Philadelphia’s Charlie Manuel (76), Colorado’s Clint Hurdle (58) and the Cubs’ Lou Piniella (25) followed.\nMelvin was honored for his steady hand in leading a team that sometimes started six rookies to a 90-72 mark. \nBack in the playoffs for the first time since 2002, Arizona swept Chicago in the first round before getting swept by Colorado in the National League Championship Series.\n“At the beginning, we were cautiously optimistic. We liked the young group,” Melvin said on a conference call.
NEW YORK – After a summer of lawsuits and tabloid headlines, the New York Knicks wanted to get back \nto basketball.\nSo much for that plan.\nThe team fined Stephon Marbury more than $180,000 after he blew off Tuesday night’s game against Phoenix, the latest clash between the disgruntled point guard and coach Isiah Thomas.\nThe Knicks sent Marbury a letter informing him of the fine, according to a person with knowledge of the penalty who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday. He requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss it. The Knicks would not confirm the fine.\nThe Knicks wouldn’t say if Marbury would attend Wednesday night’s road game against the Los Angeles Clippers, or if they would fine him again if he doesn’t show.\nAccording to the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, players are docked 1/110th of their salaries for missing a game without a reasonable excuse. With Marbury scheduled to earn $20.1 million this season, that would be about $182,800.\nThe Knicks hoped their summer of woes would be forgotten once the season started, but instead they’ve blown up on their first road trip.\nMarbury played poorly down the stretch in New York’s 75-72 home loss to Miami on Sunday, and the Daily News reported Tuesday the Knicks were trying to reduce Marbury’s role or get rid of him entirely.\nThat created tensions between Marbury and Thomas – Westchester County neighbors who share the same agent. The two reportedly even fought on the plane to Phoenix, which the \nKnicks denied.\n“There is no truth to that whatsoever,” said Knicks spokesman Jonathan Supranowitz, who was on \nthe flight.\nMarbury then left the team in Phoenix, telling the New York Post on Tuesday he had permission from Thomas. Thomas would not confirm that, but did say the team would welcome back \nMarbury.\nThomas refused to discuss any potential penalties against Marbury before the game Tuesday, saying the matter would be kept \n“in-house.”\nSeveral of Marbury’s teammates said his departure took them by surprise, but they expressed no hard \nfeelings.\n“You always support your teammates,” forward Jared Jeffries said Tuesday. “A lot of people on the outside don’t understand what guys go through with their family, their friends, with this team, with anything. Whenever somebody goes through a tough time you support your teammate.”\nMarbury is still one of the Knicks’ best players, averaging 15.2 points and 6.8 assists. He is under contract with the Knicks through next season, and is scheduled to earn about $42 million. \nThat makes him difficult to trade, especially since he has created problems off the court and never won a playoff series on it.
Timeline of the recruiting violations by the IU men's basketball team coaching staff:\nJuly 10: An intern in the IU Athletics Department’s compliance office discovers a suspicious pattern of phone calls made by the men’s basketball coaching staff. The University hires Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller to conduct a thorough investigation of the matter. The investigation reveals several violations.\nOct. 3: The University submits the Ice Miller report to the NCAA Committee on Infractions.\nOct. 14: The University announces infractions committed by IU men’s basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff and discloses additional sanctions against the staff.\nOct. 29: Assistant coach Rob Senderoff resigns.\nOct. 30: IU announces Senderoff’s resignation. IU’s report to the NCAA is released to media, pursuant to Indiana Public Records Act requests.
Six IU tennis players, three of whom were seeded in the 64-player draw, competed in the Big Ten Singles Championship in Ann Arbor, Mich., this past weekend. \nPrior to the tournament, IU head coach Randy Bloemendaal said he expected senior Thomas Richter to be a top-16 seed, but due to the absence of several of the conference’s top players, senior Dara McLoughlin and freshman Phillip Eilers also were among the top players in the field.\nAll three made it through to the second round, but it was a struggle early for the 9th-seeded McLoughlin, who need a third set to defeat Penn State’s Guillaume St-Maurice, which he did 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.\nIU junior Peter Antons and freshmen Jai Yoon and Santiago Gruter were not as fortunate, however. Each fell in straight sets in their opening matches. Yoon put up the biggest fight, taking the No. 10 seed, Tobias Wernet of Minnesota, to a second set tie-breaker before losing 6-3, 7-6 (6).\nIn the second round of the main draw, the 2nd-seeded Richter ousted Mike DePietro of Michigan, while McLoughlin took down Michigan’s Chris Madden and the 12th-seeded Eilers earned a win against Wisconsin’s Mike Dierberger.\nIn round three, Richter and McLoughlin were both victorious in two sets, but Eilers fell just short, losing 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (2) to Mike Sroczynki of Michigan, the 92nd-ranked player in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s preseason rankings.\nLooking to reach the semifinals for the third year in a row, McLoughlin faced his second Wolverine opponent of the tournament, Jason Jung. Jung, the No. 6-seed and 124th player in the nation, was victorious on his home court, defeating McLoughlin 6-4, 6-4.\nRichter, meanwhile, faced a familiar opponent in his quarterfinal match. Last April, Richter defeated Wisconsin’s Nolan Polley 7-6, 6-2, but this time around, the tournament’s fifth seed and nation’s 101st-ranked player avenged his loss and defeated Richter easily, 6-3, 6-1.\nIt was a disappointing finish for Richter, who had hopes of winning the last fall tournament of his career, especially seeing that he was seeded second without the top players from Ohio State or Illinois in the field.\nIn the consolation, meanwhile, Gruter lost in a third set super tie-breaker in his first match, while Antons and Yoon each won a match before falling to the same opponent, Michigan’s DePietro.\n IU’s next competition will begin Dec. 30 at the Clemson Winter Shootout in South Carolina.
INDIANAPOLIS – When Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri couldn’t tackle Darren Sproles on Sunday night’s opening kickoff, Sproles scored.\nWhen punter Hunter Smith couldn’t shove Sproles out of bounds on Indianapolis’ first punt, Sproles scored another touchdown.\nThen again, kickers and punters aren’t supposed to make those plays.\nFor coach Tony Dungy and his not-so-special coverage teams, the long runbacks and scores have been more than an aberration. They’ve become a trend.\n“It’s different problems, and we’ve got to work to get it corrected,” he said Monday. “We can’t afford to give away two touchdowns and not even give your defense a chance to play. Obviously, it’s not the same guy, or we’d make that switch.”\nThose are strong words from a coach who tries to avoid midseason lineup changes.\nBut the exasperating predicament may not leave Dungy much choice. Over the past month, the Colts have allowed:\n– Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew to run the opening second-half kickoff 65 yards to set up the Jaguars’ only score in a lopsided Indy win.\n– New England’s Wes Welker to return a fourth-quarter punt 23 yards, setting up the Patriots’ winning score.\n– Sproles to run virtually untouched for an 89-yard kickoff return and a 45-yard punt return for two scores in the first quarter Sunday.\nWhile Dungy isn’t one to fret over stats, the fact that Indy ranks 24th in the league on kickoff returns and last on punt returns (21.1 yards) and has given up three returns for touchdowns is enough to warrant concern.\nThere’s plenty of blame to go around.\nPunt returner Craphonso Thorpe let two kicks bounce in front of him during the fourth quarter Sunday, and both proved costly. Indy lost about 14 yards of field position on the first one, and the second rolled around long enough to run seven seconds off the clock in the final minute.\n“Three balls hit the ground and one of those bounced to the one,” Dungy said. “The last punt of the game, you’d like to see a fair catch on that one and not let it hit the ground.”\nEven the most reliable players are having problems. Vinatieri, long considered the best clutch kicker in the league, missed a rushed 42-yard field goal just before halftime Sunday. Then he pushed the potential winning 29-yard kick wide right with 1:31 left in the game.\n“I let my team down tonight,” Vinatieri said afterward. “I just didn’t hit it very good. I wish I could give you a better answer, but I just missed it and that one is on me.”\nWhat’s wrong with the Colts’ special teams?\nInjuries, for one thing.\nWith seven starters out last week and four more knocked out during the San Diego game, the Colts have been patching together a special teams unit with inexperienced players or fatigued players being asked to do more than usual.\nA year ago, the Colts were ranked 31st on punt returns and 30th on kickoff returns even before Devin Hester’s memorable touchdown return in the Super Bowl.\nOver the past 29 games, including the playoffs, Indianapolis has allowed seven returns for touchdowns. It seems an oddity for a team that devotes nearly one-fourth of all training camp practices to special teams work only.\nSo Dungy will spend more practice time this week trying to make the corrections before his team faces Kansas City’s Eddie Drummond.\n“They’re not mistakes of effort, but just fundamental football and doing the right thing,” Dungy said. “We have to get that \ncorrected.”
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The IU football team couldn't pull off a late drive effort, losing to the Northwestern Wildcats 28-31 Saturday in Evanston, Ill.
After a long, grueling double-overtime game, the No. 9 Hoosiers and the No. 18 Ohio State Buckeyes were forced to settle the 2007 Big Ten Men’s Soccer Championship with penalty kicks after neither team was able to score during 110 minutes of play. Ohio State won 5-4, earning the automatic NCAA Tournament bid that came with the win.\nIU must now wait for an at-large bid to the tournament. \nDespite several open looks, neither team was able to put the ball in the back of the net during regulation and overtime. This is the second time the Buckeyes and the Hoosiers have drawn 0-0 this season. \nPlease see tomorrow’s IDS for complete coverage of Sunday’s Big Ten Championship game.
The IU men’s soccer team managed to pull out a 1-0 victory over host team Michigan State at the Big Ten Tournament Friday, and will face No. 2-seed Ohio State on Sunday at 2 p.m.\nAfter out-shooting the Spartans 10-3 in the first half, freshman Neil Wilmarth managed to get a head on the ball with about 32 minutes remaining in the game off a cross in the box from senior Charley Traylor. The ball shot into the lower left corner of the goal for the only score of the game. \nThe Spartans also had several opportunities to score, and managed to get the ball into the goal once but the goal was not counted as IU goalkeeper Chay Cain was roughed during the play. \nSunday’s game will be a rematch of last season’s Big Ten Tournament championship game. Last season, the Hoosiers defeated Ohio State 1-0 to claim their 11th Big Ten Championship. At their last regular season meeting, the Hoosiers were forced to end in a 0-0 tie with the Buckeyes.
