Vaden ties single-game 3-point record in loss
When sophomore forward Robert Vaden threw in his eighth 3-pointer of Tuesday night's game, he suddenly -- despite the score -- had a whole lot in common with the opposing Iowa Hawkeyes.
When sophomore forward Robert Vaden threw in his eighth 3-pointer of Tuesday night's game, he suddenly -- despite the score -- had a whole lot in common with the opposing Iowa Hawkeyes.
CLEVELAND — The Ron Artest trade to Sacramento is off -- for now. The Indiana Pacers had reportedly agreed to ship the volatile forward to the Sacramento Kings for Peja Stojakovic, but Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said Tuesday night no deal was imminent.
BOSTON -- Theo Epstein's new job is the same as his old one: general manager of the Boston Red Sox.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Tony Dungy needed one week to decide he still wants to be an NFL coach. Now it's back to pursuing that elusive Super Bowl run. The Indianapolis Colts said Monday that Dungy would return as their coach next season, ending speculation he might retire following the December death of his 18-year-old son, James. "I was always coming back unless I said I wasn't," Dungy said through the team . Dungy and team president Bill Polian were en route to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., Monday and were unavailable for comment. The Associated Press left a phone message for team owner Jim Irsay.
Like the men that once originated the nickname, this year's Hoosiers are heading west for a "Gold Rush." But unlike the Hoosiers of yesteryear, the 2006 variety is guaranteed to strike gold -- and plenty of it. The Hawkeyes and all their fans will be clad in their metallic-yellow getup for the program's first-ever "Gold Rush Game." "We're hoping to have a little fun and give our fans a chance to be a little student-like," Iowa coach Steve Alford said in a statement. "Because, as you know, the Hawk's Nest does a pretty good job of being gold on game night." Crowds and colored uniforms are the least of IU coach Mike Davis' worries as his No. 11 Hoosiers (12-3, 4-1) seek their first conference road win of the season. Davis said the Hawkeyes should be extra motivated after suffering a 30-point loss to Michigan State on Saturday. The last time Iowa (14-5, 3-2) lost before that, it responded with three straight victories, including an upset against No. 8 Illinois at home. "I thought (Iowa) was one of the top two teams in our league before the season started," Davis said. "It's going to be a difficult task."
The last time the Hoosiers saw collegiate-level tennis, senior Dmytro Ishtuganov and sophomore Dara McLoughlin fought their way to the final two rounds of the Big Ten Singles Championships. Two months later, the IU men's tennis team picked up right where it left off by sweeping the opening two matches of the 2006 spring season.
SEATTLE -- The Seattle Seahawks did what nobody else in the NFL could this year: stop Steve Smith. The Seahawks clamped down on Carolina's top playmaker, forcing the Panthers to search all over the field Sunday for someone else to step up. One problem -- Smith has been their only weapon all year and without him, they didn't stand a chance in the NFC championship game.
On senior day in Bloomington, IU knocked off Purdue for the sixth straight time, 177-123. The win improved IU to 6-2 on the season and 4-1 in conference action. Juniors Annica Lofstedt and Leila Vaziri each captured four event titles and sophomore Christina Loukas swept the diving events to lead the Hoosisers to the upset.
The Hoosiers took the courts Sunday against the visiting University of Kansas Jayhawks and cruised to a 5-2 win, improving their record to 3-0. IU's depth at singles played a large role in the outcome of the match as Kansas boasted a pair of talented Russians at the top of its lineup, including nationally ranked Ksenia Bukina.
Senior Ryan Fagan broke a 16-year-old record held by Olympic gold medalist Mark Lenzi as the No. 10 Hoosiers defeated the No. 17 University of Kentucky 160-137 in Lexington, Ky. Fagan shattered the record with a 399.30, becoming only the third Hoosier to surpass the 380-mark on the three-meter dive. Fagan also blew away the rest of the field in the one-meter dive competition with a score of 321.22. His closest competitor was Kentucky's Justin Smith, with a score of 287.70.
Last season Michigan entered its game against IU on a six-game losing streak and winless in the Big Ten. The Wolverines finished the game with a two-point advantage for their only conference victory of the season. Sunday, the circumstances were eerily similar.
Heavyweight matches usually stay close and rarely earn bonus points. But, then again, they are usually at the end of the dual meets. So when sophomore heavyweight Dave Herman started out the day for the No. 15 Hoosiers by posting a four-point major decision, it set the tone for IU's 31-7 victory over Ohio State Friday night at University Gym. The Hoosiers also beat Purdue in West Lafayette Sunday 24-13 to start out the Big Ten season with a 2-0 record and an 11-0 record overall.
DENVER -- Happy homecoming, Jerome Bettis. The NFL's fifth-leading career rusher doesn't ask much of his Pittsburgh teammates, but now that each game could be his last, the senior Steeler called in a favor during an impassioned pep talk before the AFC championship game in Denver. "Just get me to Detroit," said Bettis, who came back this season mostly for the chance to end his career by playing in the Super Bowl in his hometown. "Just get me to Detroit."
Not since 1972 has the IU-Purdue rivalry been this one-sided. With their 62-49 win against the Boilermakers Saturday, the Hoosiers have won six in a row and nine of the last 11 rivalry meetings. Purdue held a similar dominance over the series in the early 1970s, and the last time IU saw this much success was 1955.
Following IU's win against Purdue on Saturday, senior Lewis Monroe and junior Rod Wilmont found themselves being questioned, but not about their decisions on the court. The two basketball players became entangled in a misunderstanding when an IU Police Department officer pulled over Wilmont, who was driving Monroe's car, for a traffic violation on 17th Street, said IUPD Sgt. Andy Stephenson, citing a police report.
IU hoops and Boilermaker football are the main expressions of in-state Hoosier rivalry. Perhaps fewer fans of the diametrically opposed Indiana universities know the way the athletic rivalry is actually gauged: in the form of the AT&T Crimson and Gold Cup, an all-encompassing IU-Purdue sports competition that assigns rankings to each sport in equal value and compiles a score based on the individual sports' yearly results.
In five years at IU, senior forward Sean Kline -- an all-state selection coming out of high school -- has been more of a punch line than the powerhouse he was figured to be. To put it simply, things just haven't gone his way at all. In 2004, his season ended in West Lafayette when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament -- an injury that still bothers him. But at the start of this season, Kline came tearing onto Branch McCracken Court a different man.
Now at the season's halfway point, IU goes into Saturday's match-up against Purdue a completely different team than when it started.
Coaching During the entire offseason, IU coach Mike Davis had doubters and critics in his face at all times.
The storied IU-Purdue rivalry will continue Saturday as the No. 18 women's swimming and diving team welcomes its arch-rival, the No. 14 Boilermakers, to the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center on senior day. The Hoosiers will honor seniors Kristin Bradley, Heather Chapman, Doherty Colgin, Lauren Lubus and Lauren Torpey.