Gutsy Spartans Fall At Indiana
11/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2009
Bloomington, Ind. - It took a desperation three-pointer from Christian Whatford, a member of one of the nation's top 10 recruiting classes, to seal the win for Indiana as the Hoosiers staved off a pesky USC Upstate Spartans team Monday night, 69-61, in front of a mostly subdued crowd at Assembly Hall.
Upstate (0-2) had staged a large rally, falling behind by 20 points in the second half only to cut the lead to eight with 2:20 to play. That's when Whatford, with the shot clock winding down, nailed a 23-footer with Pat Posey's hand in his face to give Indiana (2-0) an 11-point lead with 1:44 to play to seal the win for a Hoosier team that had begun to unravel under the pressure of a determined Upstate attack.
"I think the way the kids competed and continued to execute was really something special," said Upstate head coach Eddie Payne. "They stayed in the game despite Indiana going on a run and the crowd getting into it. They maintained their focus and, had it not been for that long three-pointer, maybe something crazy could have happened."
Whatford's play was huge for Indiana as Upstate battled its way back into the game in the second half. Behind the play of Mezie Uzochukwu, who finished with a team-high 14 points, the Spartans put themselves in position to make a run at the end of the game.
"Mezie is a warrior," said Payne. "He played with control and it was nice to see him play as well as he did on this kind of stage."
Trailing by 16 with 4:48 to play, Upstate went on an 8-0 run to fight its way back into the game. Carter Cook started the run with a layup and Uzochukwu scored six straight to get the Spartans within eight, 65-57, with 2:20 to play prior to Whatford's game-sealing heave.
Whatford finished with a game-high 17 points and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Maurice Creek added 14 for the Hoosiers, while Verdell Jones finished with 13.
Despite a raucous crowd of more than 15,000 in Assembly Hall welcoming Indiana to the court, Upstate was not phased. Posey, who played his first two games in Indiana at Vincennes University, started the scoring with a jumper. After Indiana scored four straight points, Upstate went on a 7-0 run to open a 9-4 lead with 16:21 to play in the first half.
Indiana answered with a 12-0 run to take a 16-9 lead midway through the first period before Upstate's Josh Chavis nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead to four. With the Hoosiers holding a 20-14 lead, Upstate whittled away at the cushion and cut the lead to one, 24-23, on Chavis' second three-pointer of the half with 4:05 to play. Indiana closed out the half by outscoring the Spartans, 8-2, to open a 32-25 lead at halftime.
Indiana scored the first four points of the second half to open an 11-point advantage. The lead stayed in double figures for the Hoosiers for most of the second half, growing to 20 on Jordan Hulls' free throw with 9:08 to play. However, Upstate would not go down without a fight.
Upstate cut the lead to 15 points with 6:36 to play and 13 with 5:23 remaining before making its final run late in the game.
Upstate finished the game shooting 42.6 percent from the floor. Entering the game shooting over 37 percent from the three-point arc, the Spartans connected on just 4-of-15 from long range. Upstate improved at the free throw line, hitting 17-of-23 from the charity stripe after going just 5-of-12 from the line at Nebraska on Saturday.
Indiana finished the game shooting 44.4 percent from the field. The Hoosiers were strong from the three-point arc, hitting 5-of-11 on the night. They were just 16-of-30 from the free throw line. Neither team did an exceptional job taking care of the ball. Upstate committed 20 turnovers, while Indiana made 18 miscues.
Upstate again had a balanced scoring attack led by Uzochukwu. The junior from Greensboro, N.C., was 4-for-7 from the field and connected on 4-of-6 from the free throw line for his 14 points. Ryan LeGates scored a career-high nine points, while Posey, Chavis and De'Marion Gordon each had eight for the Spartans. Nick Schneiders started the night off well on both ends of the court before getting into foul trouble. He finished with six points, five rebounds and four blocked shots.
"We had to play our other guys when Nick got into foul trouble," said Payne. "When you have a 7-3 guy and you can't get him in the game, it's tough. For awhile there, he contained the lane pretty good, but then played tentatively when he picked up his fourth foul.
"I thought our players were able to play the game and not the clock. I told our players that we have seen a lot of good things through these first two games. We need to work on some things, but I am encouraged with what I've seen."
