Hoosiers blow past Bearkats

Friday, November 16, 2012

— Christian Watford scored 24 points to help No. 1 Indiana defeat Sam Houston State 99-45 on Thursday night in the Progressive Legends Classic.

Will Sheehey scored 18 points, Victor Oladipo had 14 and Jordan Hulls 10 for the Hoosiers (3-0), who shot 57 percent from the field and made 9 of 21 three-pointers.

Paul Baxter scored nine points and Marquel McKinney had eight for Sam Houston State (1-2). The Bearkats pushed Arkansas before losing their opener 73-68 on the road.

Indiana beat the Bearkats in every possible way. About the only thing Indiana Coach Tom Crean could complain about was that the Hoosiers made just 30 of 44 free throws.

The only drama remaining at the end was whether Indiana would score 100 points. The home crowd booed as the Bearkats basically ran out the clock in the final seconds.

Two early three-pointers by Hulls helped the Hoosiers shake off a bit of a slow start and take a 9-2 lead. Sam Houston State made one field goal in the first 6:30 and fell behind 16-2.

Indiana hit 4 of 6 three pointers to take a 23-6 lead and force a Sam Houston State timeout.

Indiana pushed the lead to 30-10 before the Bearkats’ Michael Holyfield, a 6-11 center who was guarding Zeller, committed his third foul. Indiana took advantage inside, and Oladipo’s powerful two handed dunk down the middle of the lane pushed the lead to 36-13.

The Hoosiers reached 50 points on a three-point play by Zeller in the final minute of the first half and led 52-25 at the break. Watford, who didn’t start, led Indiana with 11 points in 11 minutes in the first half.The Hoosiers outscored the Bearkats 17-4 from the free throw line before the break.

No Sam Houston State player scored more than five points in the first half. The Bearkats shot 32 percent before the break and committed 10 turnovers.

Indiana continued to roll in the second half. A no-look pass from Hulls from near half-court found Watford under the basket, and Watford converted the layup to give the Hoosiers a 64-29 lead. A put back, one-handed jam by Zeller made it 66-30.

Hulls scored his 1,000th career point on a three-pointer that gave the Hoosiers an 82-38 lead, and the home crowd gave him a standing ovation. An alley-oop pass from Maurice Creek and two-handed dunk by Austin Etherington bumped Indiana’s lead to 98-44.

Indiana also routed its previous two opponents, defeating Bryant 97-54 and North Dakota State 87-61. The Hoosiers likely will get tougher tests when the Classic moves to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Indiana will play Georgia on Monday, then UCLA or Georgetown on Tuesday.

NO. 2 LOUISVILLE 80, SAMFORD 54

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Russ Smith scored a game-high 18 points, Chane Behanan grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds and added 12 points and No. 2 Louisville routed Samford.

Behanan reached his career best in the first half with 13, out rebounding the Bulldogs (12) by himself.

Gorgui Dieng had 10 points and 13 rebounds while Wayne Blackshear added 13 points with five rebounds as the Cardinals (2-0) won the opener of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament that continues next week in the Bahamas.

Louisville never trailed in its first meeting against Samford (1-2), which was playing its highest ranked opponent since losing 79-54 to No. 1 and defending champion Florida in 2006.

Tim Williams’ 15 points and six rebounds led Samford. Raijon Kelly added 11 for the Bulldogs, who committed 21 turnovers.

NO. 6 N.C. STATE 72, PENN STATE 55

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico - T.J. Warrenhad 22 points and eight rebounds to lead No. 6 North Carolina State to a victory over Penn State in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Tipoff.

C.J. Leslie had 14 points and Rodney Purvis added 12 points for the Wolfpack (2-0). Purvis was 3 for 3 on three-pointers and North Carolina State shot 8 for 16 from beyond the arc.

Tim Frazier led the Nittany Lions (1-1) with 23 points. D.J. Newbill had 13 points and Jermaine Marshall added 11 points for Penn State, which shot 3 for 19 on three-pointers.

NO. 7 KANSAS 69, CHATTANOOGA 55

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Freshman guard Ben McLemore had 25 points and eight rebounds, Elijah Johnson added 18 points and No. 7 Kansas used a big second-half charge to beat Chattanooga.

The Jayhawks (2-1), coming off a loss Tuesday night to Michigan State, got off to a sluggish start against the Mocs, and still trailed 42-30 in the opening minutes of the second half.

Jeff Withey began their comeback with a basket inside, Johnson made a three-pointer and McLemore slammed down the first of back-to-back dunks to trigger a 27-4 run over the next 12-plus minutes.

Farad Cobb was 6 of 7 from three point range in the first half before finishing with 21 points for Chattanooga (1-1), the perennial Southern Conference contender. Z Mason added 13 points.

NO. 16 BAYLOR 84, BOSTON COLLEGE 74

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Pierre Jackson had a season-high 31 points, Isaiah Austin had 16 and the Bears rallied in the second half to beat the Eagles in the Charleston Classic.

The Bears (3-0) will face Colorado, the team they beat in last season’s NCAA Tournament run to the final eight, today for a spot in Sunday night’s championship final. Jackson led the way for Baylor with six of his team’s 12 three-pointers.

Still, the Bears trailed 52-47 with about 15 minutes to go when Jackson and Austin fueled a 10-0 run to gain control. Austin had two inside baskets, and Jackson two three-pointers to put Baylor ahead for good.

Boston College (1-1) got 25 points from sophomore Ryan Anderson. The Eagles will play Dayton today.

SEC MEN ALABAMA 65, OREGON ST. 62

NEW YORK - Rodney Cooper hit a three-pointer from right in front of the Alabama bench with 12.2 seconds left and the Crimson Tide, who led by as many as 15 points in the second half, beat Oregon State 65-62 on Thursday night in the 2K Sports Classic benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project.

Alabama (3-0) seemed to be in control of the game when it took a 52-37 lead with 12:31 to play on a three-pointer by Trevor Lacey, who led the Crimson Tide with 20 points.

But the Beavers (2-1) stopped turning the ball over and took advantage of a shooting slump by Alabama to tie the score at 62-62 when Devon Collier made two free throws with 43 seconds to play.

Alabama spread the court and ran down the shot clock. Cooper, who finished 12 points, let the ball go with six seconds left on the shot clock and it went through.

SEC WOMEN NO. 13 VANDERBILT 69, ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM 54

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Christina Foggie scored 17 of her 19 points in the second half as No. 13 Vanderbilt beat Alabama-Birmingham.

The Commodores (3-0) shot 53.3 percent (16 of 30) in the second half to break open a game they led 23-18 at halftime. They shot just 34.6 percent (9 of 26) in the opening 20 minutes, including 0 for 6 on three-pointers.

Tiffany Clarke added 14 points for Vanderbilt and Kady Schrann had 11.

Amber Jones scored 15 points and Kelsie Weynand 14 to lead the Blazers, who were trying for their first 3-0 start since 1994-1995.

NO. 24 TENNESSEE 101, RICE 48

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Meighan Simmons scored 22 points to lead four Lady Volunteers who scored at least 10 points as No. 24 Tennessee trounced Rice in the first home game of the post-Pat Summitt era.

Bashaara Graves added 18 points for Tennessee. Isabelle Harrison finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Jessica Kuster scored 16 points and Megan Palmer had 15 for Rice (1-1).

Summitt, who led the Lady Vols to eight national titles in 38 seasons, stepped down in April after announcing last year she has early-onset dementia. She watched Thursday’s game from a midcourt seat.

Since getting stunned 80-71 at Chattanooga in Holly Warlick’s head coaching debut, the Lady Vols (2-1) have had two consecutive one-sided victories. Tennessee followed up the Chattanooga game Sunday by winning 71-54 at Georgia Tech, which was ranked 22nd at the time.

After trailing 22-16, Tennessee took control with an 18-0 run, holding Rice scoreless for nearly seven minutes. Cierra Burdick scored five points during that stretch, including a jumper that put Tennessee ahead for good with 9:05 left in the first half.

Tennessee led 45-27 at halftime and ran away from Rice in the final 20 minutes. The Vols went on an 11-0 run early in the second half and reeled off 16 consecutive points later in the game.

Sports, Pages 25 on 11/16/2012