Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Michigan
No. 16/15 Indiana Wins Big Ten Opener Over Michigan
1/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2006
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 15/16-ranked Hoosiers opened the 2006 Big Ten campaign with a hard-earned 70-63 win over the Michigan Wolverines on Jan. 3 at Assembly Hall. Sophomore Robert Vaden's scored 17 points, all coming in the second half, to lead IU (9-2, 1-0).
With Indiana leading 59-57, Vaden started an Indiana run that sealed the game with a baseline drive for a lay-up. After a stop on the defensive end, senior Marco Killingsworth scored in the post to put Indiana up 63-57.
Michigan senior Daniel Horton responded with a floater in the lane, but Killingsworth answered with two more on the other end to put Indiana up 65-59. IU never looked back as it closed out the game on the free-throw line to finally put away the Wolverines.
The win was Indiana's ninth in a row against Michigan and 12th in its last 13 contests against the Wolverines. IU has won 20 consecutive Big Ten home openers, with its last loss coming to then-No. 2 Michigan, 74-69, in 1987.
Both teams started off the game sluggish with Indiana working its way to a 17-10 lead midway through the first half. The Hoosiers built a seven-point lead twice, only to see it disappear both times. With IU leading 24-17, U-M answered with a 7-0 run to close out the first half tied at 24 apiece.
Defense was the name of the game in the opening 20 minutes, with the Hoosiers forcing the Wolverines into 12 miscues in the first stanza. The two teams combined to shoot 32.7 percent from the field overall, including 25 percent behind the three-point arc.
Killingsworth and sophomore D.J. White led the Hoosiers in scoring in the half with 10 and eight points, respectively. Dion Harris led the way for the Wolverines with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Harris saw all his points come in the final seven minutes of the half.
The two Big Ten foes came out of the break and broke the scoring droughts that plagued them in the first half with Indiana putting up 46 points in the second half and Michigan scoring 39. Vaden, who was scoreless in the first half, opened up the Hoosier scoring with two consecutive three-pointers en route to his 17-point effort.
The reigning Big Ten Player of the Week has now led the Hoosiers in scoring three straight games. Vaden continued his hot shooting behind the three-point arc, going 2-of-4 in the game, but he missed his first three-point attempt in three games (a streak of 12 consecutive makes, extending his school-record). Vaden has hit 12 of his last 14 three-pointers.
Junior Roderick Wilmont, who also had a scoreless first half, helped fuel Hoosier runs in the second half with two fastbreak dunks off of Indiana steals. After Horton closed the Indiana lead to 48-45 with a three-pointer, Wilmont went on a 6-0 run with back-to-back threes of his own. Wilmont finished the game with 12 points.
The Hoosiers had five players register double figures, led by Vaden, who also pulled down six rebounds and dished out four assists. Killingsworth finished the game with 15 points, Wilmont had 12, and Strickland and White both had 10.
Indiana will continue its Big Ten season on Saturday, Jan. 7. against No. 18 Ohio State at home.
