Maryland Game Recap

12/3/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Dec. 3, 2002

Indianapolis, Ind. -- Tuesday night's rematch between defending national champion Maryland and runner-up Indiana had all the makings of a classic. And it was better. The 10th-ranked Hoosiers used overtime to defeat the No. 9 Terrapins, 80-74, in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Hoosiers moved to 5-0 on the season while Maryland suffered its first loss of the season and dropped to 3-1.

Senior Tom Coverdale led all scorers with 30 points, tying a career high. The Noblesville, Ind., product seemed to be in a zone as he went 8-of-16 from the field, including 5-of-10 from three point range, and nailed nine of his 10 free throw attempts.

"Coverdale is the most underrated player in the country," Hoosier head coach Mike Davis said. "Don't count him out. No matter who he faces, he always beats them out. I don't know how you can recruit a Tom Coverdale. You can't measure his heart."

Freshman Bracey Wright had his fourth double-figuring scoring effort in four games, netting 19 points and collecting six assists. Jeff Newton had a double-double for the Hoosiers with 13 points and career-best tying 14 boards. Sean Kline finished with 10 points and five rebounds. George Leach had six blocks. Senior Steve Blake paced Maryland with 22 points and Ryan Randle was next with 20 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.

The Hoosiers shot just 29.9 percent from the field for the game to Maryland's 42.3. Indiana was also outrebounded, 56-49. But the Hoosiers only turned the ball over four times and hit 27-of-39 free throws compared to 10-of-14 for the Terrapins.

Indiana got off to a slow shooting start in the first half and Maryland jumped ahead 7-2, fueled by a pair of backdoor layups by senior point guard Steve Blake. But the Hoosiers clawed their way back to tie it at nine with 13:10 to go in the half as senior guard Kyle Hornsby hit two of three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt.

Over the next three minutes, the Terrapins promptly strung together a 9-0 run to reclaim the lead.
The cold shooting continued as IU went without a field goal for more than three minutes.

The Hoosiers got the spark they needed to ignite the offense in the form of senior point guard Tom Coverdale. Trailing 27-13 with roughly four minutes remaining, Coverdale hit two foul shots after being fouled on a drive to the basket. The Noblesville, Ind., native hit a three-pointer from the right side on the next play, and then stole a Maryland pass. Coverdale hit Wright for a three-point play to narrow the gap to 29-21.

The Hoosiers held the Terps to one field goal during the last four-plus minutes of the first half. With time running down in the first half, Wright found junior big man George Leach for an emphatic dunk that took the Hoosiers into halftime trailing by only four at 31-27, despite a 22.9 shooting percentage from the field.

"I told my team at half time to keep fighting, and everyone needs to be up on the rebounds," Davis said.

Maryland went on a 7-0 run to start the second half and lead by as much as 11. The Terps suffered a big blow as Tahj Holden fouled out with 13:37 remaining in the second half.

IU kept fighting and took the lead for the first time at the 10:07 mark after freshman Marshall Strickland hit Coverdale with a skip pass and he drained a three-point shot from the right side to make it, 46-44.

"Coach Treloar always gets on me about being a leader," Coverdale said. "Some nights it is scoring, and some nights it is finding who is hot. Tonight I had to score because no one else was really shooting the ball well. I was just trying to do everything I could for my team to win.

The game see-sawed back and forth for the rest of regulation. Maryland took a four-point lead at 68-64 with 39 seconds on the clock after forward Travis Garrison hit a shot from underneath the basket. Coverdale responded 10 seconds later, hitting a three from the top of the key to draw the Hoosiers within one. The two teams traded turnovers before Maryland once gain gave the ball up on the inbounds pass. Wright found Kline, who was fouled on the shot. He made the first of two, but missed the second. With seven seconds left, the Terrapins lost the ball again on the inbounds. Coverdale corralled the ball and shot from 28 feet out with two seconds left and missed. Blake got the rebounds, raced to halfcourt and hit what appeared to be the game-winner. After the officials conferred and watched a replay, they ruled that the ball was still in Blake's with no time on the clock.

In overtime, Maryland and Indiana continued to battle, trading leads until the Hooisers took the lead for good with 1:49 remaining on a layup by Kline, 75-74. IU hit its free throws down the stretch and held Maryland scoreless the rest of the way.

Indiana returns to action at home on Saturday, Dec. 7, when it hosts Illinois-Chicago at Assembly Hall. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.