IU Downs Northwestern, 71-57

1/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Jan. 15, 2003

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The17th-ranked Indiana men's basketball team bounced back from Saturday's loss at Ohio State in a big way Wednesday, defeating Northwestern, 71-57, in front of a capacity crowd at Assembly Hall. Tom Coverdale became the 37th player in Indiana history to score 1,000 career points as the Hoosiers moved to 12-3 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play. The Wildcats slipped to 8-6 and 0-3 in league contests.

From the jump, the Hoosiers came out at the top of their game. Kyle Hornsby got things started with a three pointer and Indiana scored 11 straight points to open the contest. At the first TV timeout with 14:38 showing on the clock, Northwestern had been held scoreless by IU (11-0). The Hoosiers continued their strong offensive play, shooting 50 percent in the first half. Hornsby led the attack with a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the three-point line and 12 points. Coverdale was sharp as well running the offense. He dished out seven assisst in the first half alone. Indiana took a 34-22 lead into the locker room.

Indiana was even better offensively as they maintained a double-digit lead the entire second half and cruised to the win. The Hoosiers shot a season-best 62.5 percent from the field for the game and out-rebounded Northwestern, 30-16.

With 13:05 remaining in the second half, Coverdale hit a three-pointer to become the 37th player in Hoosier history reach the 1,000-point mark. He finsihed with 19 points and 10 assists, marking his second career double-double. The Noblesville native now has 1,015 career pointsand moved into 36th place and ahead of former teammate Jared Jeffries (1,008) on the all-time scoring chart.

"[Tom] Coverdale showed great leadership tonight and was at his best since the Maryland game," head coach Mike Davis said. "If we can continue to have him play this way this team will win some basketball games."

Hornsby drained a career-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Jeff Newton added eight points and 10 rebounds and became the 19th player in school history to record 600 career rebounds.

"He's a different Kyle Hornsby this year. His confidence is higher," Davis said. "Monday and Tuesday he worked real hard on his shot. Today after shootaround he stayed around extra and was real good. It's time for his shots to fall."

Strickland stepped up in the abscence fellow freshman Wright. He finished with nine points. George Leach chipped in with six points and six rebounds. Sean Kline tallied seven points in 18 minutes of action and A.J. Moye, who was in the starting lineup for the second time this season, rounded out the scoring with three.

For the first time this season, freshman Bracey Wright did not start or play for the Hoosiers. Wright is nursing a recurring back injury and his status is day-to-day.

Northwestern was led by Jason Burke with 14 points and four rebounds. Aaron Jennings added 12 for the Wildcats.

"We did get a couple of good looks at the beginning," Wildcat coach Bill Carmody said. "Winston [Blake] was 0-for-4. He didn't shoot well and didn't score a point. We didn't get much out of Davor [Duvancic]. He came in and threw the ball away. That's just a very good team."

The Hoosiers will be back in action at Assembly Hall on Saturday, Jan. 18, when they play host to No. 8 Illinois. Tip is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised by CBS.