Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Drops Close One at Mizzou
12/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
December 19, 2004
COLUMBIA, Mo. , - Despite a large halftime lead, Missouri battled back in the second half and defeated Indiana, 56-53, in non-conference men's basketball action on Sunday afternoon on Norm Stewart Court at the Mizzou Arena.Freshman forward D.J. White scored a team-high 13 points, while junior guard Bracey Wright added 12 and freshman forward Robert Vaden totaled 10. Wright played the entire second half with a broken nose after being elbowed by sophomore guard Spencer Lauire at the end of the first frame. Laurie was called for a flagrant foul on the play.
Vaden also chipped in with a career-high three steals.
White made a pair from the charity stripe with 1:12 to play in the game to give IU a 51-50 lead. Sophomore forward Linas Kleiza answered with two free throws of his own to push Missouri ahead 52-51 with 55.5 seconds to play.
White scored two more, this time from down in the post, to move the Cream and Crimson to a 53-52 advantage with 41.5 seconds to play. Kleiza was there again for the Tigers, making two more free throws for a 54-53 edge with 31.2 seconds to play.
The Hoosiers had one final chance to take the lead, but a drive by Wright was knocked away and the Tigers scored once more for the games final margin.
Kleiza led all scorers with a game-high 18 points, including a 12-for-16 effort from the free throw line.
White scored the first five points of the game for the Hoosiers (2-5), but a three-point play by junior center Kevin Young gave Missouri (6-4) a 7-5 lead, just under four minutes into the game.
Vaden made a lay-up off a great pass from Wright to even the game at 7-7 with 14:30 to play. Wright added a lay-up of his own, off a block from freshman guard A.J. Ratliff, and a free throw to give IU a 10-7 advantage at 13:22.
Freshman forward Kalen Grimes had a rebound dunk to trim the lead to 10-9 at 11:45. It was the first Tiger basket in over five minutes of action.
White scored again down in the post off a back-door feed from sophomore forward Pat Ewing. Jr., and Wright drained a jumper to push the Cream and Crimson margin to 14-9 with 9:39 to play.
Freshman forward Marshall Brown hit a triple for the Tigers, but Wright made three free throws, after being fouled on a three-point attempt, to maintain the five-point lead, 17-12, with 6:31 remaining.
After another Missouri three-pointer, junior forward Sean Kline made a free throw, Ratliff answered with a trey of his own and Ewing made a 10-foot jumper to give IU a 23-15 lead with 2:44 to play in the frame.
Kleiza made one free throw for the final Missouri point of the half at 2:13.
Ratliff scored on a tip-in and after Lauire was called for his flagrant foul against Wright, junior guard Marshall Strickland made a pair of free throws to give IU a 27-16 lead at 1:19 of the stanza. Wright was under able to shoot his free throws and was taken to the lockeroom for medical attention.
Senior guard Ryan Tapak made a pair from the charity stripe and Ratliff made a jumper at the halftime buzzer and Hoosiers lead 31-16 at the break. The Hoosiers closed on a 17-4 over the final 6:31 of the first half.
Tapak opened the scoring in the second half, but Missouri went on a 14-2 run over the next eight minutes to cut the Hoosiers advantage to 35-32 with 10:44 to play in the game.
Wright returned to the game and stopped the run with a lay-up at 10:21 to move the lead back to 37-32. Brown and Kline traded dunks for a 39-34 score at 8:32 of the half.
Strickland picked up his fifth foul at 8:15 of the half, which forced Head Coach Mike Davis to give extended minutes to both Tapak and Ratliff.
Kleiza and Vaden each scored inside, then senior guard Jason Conley nailed a three-pointer to make the score 41-39 with 5:53 to go. On the next trip down the court, Vaden converted a four-point play, after drilling a triple and getting fouled, to push the lead to 45-39.
Missouri scored four straight points to make it 45-43 with 4:19 to play. Vaden scored again at 3:48, but Conley drained another trey to make the margin just one, 47-46, with 3:10 to play.
White scored down on the post to make the game 49-46, but Brown answered with a three-pointer to tie the game at 49-49 with 1:55 to play. Junior guard Jimmy McKinney made one free throw at 1:42 to put Missouri ahead 50-49.
Indiana will return to action at home on Wednesday, Dec. 22, at 8:00 p.m. (EST), against Charlotte in Assembly Hall. The game will be televised by ESPN Plus and is the fourth of 16 IU games televised on the local package. Tom Hamilton (play-by-play) and former IU supersub John Laskowski (color commentary) will call all of the action. The match-up can also be heard live on the IU Radio Network with Don Fischer (play-by-play), Todd Leary (analysis) and Joe Smith (pre game, halftime and post game).
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