Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Wins Third Straight
1/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
January 2, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Three players scored in double figures as the Indiana men's basketball team earned its third straight victory, 68-52, over Furman on Sunday afternoon in Assembly Hall. IU improves to 5-6 heading into its Big Ten opener at Northwestern, while Furman falls to 7-5. Junior guard Bracey Wright led all scorers with 25 points, adding eight rebounds and five assists. Joining Wright in double figures were freshman forward D.J. White and junior guard Marshall Strickland. White finished with 17 points (7-of-9 from the field) and seven rebounds with Strickland contributing 11 points.
On the defensive end, IU turned in another dominant performance, shutting down Furman's offensive attack. The Hoosiers held the Paladins 38 points below their season average of 80.1, and also held Furman to 31.7% (19-of-60) from the field, well below its season average of 50.6%.
After the Paladins opened the contest with a lay-in, the Hoosiers scored 11 of the next 13 points to take an 11-4 advantage into the first television timeout. Wright scored the final seven points during the run.
Indiana turned up the intensity on the defensive end following the timeout, holding Furman to six points over a 9:09 stretch while extending its lead to 23-10. A dunk by freshman forward Pat Ewing Jr. ignited a six-point run, pushing the lead to 13.
Ewing connected on a lob pass to White, who layed it in to give the Hoosiers their largest lead of the half at 27-12 with 5:35 remaining. White closed out the stanza with 10 points, three rebounds and two blocks.
Led by Ewing, who scored five of IU's final seven points in the half, the Hoosiers headed into the locker room with a 34-20 advantage. The Marietta, Ga., native ended the opening stanza with seven points, while Wright added nine points with four boards.
As a team, Indiana shot 58.3% (14 of 24) from the floor, its highest field goal percentage in any half this season (previous high - 50%, second half vs. Oral Roberts on 12/31).
The Hoosiers built their largest lead to 41-25 following a three-point play from Wright, but the Paladins responded with a five-point spurt to close the gap to 41-30 with 13:35 to go in the game.
White halted the run, hitting a leaner in the lane that sparked a 6-0 Hoosier run that Strickland capped with a baseline three-pointer. The Paladins cut the lead to 11 once more at 47-36, however, Ewing drained a pair of free throws and Wright drilled a deep trey to make it 52-36 at the 6:25 mark, putting the game out of reach.
Ewing just missed double figures with nine points in addition to four rebounds and a pair of blocks in 18 minutes of action. In addition, freshman forward Robert Vaden closed the game with eight rebounds and four assists, while freshman forward James Hardy corralled five boards in 16 minutes.
Indiana looks to make it four straight victories when it travels to Evanston, Ill., to battle the Northwestern Wildcats on Wednesday, Jan. 5. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. (CST). The game will be televised by ESPN Plus and is the eighth of 16 IU games televised on the local package. 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).
