Hoosiers Fall To Minnesota

March 11, 2005

CHICAGO - The No. 5-seeded Indiana men's basketball lost its Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal game, 71-55, to No. 4-seeded Minnesota on Friday afternoon in the United Center. The Hoosiers fall to 15-13 on the year, while the Golden Gophers improve to 20-9.

Big Ten Freshman of the Year D.J. White played a solid all-around game for the Hoosiers. White closed the contest with game-highs in points (21) and rebounds (10); he also matched a career-high with five blocks.

The five rejections by the forward was the second most for a Hoosier in the Big Ten Tournament. Jeff Newton owns the Indiana Big Ten Tournament record with seven against Iowa in 2002.

Junior guard Bracey Wright was the only other Hoosier to score double figures with 14 points. Wright and freshman forward Robert Vaden each grabbed six rebounds.

"First of all, with a young basketball team you see a lot of different things.  Today, I thought we came out and played hard," Indiana head coach Mike Davis said. " I'm very proud of this basketball team.  These guys have done a great job to win the games we've won.  The way they played throughout the season, being so stressful and tense the whole way is what makes me proud of this basketball team." 

Indiana opened the game hitting on three of its initial four attempts from beyond the arc. Junior guard Marshall Strickland connected on one and sophomore guard Roderick Wilmont drained a pair to even the game, 9-9, three and a half minutes into play.

The Cream and Crimson grabbed its first lead, 13-11, on a lay-up from White at 13:03.

Minnesota went on an 8-0 run over the next 3:58, to re-take the lead, 18-13. During the Gophers spurt the Hoosiers missed seven-straight shots.

Wright hit a leaning jumper from the baseline, got fouled and converted the three-point play to end the Gophers' run. Wright's three-point play trimmed the lead in half to 19-16.

Minnesota would outscore Indiana 10-3 over the next 2:32 to garner its largest lead of the half, 29-19, with 5:43 to play. Senior guard Aaron Robinson and freshman forward Dan Coleman each hit 3-pointers for the Gophers during the stretch.

The Hoosiers cut the margin to five twice during the final four and half minutes of the half, but the Gophers would take a 34-28 lead into the break.

Senior center Jeff Hagan picked up his fourth foul at 17:55 of the second half and was forced to sit. Indiana and White took advantage of Hagan's absence down on the block.

IU went on a 7-2 run over the next 1:28 to cut the advantage to 42-40. Wright nailed a trey and White connected on a pair of buckets down in the post.

That would be as close as the Cream and Crimson would get as the Gophers went on an 18-5 run over the next 5:28 to push their lead to 60-45.

Minnesota had a balanced attack with four players scoring doubles figures: Grier had a team-high 16; senior guard Brett Lawson added 15, while Robinson and Coleman chipped in with 14 and 11, respectively.

The Hoosiers will now await the NCAA Selection Committee's decision, slated for Sunday evening, to determine their postseason future.

Game Notes: D.J. White has scored doubles figures in 19 of his last 22 games and has totaled double-figures in 13 consecutive games... with five blocks today, White increased his freshmen school record total to 61... with White and Robert Vaden getting the starting nod today, the Hoosiers now have a total of 72 freshmen starts on the year; that total matches the 1996-97 quartet of Luke Jimenez, Michael Lewis, A.J. Guyton and Jason Collier who started 72 games between them... the 1989-90 group of Lawrence Funderburke, Calbert Cheaney, Greg Graham, Pat Graham, Todd Leary, Chris Reynolds and Chris Lawson had a school-record 73 starts between them.

Indiana University Athletics

March 11, 2005

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Players Mentioned

A.J. Guyton

Luke Jimenez

Michael Lewis

Jeff Newton

Jeff Newton

Jeff Newton

Jeff Newton

Marshall Strickland

Marshall Strickland

Marshall Strickland

Marshall Strickland

Robert Vaden

Robert Vaden

D.J. White

Roderick Wilmont

Roderick Wilmont

Roderick Wilmont

Roderick Wilmont

Roderick Wilmont

Bracey Wright

Bracey Wright

Bracey Wright

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