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Indiana
Road to the Final Four.............................................................................................
Interim coach Mike Davis and his players survived a tumultuous ride during the regular season to finish fourth in the Big Ten with a 10-6 mark. First, there was the pressure of stepping in for Bobby Knight. Then came early-season losses to Temple, Texas and -- ouch! -- Indiana State. Back-to-back losses to Missouri and Kentucky didn't help, as Davis openly questioned his team's toughness. Beating Michigan State in the second Big Ten game was huge. Yet there were late-game meltdowns in losses at Minnesota and Iowa that drove Davis nuts. Nonetheless, Davis and the players persevered and the Hoosiers closed the regular season on a roll. They drilled Wisconsin by 30; pounded Minnesota by 36; and beat Purdue by 16. Davis has grown so confident that he expressed the belief he deserves to be named the permanent head coach in Bloomington. Player to Watch If not for the stellar season fashioned by Illinois' guard Frank Williams, Indiana junior forward/center Kirk Haston might have been named the Big Ten player of the year. Haston was the Big Ten's leading scorer in conference play (20.3 points) and was No. 2 in rebounding (8.9). He made 47.3 percent of his field-goal attempts, including 43.5 percent of his 3-point attempts. Haston's ability to score inside and outside consistently caused matchup problems for the opposition. Just ask Michigan State's Zach Randolph, who gave up Haston's winning 3-pointer when the Hoosiers knocked the Spartans from their top spot in the polls.With the Ball Gone is the pure motion offense favored by Knight. Gone, too, is an offense dominated by the guards. Haston and Jared Jeffries, the Big Ten freshman of the year, have carried this team offensively. Like Haston, the 6-foot-9 Jeffries causes nightmares for the opposition because of his versatility. Jeffries, Indiana's Mr. Basketball last season, handles the ball like a guard and averaged 14.0 points per game during the regular season. In addition, he was third on the team in assists with an average of 2.3 per game.Defending the Ball Defense hasn't exactly been a strength of Indiana teams over the last few seasons. That has not been the case this season. Although Indiana's scoring defense (64.6 ppg) was No. 5 among Big Ten teams, the Hoosiers held opponents to 39.3 percent shooting -- the No. 2 mark in the conference. The guards, led by defensive stopper Dane Fife, have been solid. But the big men are mobile and active on the inside. Indiana, not Ohio State, led the Big Ten in blocked shots at 5.3 per game. Jeffrey Newton led the way with 1.8 blocks per game, followed by Haston and Jeffries at 1.2 blocks apiece.Seed Analysis Exceeding the Seed Playing to Expectations Falling Short BRACKETOLOGY SCORE: .744 (1.000 is playing exactly to a team's historical seeding) Bracketology Report1985-2000: The complaints about Bob Knight were legitimate, including those about the on-court performance of the Hoosiers. IU has underachieved in nine of its last 15 NCAA appearances, including first-round wipeouts to No. 13 Richmond (1988) and No. 4 Cleveland State (1986). Indiana did sandwich a national championship in between those tournament failures, but the pattern was clearly negative toward the end of Knight's career.Roster
 NCAA Basketball Championship Week It's March, which means the madness has started and invitations are being reserved throughout Championship Week.  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |  |
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Mike Davis hopes to take the interim off of his coaching title.
