Indianapolis hosts NCAA Midwest Regional

Lucas Oil Stadium was flooded with red, and the spots of blue were almost invisible throughout the crowd. With more than 30,000 fans in attendance, it was clear the Louisville Cardinals were the favorite to win against the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA Midwest Regional.

During the first half of the game, both teams were agressive and remained only a few points ahead at at time. Duke's Ryan Kelly fouled three times during the first half and the team's leading scorer, Seth Curry did not put any points on the board. The Blue Devils were defenseless for almost four minutes during the first half of the game.

One of the most memorable moments of the game, and possibly a game changer was the gruesome leg injury of Louisville's, Kevin Ware. While attempting to block a shot, he landed on his leg and broke it with six and a half minutes remaining in the first half. At the end of the half, Louisville was up 35-32.

The game took a dramatic turn in the second half. The teams were tied at 42 and then Louisville outscored Duke on a 22-4 run. With two and a half minutes left, Duke took their final time out. At the end of the game, Louisville defeated Duke 85-63.

The teams in the final four include: Louisville, Wichita, Michigan and Syracuse. The teams will play Saturday, April 6. For more information visit the NCAA website.

The Louisville Cardinals defeated the Duke Blue Devils Sunday, March 31 at the Lucas Oil Stadium.
© Siara Ann Sparkman, 2013

Jumper's Knee

Danny Granger of the Indiana Pacers will miss the rest of the season due to injury. He is having surgery on his left knee due to not being able to deal with the patellar tendinosis he was diagnosed with last year.

This has been basketball news all season, questioning whether or not Ganger would be playing. He has most recently been out since March 6 and yesterday announced he would miss the remainder of the season to try and repair the injury.

Patellar tendinosis is also known as “jumper’s knee,” and is common in athletes who are jumping a lot. It is most common in basketball and volleyball players.

Granger looks to return next season.

#1 Hoosiers Fall Short in Sweet 16

--Allyson Burger--

The final team representing basketball crazy Indiana fell SHORT in the Sweet 16 Thursday night. And yes, pun IS intended.

The # 1 seeded IU Hoosiers lost to #4 Syracuse with a final score of 61-50 that was a hard fight from the opening tip. The Hoosiers were down a majority of the game, and seemed more than a little lost when up against the famed Syracuse defense.

The "big" story can be summed up with Yogi Ferrell and Jordan Hulls, the shortest players on the Hoosier team. At the start of the season there was concern whether the two would work well starting and playing together in the same backcourt. It did not rear its head all season until they came up against Syracuse's longer, taller, more athletic guards.    The two combined for 0 points, 6 turnovers and were constantly harassed by strong veteran Syracuse D.

Another key factor in the Hoosier loss was IU having 11 shots blocked and numerous others contested heavily at the rim.  Cody Zeller (most likely playing his last game in a Hoosier uniform) played more like a 6 footer than a 7 footer having 6 shots blocked and struggled inside all game long.

Though this was a disappointing post-season end for the Hoosiers, the 2012-2013 season has overall been a successful one. IU ended with a record of 29-7, and earned the Big Ten number one seed for the first time since 1993. There are high expectations for the young team next year.

Pacers win without starters

The Pacers took on the Atlanta Hawks Monday night without four starters... and still managed to pull off the win.

George Hill, David West, Danny Granger and Lance Stephenson were all benched with the following injuries:

George Hill: strained left groin

  

David West: lower back strain

Danny Granger: patellar tendinosis in left knee

Lance Stephenson: strained right hip flexor

Granger has been out most of the season with his sore knee. This was West's 5 consecutive missed game.

Gerald Green led the team with 19 points. Roy Hibbert was close behind with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

The Pacers beat the Hawks 100-94. They lead the Central Division over second-place Chicago Bulls with 11 games left this season. The team hasn't won a division title since the 2003-04 season.

The Pacers take on the Houston Rockets Wednesday night. Coach Vogel said it's possible that all 4 players could be back in action, although doctor's are more concerned about Hill's injury than Stephenson's.

High School boys basketball state champions

Four teams were named the state champions on Saturday, March 23 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Triton took on Borden to start off the day of state championship title games. In a close match, Triton defeated Borden 55-50 and became the division 1A state champions.

For the class 2A division, Bowman Academy beat Linton-Stockton 86-73. In the 3A division, Greensburg defeated Fort Wayne Concordia in overtime 73-70.

The final game of the day was the 4A class division. In a close game, Carmel won the state title after beating Indianapolis Cathedral 57-53. This is the third state title for the Carmel Greyhounds since 1977. Carmel's Michael Volovic was awarded the Trester Mental Attitude Award.

The Carmel Greyhounds won the state title for the class 4A division. Photo courtesy of the Indy Star.

NCAA Men's Tourney Wrap-Up: Second Round

--Allyson Burger--

As the second round of games in the March Madness Tournament comes to an end tonight, many fans' brackets have been taking some big hits and are starting to suffer, my three brackets included. Thursday, the first day of second round play, came close to making history when #1 Gonzaga came close to losing to #16 Southern U. Later that night came two more early upsets -- #12 California beat #5 University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), and #14 Harvard beat #3 New Mexico.

So far today, Friday, major upsets have included the Kansas State matchup with La Salle and the Ole Miss win over Wisconsin.

Here is the record of tournament wins thus far (8:50 p.m. Friday):

(Game WINNERS listed first)
Michigan St. vs. Valpo (65-54)
Butler** vs. Bucknell (68-56)
Wichita St. vs. Pitt (73-55)
St. Louis vs. New Mexico St. (64-44)
Memphis vs. Saint Mary's (54-52)
Marquette vs. Davidson (59-58)
Gonzaga vs. Southern (64-58)
Oregon vs. Oklahoma St. (68-55)
Louisville vs. NC A&T (79-48)
Michigan vs. South Dakota St. (71-56)
Arizona vs. Belmont (81-64)
California vs. UNLV (64-61)
Colorado St. vs. Missouri (84-72)
VCU vs. Akron (88-42)
Harvard vs. New Mexico (68-62)
Syracuse vs. Montana (81-34)
-----------------------------------------------Friday
Duke vs. Albany (73-61)
Ole Miss vs. Wisconsin (57-46)
Temple vs. North Carolina St. (76-72)
Miami (FL) vs. Pacific (78-49)
Creighton vs. Cincinnati (67-63)
La Salle vs. Kansas St. (63-61)
Indiana** vs. James Madison (83-62)
Illinois vs. Colorado (57-49)

Games currently in progress are:
#15 Florida Gulf Coast vs. #2 Georgetown (64-56) - 2nd half - TBS
#2 Ohio St. vs 315 Iona (73-51) - 2nd half - CBS
#8 North Carolina vs. #9 Villanova (50-46) - 2nd half - TNT
#3 Florida vs. #14 Northwestern U. (45-36) - 2nd half - Tru TV

Tune in to channels TBS, TNT, CBS, and Tru TV for the remainder of second round games!

Indiana College Basketball Teams and the Big Dance

As any sports fan know, it is that time of year, March Madness. The NCAA basketball tournament started on Tuesday with the First Four in a field of 68 teams. Of those 68 teams, 4 are from Indiana.  Valpraiso, Butler, Notre Dame, and Indiana all made it to the big dance.

Valpraiso played on Thursday against Michigan State in the second round. The 14 seed, Valpo, was not able to get the win against the Spartans, losing 54-65.

Butler returned to the tournament this year with a win over the Bucknell Bison Thursday 68-56. The Bulldogs will face Marquette on Saturday March 23, at 7:45pm. Butler went to the national championship in 2010 and 2011 losing to Duke and Connecticut respectively. Fans are hopeful for another run this year after missing the tournament all together in 2012.

Notre Dame will tip off on Friday at 9:45pm against Iowa State. Notre Dame is one of the teams sporting the new Adidas uniforms for the tournament.

Number 1 throughout the season, and a Number 1 seed in the tournament, Indiana will tip off for the first time of the tournament Friday at 4:10pm. They will play James Madison, a team that earned their way into the 68 teams on Tuesday night.

As the state of Indiana prides itself on being the home of basketball, it is only fitting that 4 teams would make the dance from the Hoosier State and it just solidifies how much the sport means to the state.

High School boys semi-state

With the state basketball game just around the corner, the teams making their way to the finals had one more hurdle to overcome to take them to the final game.

On Saturday March 16, 16 teams battled for their chance to play in the state game. In the Class 4A division, Carmel defeated Merrillville 66-36 and Indianapolis Cathedral defeated Jeffersonville 74-53.

In the 3A division, Fort Wayne Concordia defeated Andrean in overtime with a score of 68-63. Greensburg sailed to the state game with a victory over Mount Vernon 62-37.

The class 2A division held some pretty close competition for the teams. In the end, it was Bowman Academy over Tipton with a final score of 67-64. In another close competition, Linton-Stockton conquered Speedway 76-75 in overtime.

In the class 1A division, Triton defeated three-time state champions Lafayette Central Catholic 40-32. Borden defeated University in a close match 47-44.

On Saturday, March 23, these teams will battle for the state championship title in Indianapolis. Click here for ticket information and more game stats.

Butler's Contribution to Indiana Basketball History

Thursday started the first round of the A10 Men’s Basketball Tournament in Brooklyn, NY.  AS far as Indiana basketball goes, the Butler Bulldogs joined the Atlantic 10 Conference for the 2012-2013 season.For the tournament Butler got the 5 seed and faced the Dayton Flyers Thursday and defeated them 73-67.  The Bulldogs take on Lasalle at 2:30 on Friday.

Aside from the actual basketball teams though, comes a history that is important to Indiana basketball as a whole. Hinkle Fieldhouse is home to the Bulldogs and this year, the building celebrated it’s 85^th year.   

         

The Butler Sports website has a full history of the facility and says the first basketball game played in Hinkle was March 7, 1928, where the Bulldogs defeated Notre Dame 21-13. In 1983, Hinkle Fieldhouse was named to the National Register of Historic Places. In February 1987, it was tabbed a National Historic Landmark.

           

Even more to the history includes the 1986 movie “Hoosiers.”  Any sports fan should see this movie, but especially those fans trying to understand the heritage af Indiana basketball. The movie’s championship game takes place in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

With age, of course, comes wear and tear on anything, so Butler is currently raising money solely for renovations of the building. At games they promote the improvements and have a mobile service for people to donate $10 towards the construction to keep Hinkle up and operating. This piece of Indiana history is of course important to Butler fans and players, but it is also important to the whole state because it has such meaning to the heritage of basketball in the Hoosier State.

Defensive Player of the Year to IU's Oladipo

Victor Oladipo, the 6'5" junior of the Indiana Hoosiers, was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year at the annual awards ceremony Monday night.

Oladipo is the first Hoosier to win defensive player of year since Dane Fife in 2002.

He was also voted first team All-Big Team.

SEASON AVERAGES:

FG%     FT%     REB     AST     STL     PTS
.614      .745       6.2       2.1        2.2       13.7

SEASON TOTALS:

FG%     FT%     REB     AST     STL     PTS
.614      .745      193       66         69        426

Other Hoosier honors:
-Cody Zeller - first team All-Big Team
-Will Sheehey - 6th Man of the Year

Big Ten Victories Make Indiana Proud

--Allyson Burger--

Basketball fans on both sides of the Indiana University - Purdue University rivalry are still celebrating the victories of Sunday evening.

IU Hoosiers men's basketball team won the Big-Ten Championship outright for the first time in 20 years after defeating the Michigan Wolverines in a heart-pounding one-point game last night, and the Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball team beat the Michigan State Spartans 62-47 to win the Big-Ten Tournament championships - their second consecutive tournament win.

The big story for the Hoosiers is the talk surrounding players Victor Oladipo (junior) and Cody Zeller (sophomore); both are favorites in the run for National Player of the Year. During Sunday's game, Zeller scored an impressive six points in the final 41 seconds and sealed the team's victory. Oladipo posted a career-high 13 rebounds, along with his 14 points in the game. However, it is believed that Oladipo, along with the rest of the nation, will be shocked and "crazy" if Zeller doesn't receive the award.

The Purdue win was in the hands of Boilermakers Forward Drey Mingo throughout most of the game last night. Mingo scored 24 of Purdue's 62 points in the championship; this was a large personal achievement for the fifth-year senior who had to sit out all last season with a knee injury. She was named as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after the final buzzer.

This is the ninth tournament win for the Boilermaker women's team, a league-best record, and the 21st outright Big-Ten championship for the Hoosiers since their first in 1928. The men of IU next play in the Conference Tournament beginning March 14 in Chicago.

These wins Sunday night definitely reminded the nation that Indiana is truly a basketball state, making our state as proud as ever.

High School Boys Regional

Saturday the boys in the 4A class division traveled to four different locations to take on their rivals for a chance to play in the semi-state basketball game.

Marion hosted New Haven, Fort Wayne Northrop, Kokomo and Carmel. New Haven defeated Fort Wayne Northrop 65-60 and Carmel crushed Kokomo 60-47. Carmel then defeated New Haven and became the regional champ in Marion.

Michigan City hosted Warsaw, Merrillville, Munster and South Bend Adams. With one second left on the score board, Warsaw had one chance to win the game but did not have enough time to execute their play and fell to South Bend Adams. In another close game, Munster who was ranked second in the state, and the favorite to win state lost to Merrillville who had a record 13-5. The final score for this game was 55-52. In the final game in Michigan City, it was pegged to be a close game since in their previous games both teams had won with final second shots. South Bend Adams fell short in the game making Merrillville the regional champ with a final score of 76-55.

Seymour hosted Jeffersonville, Franklin Central, Columbus North, and Evansville Harrison. Jeffersonville became the regional champ when they beat Franklin Central 85-69. Southport hosted Indianapolis Cathedral, Pendleton Heights, Pike and Martinsville. Indianapolis Cathedral is the new regional champ in Seymour after defeating Pike 62-57.

Saturday March 16, 2013, these teams will compete at the semi-state finals.

Merrillville is the regional champ in Michigan City. Photo courtesy of Jeffrey D. Nicholls from Sun- Times Media.


For more results on class 1A, 2A and 3A visit WTHITV.com

IHSAA Girls Basketball State Finals

This weekend marks the state championship for IHSSA girl’s basketball. Eight teams from around the state will travel to Terre Haute Saturday March 2.

For Class 1A, Fort Wayne Canterbury (24-3)  and Vincennes Rivet will battle for the championship title at 10:30 am. (22-4). In semi-state, Canterbury defeated Lafayette Central Catholic 74-50, and Rivet defeated Southwestern 58-50.

Canterbury is returning to the finals to defend their title as state championships. According to the IHSAA, Canterbury will be trying for their 5th title in 6 years.

            In Class 2A Eastern (Greentown) (22-3) is taking on Evansville Mater Dei (27-2) at roughly 12:45 pm. Eastern won their semi-state 74-55 against Fort Wayne Bishop Luers, who were the state runner-ups in 2012. Mater Dei went into overtime in their semi-state to win 56-49 against Heritage Christian.

In 2012, Mater Dei won their first state title in overtime to Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 56-52.

            The 3A Championship game will tip off at 6 pm between Hamilton Heights and Mt. Vernon.  The Marauders defeated the Rushville Lions in semi-state 59-51 and Hamilton Heights outscored Benton Central 69-58.

            Mt. Vernon is looking for the title this year after falling short by 3 points to Fort Wayne Concordia in the finals last year.

            Class 4A is the only championship game that does not have a team returning from 2012.  Fort Wayne South Side (24-3) will face Bedford North Lawrence (27-0) at approximately 8:15 pm. Southside took Warsaw out of the tournament with a 47-44 win and Bedford defeated Roncalli in overtime 66-52.

The games will take place at the Hulman Center, 200 N. 8th Street, Terre Haute, IN. Tickets are $15.00 per game.