Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
BLOOMINGTON -ÊYou know something good has happened when he pumps his fist.
And last night Luke Recker got to pump his fist quite a bit as he scored 20 to help lead the No. 21 Indiana Hoosiers to a 91-54 Wednesday win over the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Defense was the name of the game for IU and UAB from the outset, but the Blazers could not maintain the defensive pressure of their opponent.
Things were tight until the Hoosiers opened up a 19-6 run that was capped off by a William Gladness hook shot. Then Recker turned on the gas. The sophomore scored IU's last nine points to put IU up 39-21 at halftime.
Recker was all over the floor during the first half, drawing charges, stepping into passes and stealing balls, all this on top of his usual scoring habits.
He got to pump his fist a couple of times, too.
For all his hard work, Recker's coach was pleased with the progress. "We talked to him about being in the passing lanes," Indiana coach Bob Knight said. "He was consistently in a position to exert some pressure. He did a good job maintaining his position in the passing lanes."
If cold shooting is what hurt the Hoosiers in their last game, then it is what killed UAB. As if trying to shoot themselves out of slump, the Blazers continually tossed up the long-range shot, even though they hit iron more than nylon. UAB finished the game 1 for 20 shooting three-pointers.
Still, former Knight assistant coach and current UAB coach Murray Bartow wouldn't have changed a thing, for the most part.
"I thought we got a pretty good look a those shots in the first half," he said, "and in the second half, but some of those were forced. It was just one of those nights. We feel very humbled."
The second half UAB just couldn't get anything going offensively, and they can thank a pretty stingy Hoosier defense. IU showed signs of the team that opened up the season with a 2-0 weekend.
The perimeter defense that forgot to show up against Indiana State returned. Last night the Hoosiers executed their man-to-man defense to a tee. Rotating along the perimeter was the key, the missing ingredient against Indiana State, when the Hoosiers allowed the Sycamores to hit 9 of 14 three-pointers.
"We knew they were a very good basketball team," Bartow said. "There's no team in the country that's more prepared, and they're as well coached defensively as any team in the country. It just snowballed."
"I thought we started out pretty well," Knight said. "The offense of both teams started out slow because of the defense. Our objective was to play for 40 good minutes."
One of the other key ingredents in IU not repeating last weekend's lackluster effort was handling adversity and finishing off a team.
"We knew UAB had a lot of talent, so we wanted to get off to a good start. Unlike last time," junior guard Michael Lewis said.
The Hoosiers will head to Hawaii Friday to play in the Maui Invitational, which will be a test for the undefeated squad from Bloomington. First up is Kansas State on Monday. Should the Hoosiers win, they'll face the winner of Arizona State and Utah. From there it could be Syracuse, Clemson, Michigan or Chaminade.
