over and out.

well, just as i had guessed it, the IU Hoosiers lost a close one against UCLA.

final score 54-49. they had a valiant effort to tie the game late and made UCLA's heart skip more than one beat. just 13 points in the first half was the single lowest in the NCAA tournament in the shot clock era. That surely didn't help.

I'm tired, and will have a season recap coming later in the week.

Now, back to Indy.

ncaa 2nd round gameday

Good morning from sunny Sacramento, hours ahead of what could potentially be IU's last game of the year. The Hoosiers will do battle with the Bruins of the University of California - Los Angeles. Expect it to be one of the better games of the day for a few key reasons. IU will have to rely on hot outside shooting. UCLA has great defense. Indiana doesn't fall out of games. UCLA won the Pac-10 for a reason.

Both of these schools come out of very, very different leagues in the Pac-10 and Big Ten. They don't hardly ever play each other and the mileage gap creates a lack of knowledge about just how good each team is. Without a doubt, UCLA is the favorite tonight. They have the record, have the talent, and have the ability to get to the Final Four.

But look for IU to be a thorn in their side -- and much more so than Weber State.

I'm expecting a close loss tonight, mainly to avoid being heartbroken that my travels are through with this team. Because, in that case, here comes IU men's baseball and the rowing team.

Come on Hoosiers, do it!

IU falls tonight after a very, very good season for first-year coach Kelvin Sampson.

62-55.

Up next: Just UCLA...

I come to tonight in a state that I haven't been in awhile.

Elated over an Indiana Hoosier basketball victory. In the first game that the Hoosiers have won that I have been a photographer at since they beat Michigan at home on January 27th. That includes losses at Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota, but not forgetting at the Big Ten Tournament last Friday against Illinois. Needless to say, it feels good to leave a game without a sour taste, and for this trip, not have to worry about flying standby back to Indy.


Tonight was a night that saw Roderick Wilmont come back to form in the shooting department, and IU able to maintain a steady lead throughout the contest. Gonzaga, who ousted IU from the tournament last year, saw its fortunes as a national Cinderella-type team come to an abrupt end this year as Wilmont hit 6 of Indiana's 9 threes en route to knocking down 22 points. Now sporting a 21-10 record, the Hoosiers will continue their week in sunny Sacramento by matching up with 2-seed UCLA Saturday at ARCO Arena. The second round game features two of the top three NCAA men's basketball championship-earning schools. UCLA has won 11 and Indiana 5.

The Bulldogs never quite went away in this one tonight until the final minute when they were faced with a double digit deficit and threw in the towel. A D.J. White slam dunk sealed the deal and the Hoosiers celebrated with the crowd yelling "Kel-vin Samp-son!" over and over before the Hoosiers finally heard the buzzer sound with the final score reading 70-57. Gonzaga's leading scorers including Derek Raizio and David Pendergraft each with 12.

The Hoosiers now move on to face a much tougher team in UCLA, as their 2-seed in this tournament could have easily been a 1 if they would have won the Pac-10 conference tournament. They did, however, win the Pac-10 season championship. The Bruins played Weber St. earlier in the day at ARCO, and held the Wildcats to just 42 points. Fighting a sluggish start, UCLA surged to end the first half and kept the momentum after the break. Arron Affalo, who had a miserable game versus California in the first round of the Pac-10 tournament, came back strong today with a 22 point and 8 rebound effort. A win Saturday in the West Regional for the Hoosiers would be significant and a definite upset, as the Bruins have played very well this season. Three of UCLA's players have averaged double figures in scoring, including Affalo and Darren Collison who both earned all-conference honors.

However, from now until game time, I've got some definite sightseeing to handle. Old Sac (haha, yeah i laugh too), a happy hour appetizer buffett, and a possible visit to a very, very large (see right for evidence, and click for more) fire that happened along a railroad trussle in Artest-ville today. Maybe a "Governator" t-shirt as well. As for now, it's time to marvel at the fact that Duke is gone from the tournament, and I'm leading one of my competitions. 14 of 16 ain't too shabby, but tomorrow will be the real test.

Over and out.

report for arnold's country.

Good morning, afternoon, or evening, whichever it is for you, because, well, I have no clue. This whole Cali time swing has me all screwed up, but I'm not complaining. Sacramento (where I am) is a lot more than I expected. It's very, very modern, but yet, has an old town feel. And everything is green.

Like really green. It's a welcome change from the bland state Indiana is in during this time of the year.


I'm here covering the NCAA First Round Men's Basketball Tournament for IU and the Indiana Daily Student as a photographer. Yesterday, IU had its availability day and a short 40 minute public practice. Basically there were interviews and then a practice that consisted of stretching and shooting. There was no offense work, no harsh words, and Kelvin smiled just about the whole time. And I must say, the Hoosiers were lights out on the rims here. Like, whoa. I think the Hoosiers found the one benefit of ARCO arena -- the shooting background is not deep at all. That's about the best I can say for the place because I'm truly surprised an NBA team could actually play there. The old Market Square Arena put this place to shame. And that place wasn't that special.

Our hotel room is very, very nice. I'm pretty sure Arnold (you know, he's the governator) can see in our room, as the state capitol that was built in the mid 1800s, is right out the window. It's a gorgeous building with beautiful trees all around. The picture is what it's like standing on the balcony.

Today, we don't really have to be over to ARCO until around 5ish, but who knows when we'll get there. The Hoosiers have Gonzaga, and unlike the rest of the world who probably knows better, I really think they'll win it. The Zags are the nation's Cinderella team every year, but this year they'll get knocked out fast. As for UCLA, that's a different story.

That's about it from Sac-town, and tomorrow I'll have an update (hopefully, they charge 9.95 a day for internet!!) about tonight's game (i'd give you a halftime analysis, but ARCO is stupid about their internet policies.) and my adventures to Old Sacramento, around the State Capitol, and potentially the California State Railroad Musuem.

Later, peeps.

gameday at iu: senior night

the iu basketball preview makes a return tonight, the last game of the regular season for the indiana hoosiers. the northwestern preview was missing because -- well -- i think about 13.97 people actually cared about the game. if iu would have lost, it would have been a different story. is penn state at home any different? not really, but it is senior night.

tonight the hoosiers will effectively graduate four seniors from assembly hall -- errek suhr, earl calloway and roderick wilmont. each have had their impact on the program, mostly this year, in quite different ways.

suhr? the walk-on-who-got-a-scholarship-face-of-iu-who-the-crowd-loves guard from bloomington will decidedly get the most cheer tonight. he's been a "sparkplug" for the hoosiers this year, in the words of Coach K at Duke. the numbers? not too great. but he's a scrappy player who gives iu fans flashbacks of teams and players past.

calloway? he's had a tough end to the regular season with the painful separated shoulder injury suffered at purdue, but it seems as if he's ready to get back in the swing of things again after playing a little bit at northwestern. his career at iu has been decent since transferring from georgia perimeter college after his sophomore year. he averaged just 10 points a game this season, but made his deeper impact with court presence and ability to fly the ball up the court.

wilmont? roderick earned an iu record on wednesday against norhtwestern by connecting on 9 3-pointers en route to 31 points for the contest. wilmont has been at iu for five years and is a red shirt senior after sitting out his freshman season. this year he's averaged over 12 points a game and was 66-161 from 3-point range.

all of these guys will be missed next year, but in all reality, the team is in good shape. armon bassett fill in calloway's role, lance stemler and aj ratliff will be a heavy outside presence and dj white should be back. throw in eric gordon and a stellar recruiting class and the hoosiers will looks to be pretty stout in 2007-2008.

but for now, the focus lies on keeping an undefeated record at home against penn state tonight and advancing in the big ten tournament. all the nay-sayers who say iu isn't a lock in the tournament are dead wrong. the 3rd best team in the conference will get in. and it wouldn't shock this reporter to see the hoosiers playing on sunday in the big ten tournament -- they are the type of team that can and will shock some teams (wisconsin and ohio state) at a neutral venue.

tonight? the hoosiers roll. sampson lays down some pretty nice comments and a few jabs too. i can't be there, but i'll excited to see how it plays out.

give iu the nod. 82-62.

this is getting old.

drew neitzel dropped 15 in the second half to overcome the hoosiers 10 point half time lead and to lead the michigan state spartans to a 66-58 victory tonight at the jack breslin student center. the hoosiers, who had 0 turnovers in the first half, gave it away 16 times in the second half en route to losing their fifth straight road game.

"Give Drew Neitzel credit, those shots were tough," said IU head coach Kelvin Sampson.

The Hoosiers played very efficiently in the first half, creating 16 turnovers which turned in to 15 points. However, the home crowd at the Breslin center brought the Spartans back in the game after falling behind by 13 with 19:02 to go after three free throws by Armon Bassett. Bassett added a season-high 25 points.

"There's no way we win that game without our fans because I had three guys walking on their tongues at the end," said Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. "I never thought I'd have a game when my point guards had 13 turnovers and we still won."

The Hoosiers now head into the final two games of the regular season with one more home game against Penn State and the season finale on the road at Northwestern during the first week of March.
The loss dropped IU to 18-9 (8-6).

Notes:
-IU shot 35.4% from the field while Michigan State shot 54.5%.
-The Hoosiers went deep in the bench tonight with 7 players in double-figure minutes.
- Michigan State did not score a field goal after the 3:47 mark, relying on free throws to seal the game.

Analysis:
Coach Sampson seemed to take this loss with a grain of salt in the post-game conference and I couldn't really tell if it was sarcastic. He really felt that the team played hard tonight but Michigan State's played tougher. Turnovers really killed the Hoosiers in the second half, but most of them were forced. I still like this team despite their ridiculously frustrating nature on the road. Wih Calloway coming back, I feel like this team can compete very well in the neutral big ten tourney and at the ncaa's. Should be fun, but for now, we're gonna hit the hay and then trudge back through yet another ice storm tomorrow. should be fun.

(visual credit: gm)

halftime at michigan state.

live from the breslin center ... it's your host, geoffrey miller.

the hoosiers came out strong and firing. they lead at half time 30-20 in what has proved to be their best road half of basketball since the connecticut game. this team is what we've been seeing at home!

it's a good thing the 3 ball is dropping in tonight here in east lansing. the hoosiers are 6-16 from behind the arc and 4 of 7 from the rest of the field. bassett has 11 and ratliff has 10. where's dj white though? he's gotta show up the 2nd half.

michigan state will tie this game and indiana is going to have to show some gusto. and the iu side has been getting the benefit of the doubt on several fouls. it's about time for the hoosiers on the road. i have a feeling that may change the 2nd half. and drew neitzel has to get hot at some point, right? he's only got 4.

man, it's been a fun game and this arena is amazing. enjoy the show, boys and girls.

(i'm sitting on the IU bench side about the 3rd photographer in the white shirt. conveniently right in front of the beautiful erin andrews. yes! see at the end.)

welcome to the breslin center.

well, we're here, and nice and on time. the parking is questionable, and we hope that michigan state parking services doesn't tow us. anyways, as i sit next to dick vitale and some other espn fellows, some thoughts on the arena.

first off, wow. and second? WOW. the lighting is absolutely gorgeous. (yeah, that's the photographer in me) the arena is very, very fan friendly in terms of sight lines. it's got the full wrap-around seating and even the upper levels don't seem to far away. the students are RIGHT on the court basically, and yeah, it's bright. very very bright. like standing on the sun bright.

game time is just about an hour away, and it looks like we could be awhile from home. the weather in indy is already looking real bad and we have to trek home in the ice and snow tomorrow morning and afternoon -- and possibly night. woo-hoo!

enjoy the game folks, it's gonna be a good one!

and check out the scores of some other games .... with 2:52 left kansas is beating iowa state 85-47. the score was 70-29 with 9 minutes left. mercy rule anyone? and florida got beat, again. too bad.

maybe we'll chat at halftime. laterz.

it's gameday.

this is kind of a funny situation. i'm sitting in bloomington right now and watching college gameday. in 7 hours, i'm going to be at that arena. it really feels like we need to have left hours ago, but in all reality it's a 4 and half hour drive. and right now we're 9 and a half hours away from game time in east lansing.

the hoosiers will be taking on the spartans in this nationally televised contest on espn. it should be a decent ball game if a quality iu team shows up. but their play on the road has been mediocre, at best. however, i've got an interesting stat for the big ten. of all the big ten teams (including top 5 teams ohio state and wisconsin), there has only been a grand total of 21 games won on the road. naturally a good percentage of that is conference play, but that also includes non-conference. regardless, it's tough to win on the road in the big ten.

as for tonight? michigan state's drew neitzel has been streaking, and i think he'll play up for the crowd. look for him to be over 20 tonight at the breslin center. i'm also gonna go out and say that roderick wilmont and dj white will have very, very decent games tonight. rod will knock down some shots early and keep it close, and the hoosiers will keep going to dj late in the game. he just needs to stay out of foul trouble.

i'm going to call the upset tonight, and its an upset based on the location of the game. iu needs to win a big road game, and tonight is the last tough contest for them.

iu wins 69-64. look for some possible updates at half and at the conclusion if the media room is accessible.

finally.

well the hoosiers came back nicely tonight with a win at home tonight. was it a great game? no. was it a win? yes, and that's all that matters. ben allen didn't play as much as i thought, but he did add four points. dj white looked good all around the hoop, with quite a few fadeaway jumpers knocked in.

good stat of the night? the iu hoosiers forced 6 offensive fouls from the gophers.

good win, 71-59. not too far off my prediction. yeah, call me the swami.

next up: college gameday game of the week in east lansing, michigan against michigan state saturday at 9 on espn. yours truly will be courtside with a brief update or two. look for a preview on friday.

until we meet again, keep it realer. (thanks, chappelle)

keep it alive.

an article in today's indiana daily student talks about how iu junior forward ben allen is looking to get some more playing time as the season comes to a close. and i don't blame him. he's a decent perimeter player that can serve well in a 3 or 4 spot, opposite of dj white. you gotta feel bad for the guy that is trying to be converted to a position he has never played -- and having to do it at the level of big ten basketball. i think ben will get some more playing time tonight because he was even-keel in the michigan game and the hoosiers will undoubtedly get in foul trouble. don't boo the guy, give him a chance.

anyways, the hoosiers take on minnesota tonight at home where they are 15-0. the hoosiers should roll tonight in this must win game against the lowly golden gophers, but this team is anything but consistent. minnesota will come out with a big effort, but the hoosiers are going to feel at home tonight with the crowd behind them, and win easily. hopefully.

67-57.

visual: ben allen defends michigan's courtney sims during the 58-55 loss saturday at michigan. credit:gm

two in a row?

after another ugly road loss on thursday at purdue, the iu men's basketball team heads to michigan today to take on the wolverines. the hoosiers soundly defeated michigan in bloomington in march, but that has been no indicator as to how this team will play on the road.

the odds are against the hoosiers saturday as junior lance stemler and earl calloway will both be out of the lineup. stemler suffered a sprained ankle in practice on tuesday and calloway took a nice lick to his shoulder coming off of a screen during the loss in west lafayette.

look for the hoosiers to continue their road slide on saturday at 4pm at crisler.

hoosiers lose 71-69.

visual: lance stemler puts up a shot during the iu victory over purdue in january. he will miss saturday's game with an ankle injury. (credit: gm)