Hoosiers: Terps just ‘much better’

Indiana stayed close with defense, 3s

? Indiana’s Hoosiers did not feel like losers on Monday night.

Coach Mike Davis’ gritty IU team (25-12) hit 10 three-pointers to Maryland’s two and held superstar guard Juan Dixon without a point for a 20-minute stretch, yet still fell, 64-52, in the NCAA title game at the Georgia Dome.

“We had a chance tonight, but Maryland is just a much better basketball team than we are,” Davis said of the 32-4 Terps, who outscored IU, 22-8, the final 9:42, right after Indiana had gained an improbable 44-42 lead.

Dixon, who hit nine of 12 shots en route to 18 points he had 33 in a semifinal win over Kansas swished a three at 9:42 to overcome the 44-42 deficit and spark a furious Terp rally to close the game.

Indiana missed 13 of 15 shots the final nine minutes. IU’s Donald Perry threw in a meaningless three-pointer just before the final buzzer.

“It tells you he has no fear,” Davis said of the 6-foot-3 Dixon, who put Maryland up for good with his three despite the fact he was shut down by Dane Fife from the 10 minute mark of the first half until the time he hit the crucial trey. “If you are going to win a championship, your best player has to make plays and he did that. Down the stretch we had momentum and he put a stop to it.

“No question Dane Fife played him well. He scored 18 points on nine shots. He’s the best player we’ve played against this year except Jason Williams (Duke).”

Indiana was paced by the three-point bombing of Kyle Hornsby (four threes), Fife (three) and Tom Coverdale (two).

“We made 10 threes to their two. They made one more field goal than we did (21 to 20). We did the best we could do,” Davis said.

Maryland center Lonny Baxter scored 15 points of 6-of-15 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds. He hit just three of eight free throws as the Terps made 20 of 28 to Indiana’s two of seven. Indiana wasn’t awarded a free throw the second half.

“He is so physical. He blew our guys out of the way,” Davis said of Baxter. “He got it point blank. When you get it point blank, there’s not much you can do. I thought the game was called great. The officials in this game are the best. We fouled them. We had to foul them. It was point-blank layups. The reason we didn’t draw fouls is we shot 25 footers instead of taking it to the basket.”

IU forward Jared Jeffries was held to eight points on 4-of-11 shooting.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say they bumped us off stride,” Jeffries said. “But they were definitely physical. Down low it’s just a matter of putting the ball in the basket. We had certain shots that would go in, rim out. They did a great job on defense. We haven’t played a team that good on defense.”

In the final analysis, Indiana proved the Hoosier State proud, advancing to the title game with 11 losses.

“The victory was won (just making the final),” Davis said. “There’s so many people who appreciate me speaking about my faith and that’s the victory. You know the scoreboard, we wanted to win, but to have people call me and tell me they really appreciate that that I’ve helped them spiritually, that means a lot to me.”

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Notes: Kansas coach Roy Williams and his assistants attended the game and sat in a section with several KU fans. … The Final Four all-tournament team included no KU players. Maryland’s Dixon was most outstanding player and made the team with teammates Baxter and Chris Wilcox (10 points, seven boards). IU’s Fife and Hornsby filled out the team. … A rally for KU will be held at 4 p.m. today at Kansas Memorial Stadium. … Maryland won the 2002 national title in Game No. 2002 in the history of the program.