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BOX SCORE
CHICAGO (AP) Like any kid growing up in Indiana, Brody Boyd
dreamed of playing for the Hoosiers and winning Big Ten titles.
| | The Hawkeyes celebrate with the Big Ten championship trophy. |
Boyd has his conference title, but it came at the expense of the
Hoosiers.
After averaging just five points a game during the regular
season, Boyd scored 22 points Sunday as Iowa beat Indiana 63-61 to
win the Big Ten tournament.
Reggie Evans blocked Kirk Haston's last-second 3-pointer to give
Iowa (22-11) the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"Everybody that grows up in Indiana wants to be a Hoosier. But
things change and people want to go to different places," Boyd
said. "This win today is just unbelievable. This game, coming
against Indiana, is more special for me and coach."
Iowa coach Steve Alford is a favorite son in Indiana. A former
Indiana Mr. Basketball, he led the Hoosiers to the 1987 national
championship and was recently named to Indiana's All-Century team.
Alford was mentioned as a possible successor to Bob Knight
even before Knight was fired in September.
But this day was about Iowa, not Indiana (21-12).
"I've got great memories from there," Alford said. "I'm just
happy we were able to win it. Regardless of who the opponents were
along the way, to win a Big Ten title is very special."
As the final buzzer sounded, Alford embraced leading scorer Luke
Recker, who's got plenty of Indiana history, too. Recker, who spent
his first two years as a Hoosier, has been out since breaking his
right kneecap in Iowa's Jan. 27 victory over his old school.
The Hawkeyes lost seven of their last nine regular-season games
without him, and came to Chicago needing to play their way into the
NCAA Tournament.
"I can't say enough about these guys," Alford said. "I'm so
proud of them for what they had to endure."
Iowa got the seventh seed in the East and will play Creighton in
the first round. Indiana, the fourth seed in the West, plays Kent
State.
Playing their fourth game in four days, the Hawkeyes trailed by
as many as nine points in the first half. But Boyd hit three
straight 3s, the last one tying the game at 42 with 12:01 left.
"I was lucky," he said. "I hit some shots early that got me
going and it kept me going throughout the game."
With 1:43 left, Duez Henderson hit a leaner from the left side
to give Iowa a 61-59 lead. Haston missed a jumper from the top of
the key with 1:12 left, and Jared Jeffries got the rebound.
But Boyd, a 5-foot-11 guard, ripped the ball away from the 6-9
Big Ten freshman of the year.
Tom Coverdale missed a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left, and Boyd
again came up with the rebound. He was fouled, and made both shots
to give Iowa a 63-59 lead with 21 seconds left.
"I just wanted it that bad," Boyd said. "We were supposed to
do all the little things and I just happened to come up with two
loose balls."
Coverdale hit a layup with 15 seconds to go, but Iowa turned the
ball over on the inbounds pass. Haston missed from the corner,
Henderson grabbed the rebound and Coverdale clobbered him for his
fifth foul.
Henderson missed both shots with nine seconds left, and Haston
grabbed the rebound.
But his 3-pointer from just beyond the arc was blocked by Evans
reminiscent of the block Haston made on Frank Williams'
last-second layup attempt Saturday to preserve Indiana's semifinal
victory over Illinois.
"That block was big-time," Evans said. "I wasn't doing too
much offensively, so I had to do whatever I could to help my
team."
Evans smacked Haston's hands, and Indiana coach Mike Davis
screamed for a foul, but nothing was called. The tipped ball didn't
even make it halfway to the basket, giving Iowa the victory.
"All you've got to do is watch the tape," Davis said. "Kirk
got two good looks, I'm not going to say anything about it."
But Haston said he should have made the shot.
"From my point of view, it was a pretty decent play," he said.
"I had two good looks and just missed them. Boyd hit big shots
that were daggers, and Henderson hit a couple of jump shots that
hurt us late."
Henderson finished with seven points and five rebounds. Dean
Oliver had 12 points for Iowa.
Haston led the Hoosiers with 24 points and 12 rebounds, but he
went nine minutes in the second half without scoring. Jeffries
added 17 points and seven boards.
"This should have been our championship," Davis said. "I'm
disappointed for myself, my team and Indiana fans. It was an
opportunity to bring excitement back to this program."
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Iowa Clubhouse
Indiana Clubhouse
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