Indiana Doesn’t Miss a Beat in Davis’ Return

All was peaceful for Indiana Coach Mike Davis in his return from a one-game suspension for an outburst on Dec. 21 against Kentucky.

Bracey Wright scored 17 points and Tom Coverdale added 13 at Bloomington, Ind., as the No. 17 Hoosiers defeated Charlotte, 70-60.

Davis missed Tuesday night’s victory over Ball State for his on-court outburst at a referee during the loss to Kentucky. Davis was subdued for most of the game and didn’t do much talking with the officials. There wasn’t much to complain about, although Charlotte made the game interesting for most of the second half.

Without the usual output from power forward Jeff Newton and center George Leach, the Hoosiers (10-2) needed a late 11-4 run to put away Charlotte (5-6).

Newton, who was averaging 15.1 points and 10.5 rebounds, had two points and six rebounds in 30 minutes. Leach’s numbers also were below average.

“I was so disappointed in our inside players and their approach to the game,” Davis said. “You play a team like Charlotte, a team we should beat by 25, and we come out with no fight. I wanted to make a statement today that if you’re not playing hard, you’re coming out.”

The Hoosiers did give Davis something to smile about at the end when Kyle Hornsby drove the lane for a layup, then made a free throw. The three-point play was a rarity for Hornsby, who entered with 22 three-point baskets out of 32 field goals.

“I knew they were going to break out,” Charlotte Coach Bobby Lutz said. “We did a decent job on their inside game, but we weren’t able to stop them on the perimeter.”

Demon Brown led Charlotte with 16 points and Chris Sager had 14.

No. 1 Alabama 65, No. 19 Xavier 58 -- Erwin Dudley had 18 points and 10 rebounds at Tuscaloosa, Ala., as the Crimson Tide (10-1) won its 26th consecutive home game with a victory over the Musketeers (9-3).

No. 2 Pittsburgh 85, Robert Morris 49 -- Chevy Troutman repeatedly powered through the undersized Colonials (3-6) to score 24 points as the Panthers (10-1) won at Pittsburgh.

No. 6 Notre Dame 55, Valparaiso 53 -- Matt Carroll had 14 points and the Fighting Irish (12-1) escaped with a victory over the pesky Crusaders (5-7) at Chicago.

No. 10 Oklahoma 60, No. 14 Michigan State 58 -- Ebi Ere scored 21 points and the Sooners (8-2) came up with big defensive plays in the closing minutes to hold off the Spartans (8-4).

No. 11 Illinois 88, Oakland, Mich. 53 -- Brian Cook had 22 points and 11 rebounds at Champaign, Ill., as the Fighting Illini (10-1) defeated the Golden Grizzlies (5-6).

Dayton 92, No. 13 Marquette 85 -- Ramod Marshall scored 23 points as the Flyers (8-3) defeated the Golden Eagles (8-3) in overtime at Dayton, Ohio.

No. 16 Missouri 88, Iowa 82 -- Ricky Clemons banked in a rally-stopping three-point basket with 1:18 left and finished with a season-high 27 points as the Tigers (8-1) defeated the Hawkeyes (8-3) at Iowa City.

No. 18 Kansas 100, Missouri Kansas City 46 -- The Jayhawks (9-3) overcame the loss of sophomore forward Wayne Simien, who dislocated his right shoulder in the first half, to cruise to a victory over the Kangaroos (1-11) at Kansas City, Mo.

No. 20 Kentucky 83, Ohio 75 -- Keith Bogans scored 21 points as the Wildcats (9-3) held off a late charge by the Bobcats (3-6) at Cincinnati.

No. 22 Maryland 79, Wagner 57 -- Ryan Randle had 21 points on 10-for-10 shooting as the Terrapins (7-3) routed the Seahawks (5-5) at College Park, Md.

No. 23 Wake Forest 68, Richmond 62 -- Josh Howard scored 21 points at Richmond, Va., and the Demon Deacons (9-0) defeated the Spiders (6-5) for the 11th time in a row.

No. 24 Louisville 72, Ohio State 64 -- Bryant Northern and Reece Gaines scored all 32 of their points in the second half and overtime as the Cardinal (8-1) rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit and defeated the Buckeyes (7-4) at Columbus, Ohio.

OTHER GAMES

Miami (7-4) opened the new $48-million on-campus Convocation Center with a 64-61 overtime victory over North Carolina (8-4), which has lost four of seven after a 5-0 start.... Tim Pickett scored 22 points as Florida State (8-3) defeated Virginia Tech, 76-69, at Blacksburg, Va.... LaVell Blanchard had 23 points as Michigan (7-6) won its seventh in a row with an 84-79 victory over Indiana-Purdue Indiana, 84-79, at Ann Arbor, Mich.... Willie Deane and Chris Booker scored 14 points apiece as Purdue (8-3) defeated Montana, 84-66, at West Lafayette, Ind.

Tulsa (8-3) missed five of six free throws in the final two minutes but managed to hang on for a 63-60 victory over Nevada at Tulsa, Okla.... At Akron, Ohio, Derrick Tarver scored 33 points as Akron (6-4) defeated Ball State, 105-104, in overtime despite 48 points from the Cardinals’ Chris Williams.... Marcus Hatten had 31 points as St. John’s (7-3) rolled to a 74-66 win over Seton Hall (5-5) at New York.... Ivan McFarlin scored a 27 points to lead Oklahoma State (10-1) to a 78-65 victory over Brigham Young (10-3) at Oklahoma City.... Ron Slay scored 38 points to help Tennessee (7-2) to a 71-64 victory over New Mexico (4-7) at Knoxville, Tenn.... Donta Richardson’s 14 points helped Wyoming (11-2) to a 60-56 win over Montana State (6-6) at Billings, Mont.