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INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Jared Jeffries scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half as 22nd-ranked Indiana cruised to a 67-56 victory over Michigan State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Conference tournament. Jeffries made just 1-of-5 shots in the first half when Indiana (20-10) shot 50 percent (14-of-28) and built a 33-24 lead that it never relinquished. The Hoosiers outscored Michigan State in the paint, 16-6, in the first half. Dane Fife beat the Spartans from the outside in the first 20 minutes, making 4-of-5 shots, including 2-of-3 from behind the arc. Fife scored 10 of his 11 points in the first half and Tom Coverdale also finished with 11 for Indiana, which shot 52 percent (25-of-48). Marcus Taylor scored 20 points and Indiana native Adam Ballinger added 12 and eight rebounds for Michigan State (19-11), which must hope for an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Ballinger fouled out late in the game and forward Aloysius Anagonye picked up his third foul early in the second half and had just five points and three boards. Indiana faces the winner of Wisconsin vs. Iowa in the semifinals on Saturday. "I thought our guys gave great effort," Indiana coach Mike Davis said. "I get upset when we have those lapses at the defensive end. If we don't play hard every possession on defense we're in trouble. I wanted to go inside because Anagonye picked up his third foul. We wanted to focus on going inside." The Spartans had just 10 assists and committed 21 turnovers as they were eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinals for the second straight season after winning it in 1999-00. "I can't hold back my disappointment today," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "You have to give IU a lot of credit. I thought Indiana played with a lot more intensity than us today." Indiana took control with a 9-0 burst, capped by Jeff Newton's layup for a 17-9 lead with 11:10 left in the first half. |
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