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SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- There was no word if Bob Knight was cheering in Texas, but Mike Davis has done something that his predecessor failed to accomplish in his final six years at Indiana. The fifth-seeded Hoosiers reached the "Sweet 16" for the first time since 1994, surviving a "blizzard" to hold off North Carolina-Wilmington, 76-67, in a South Region second-round contest at Arco Arena. Indiana (22-11) appeared to be in control, opening a 49-32 on Tom Coverdale's 3-pointer with 12:39 remaining before the Seahawks stormed back behind Brett Blizzard, who scored a season-high 29 points and made 4-of-9 3-pointers. "Blizzard is unbelievable," Davis said. "Dane Fife is the (defensive) Player of the Year in the Big Ten and he made unbelievable shots in his face." Anthony Terrell's 3-pointer off a steal from Blizzard pulled NC-Wilmington within 64-61 with 3:15 remaining. But the Seahawks had no answer down the stretch for Jared Jeffries, who scored 11 of his 22 points in the final six minutes despite playing with a thigh injury that has not fully healed. "We know Jeffries is 85 percent," Davis said. "Down the stretch, he was 100 percent." I forgot he was injured, he played so well." Jeffries only scored two points in the first half, but the sophomore made his sure his season did not end before an appearance in the "Sweet 16." "It's just to tough to get in a rhythm," who scored 12 points in Indiana's first round win over Uath. "The second half, I decided I wasn't going out, I was going to take control." NC-Wilmington again closed within three, 66-63, on Blizzard's two foul shots with 2:45 to play, but the Hoosiers answered on Jeffries' drive with 2:25 left. Kyle Hornsby converted 2-of-4 foul shots to make it 70-63 with 72 seconds left. Terrell recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, but the Seahawks had no one other than Blizzard step up down the stretch. They looked to their leading scorer on almost every possession, but he missed a pair of 3-pointers in the final two minutes. "It was so diametrically opposite to the preparation for Southern California," said NC-Wilmington coach Jerry Wainwright, referring to the Hoosiers' motion offense. The Hoosiers will take on top-seeded Duke in the regional semifinals Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky. The Blue Devils survived a scare to get past Notre Dame, 81-74. The Hoosiers may need to play a near perfect game to have a chance against Duke, but they helped Indiana fans forget about the team's recent failures in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers bowed out in the first round in five of the last seven years, including an opening-round loss to Kent State last year in Davis' first season year at the helm. While the Hoosiers are in the final 16, Knight's tournament problems as his Texas Tech squad fell to Southern Illinois in the first round Friday. "Duke is a great basketball team," Davis said. "Coach K is a great coach. It's an honor for me as a coach to coach against him." "This team has come together," Jeffries added. "If you play defense, you always have a chance to win the game. I don't care if it's Duke or UNC-Wilmington." The Seahawks (23-10) appeared drained after their emotional 93-89 overtime victory over No. 4 seed Southern California in the first round and fell behind 19-6 midway through the first half. Wainright was glad his team did not have to play the game on Saturday. "If we has to play yesterday, we would have lost by 300," he said. "We had a team meeting last night and it looked like an outpatient clinic for the clinically depressed. We had two guys almost fall asleep eating dinner last night." NC-Wilmington came out against Indiana like it was still asleep, but the Seahawks closed within 31-25 at the half. "If you have told me we would have been down only six at the half, I would have taken it," Wainwright said. The Hoosiers quickly got the lead back into double figures early in the second half before Blizzard got hot. But Jeffries would not like the Hoosiers relinquish all of their lead. "Coach Davis has all kinds of confidence in me," he said. "My teammates have confidence in me. I don't want to let them down, so I play even harder." Hornsby and A.J. Moye scored 12 points apiece and Jeff Newton added 11 for the Hoosiers, who shot 56 percent (24-of-45) from the field. However, they hurt themselves at the line, making just 19-of-30. Ed Williams chipped in with 11 points for the Seahawks, who shot just under 41 percent (22-of-54) . |
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