Wright on target
as Indiana wins
Maui Invitational

The freshman scores 21 in the
Hoosiers' win over Virginia in
the championship game

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By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com

LAHAINA >> From McDonald's All-American to EA Sports Maui Invitational MVP. The distance from high school to high profile didn't seem too far for Indiana freshman guard Bracey Wright.

The extra 9 inches that moved the 3-point line to 20 feet, 6 inches was no more experimental or far-fetched than No. 19 Indiana's starting Wright in yesterday's title game against Virginia.

Wright scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Hoosiers past the Cavaliers 70-63 at the Lahaina Civic Center. Wright finished with a three-day tournament total of 47 points to become only the second freshman to win the MVP trophy.

"I was coming in, hoping to contribute," said Wright, who played 38 minutes. "I didn't think I'd be walking away as the MVP. I was just thinking about winning.

"We're better than a lot of people think. We're going to be a tough team to beat."

The Hoosiers (3-0), last year's national runners-up, expect to be tough for a long time. Besides Wright, in the backcourt was freshman guard Marshall Strickland, who had 15 points in 23 minutes, 12 coming in the second half.

"Bracey Wright was spectacular and we didn't have the depth to deal with their depth, particularly at guard," said Virginia coach Pete Gillen after his team fell to 3-1. "Strickland is very good as well, but Wright is special. We had no answer for him."

Trailing 33-32 at halftime, Indiana had but one question: Who would step up for senior guard Tom Coverdale? The All-American candidate "is playing in an old man's body with back and knee pains," said Indiana coach Mike Davis of his guard who went 0-for-6 from the floor and 6-for-9 from the line.

It was 44-44 with 11:47 left. It would be the last time that the foul-hampered Cavs were close as the Hoosiers went on a 15-3 run to take control at 59-47.

Included in the run was a four-point play by the 6-foot-2 Strickland, who was fouled after hitting a 3-pointer then hit the free throw.

"I got a good pass and I knew it was going in when I shot it," said Strickland. "Everyone has confidence on this team. Coach told us to pick up the intensity at halftime and we did."

The only other Hoosier in double figures was senior forward Jeff Newton with 11. Leading Virginia was all-tournament pick Travis Watson, who picked up his third straight double-double performance with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Elton Brown added 12, Derrick Byars 11 and Nick VanderLaan 10.

In other games:

>> No. 15 Kentucky finished third for a second consecutive appearance here by muffling the outside shooting of No. 20 Gonzaga, 80-72;

>> Arizona State got a boost with the return of senior guard Curtis Millage to outlast Utah in overtime, 83-79, in the fifth-place game;

>> Massachusetts handed host Chaminade its 30th consecutive loss in this tournament, 69-55, to earn seventh place.

Kentucky 80, Gonzaga 72: Perhaps there is no 'good' loss but the Wildcats (2-1) put Tuesday's setback against zone-happy Virginia to good use against the Bulldogs (2-2) in the third-place game.

Learning how to work against the zone, Kentucky was able to make the needed adjustments to penetrate against Gonzaga.

"You learn to deal with the ebb and flow, with prosperity and adversity," said UK coach Tubby Smith. "Playing Virginia did help us identify some problems. One was to get the ball inside. And then, with their great shooters, we went with a bigger lineup to force them to shoot over us."

The Wildcats were finally able to contain Gonzaga guard Blake Stepp, who hit four 3-pointers en route to 15 first-half points. Of the Bulldogs' 11 first-half baskets, seven were 3-pointers, as they led by as many as six before halftime.

As happened in their loss Tuesday to Indiana, the Bulldogs had a couple of defensive breakdowns. A critical one came in the last 2:14 before halftime as Kentucky used a 7-0 run to claim the momentum and a 33-32 lead.

The Bulldogs fell behind but closed to 50-49 on consecutive 3-pointers by Kyle Bankhead and Tony Skinner with 11:27 to go. But the Wildcats answered with 12 straight points to go up, 62-49.

Gonzaga pulled to within four twice but the 3-point shot deserted the Bulldogs, who fell to a second Top-25 team in as many days.

"Obviously, we can compete with the Indianas and Kentuckys physically," said Gonzaga coach Mark Few. "Mentally, we broke down with some poor decisions. That is a positive because we can fix the mental things.

"Coach Smith drew up a great game plan for us and exploited our zone as bad as we've seen in a couple years. They did a good job of attacking our zone."

Blake led all scorers with 24 points but hit just one trey in seven attempts after halftime. Skinner also finished with five 3-pointers en route to 17. Ronny Turiaf added 12 points, going 8-for-10 in free throws, and finished the tournament 39 of 44 from the line.

Keith Bogans scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats. Bogans now ranks 19th among UK's all-time scorers with 1,409 points.

Also in double figures for the Wildcats were Gerald Fitch (13), Jules Camara (12) and Chuck Hayes (11).

Arizona State 83, Utah 79 OT: Curtis Millage shook off months of worrying about his eligibility and a little jetlag to lead the Sun Devils (3-1) over the Utes (2-2) with 26 points.

"I was happy to get here and glad to be able to boost the team with some energy," said Millage, who was cleared by the NCAA Tuesday morning and arrived in Maui around 8 p.m. Tuesday. "I had a lot on my mind and I just wanted to come out, play hard, set the tone."

As well as Millage played after the layoff, both he and his teammates struggled from the line. ASU hit just 32 of 57 free throws, including 2 of 8 in the final 1:48 of regulation that would have more than iced the game.

Millage missed four of those free throws to keep the Utah's hopes alive. After trailing for most of the second half, the Utes rallied behind guard Nick Jacobson's two quick 3-pointers to go up, 71-69, with 22 seconds left.

Jason Braxton's putback of a missed Millage layup tied it at 71. When ASU's Tommy Smith blocked Britton Johnsen's last-second shot, the tournament had its sixth overtime game in 19 years.

ASU scored the first eight points in overtime, four by Millage and four by freshman Ike Diogu, to put it away. Diogu finished with 22 points while Jamal Hill and Braxton each had 11. Smith finished with 11 rebounds and six blocks.

Johnsen led Utah with 23 points with Tim Frost adding 17 before fouling out and Jacobson 15 points, all on 3-pointers. The Utes only went to the line 18 times, hitting 14.

"We have six new players and we haven't worked on some stuff," said Utah coach Rick Majerus. "ASU is a very good team with extraordinary athletes. I was an idiot and some of the things I called put us in a hole early."

ASU has beaten Utah the past two meetings. The Utes will get a chance to end the skid when hosting the Sun Devils Dec. 7.

Massachusetts 69, Chaminade 55: The Minutemen (1-2) got 20 points from Anthony Anderson and 14 points from reserve Michael Lasme to kept the Silverswords last in this event for the 10th straight year.

As has been the story for CU coach Aaron Griess in his seven seasons, the 'Swords were close at halftime. Yesterday, guard Leon Ballard had 14 of his 15 points in the opening 20 minutes as Chaminade found itself behind, 34-33, at half.

"I'm so used to being in the game at halftime," said Griess. "The guys were excited to be in it but they have to learn to play the full 40 minutes.

"They went to a box-and-one on Leon and there was a stretch in the second half when they got to us."

UMass turned a 44-44 tie into a 65-49 lead over an eight-minute span to pull away.

19th EA Sports Maui Invitational At Lahaina Civic Center (2,500) Championship No. 19 Indiana 70, Virginia 63 Third place No. 15 Kentucky 80, No. 20 Gonzaga 72 Fifth place Arizona State 83, Utah 79 (OT) Seventh place Massachusetts 69, Chaminade 55 All-Tournament Team Travis Watson, Virginia; Keith Bogans, Kentucky; Ronny Tuliaf, Gonzaga; Jeff Newton, Indiana. MVP: Bracey Wright, Indiana.

Maui Invitational