
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 28, 1994                   TAG: 9402280082
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MINNEAPOLIS                                LENGTH: Medium

YES, HOOSIERS DID LOSE 106-56

There were no outbursts, no tirades, not even a mild flare-up from Bob Knight, who was witnessing the low point of his 22 seasons as Indiana University's basketball coach.

There was only resignation - a wince here, a slump there, an occasional hand covering his eyes - as his Hoosiers lost 106-56 to Minnesota, Indiana's worst defeat in 89 years.

The nationally televised loss was the biggest for the Hoosiers since a 66-12 defeat at Ohio State on March 12, 1905, and their second worst ever. Before Sunday, Indiana's largest losing margin in its modern history had been 44 points, in 1969 against Purdue.

"It isn't how they played today, it's how the team plays from this point on," said Knight, whose worst loss before Sunday came in Indiana's 83-52 defeat at Michigan in 1986. "Any time you play you have to learn something . . . I don't know how much of an obstacle we were."

Who could have predicted it? The Hoosiers (17-6 overall, 10-4 in the Big Ten) were ranked 12th and riding a three-game winning streak and had hopes of overtaking Michigan for the Big Ten title. Minnesota (19-9, 9-6) saw its No. 20 ranking in jeopardy after consecutive lackluster losses.

But the Gophers received a career-high 35 points from Voshon Lenard on 13-of-17 field-goal shooting, and the 32 assists was a school record. Minnesota had six scorers in double figures, hit 11 3-pointers - another team high - and shot 64 percent in the Gophers' biggest Big Ten victory.

"Nobody can predict a game like this," said Minnesota forward Randy Carter, who scored 10 points after being benched in the Gophers' 85-68 loss Wednesday to Michigan State. "But we got beat by 46 at Bloomington once and that always stuck in the back of our minds."

Said Lenard, "Everybody came out and played exceptionally well. I think you have to play almost a perfect game to beat a team like Indiana."

The Hoosiers went 3-for-12 to close the half. They got their last field goal of the period with 4 minutes, 42 seconds remaining, then committed four of their 11 first-half turnovers and shot two airballs.

"The game was over after about 10 minutes," Knight said. "They did the things they are capable of. There are some things that happened early in the game that just eliminated us."

Before Sunday, Indiana was shooting 49 percent, tops in the Big Ten. Its opponents shot 44 percent. The Gophers shot 40 percent in their previous two games.

But Indiana shot 37 percent against Minnesota. Alan Henderson, averaging 17.6 points this season, went 0-for-1 from the floor and played six minutes. Damon Bailey scored 10 of Indiana's first 12 points but finished with 13 and sat out the second half. He was the only Hoosier in double figures.

Did Knight give up after the first half?

"I don't ever call it off," he said. "I always have some reason for what I do."

by CNB