Missouri
Indiana
Missouri Knocks Off Indiana, 68-63
12/18/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2000
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Missouri did exactly what it needed to Monday night - it played tough, hard-nosed, in-your-face defense.
And Indiana had no answer.
The Tigers limited the Hoosiers to 33.3 percent shooting and walked away with a 68-63 victory - their first in Bloomington since 1962.
Kareem Rush led Missouri (7-2) with 18 points, despite making no baskets in the second half.
What did in the Hoosiers (7-4) was a woeful shooting performance, which included their worst half of the season as they shot just 25.7 percent from the floor during the first 20 minutes.
Missouri, which was coming off a double-overtime loss at Iowa, didn't fare much better. The Tigers shot just 36.4 percent from the floor, but it was enough to stave off a furious Indiana rally in the final five minutes.
Missouri used a 10-2 run to build a 29-23 first half lead, and led most of the rest of the night.
And when Tajudeen Soyoye scored on a putback to make it 59-50 with 5:15 left in the game, it appeared the Tigers had taken control.
But Indiana rallied. Tom Coverdale knocked down a 3-pointer, Jared Jeffries hit a free throw and Coverdale put in a layup to trim the lead to 59-56 just 1:25 later.
Back-to-back Jeffries baskets gave Indiana a 60-59 lead with 2:06 left.
But when Rush hit two free throws with 38.3 seconds to go, his first points of the half, the Tigers led again 64-63.
Indiana's Kirk Haston then missed a short jumper with 17 seconds left, and the Tigers made four straight free throws to close out the game.
Jeffries finished with 18 points and Coverdale 16 to lead the Hoosiers.
