Hoosiers hang on in Dakich's debut
Two minutes before everyone lined up for the national anthem Saturday night, Dan Dakich popped out from underneath the Welsh-Ryan Arena stands and walked on the floor.
Thousands of Indiana fans stood and roared at the sight of the Bob Knight legacy, which startled the former Hoosier named as Kelvin Sampson's interim replacement just 32 hours before.
"I didn't expect that," Dakich said. "I'm thinking, 'Why are they cheering?' It was nice."
When Dakich figured it out and waved to the crowd, he received an even larger roar from the roughly 4,000 IU fans who ruled the sold-out crowd in Evanston.
But Northwestern almost found a way for Dakich's debut to fall as flat as Sampson's protestations of innocence to Indiana and the NCAA.
The Wildcats regained the ball trailing by 1 with 13 seconds to go, but Indiana center D.J. White intimidated freshman guard Michael Thompson into a driving layup that came up short of the rim.
"I thought I drew enough contact to get the foul, but I wasn't expecting it," Thompson said. "I knew that late in the game the refs are going to swallow their whistles."
White grabbed the rebound and added 2 free throws, then Thompson missed a hurried 3-pointer at the horn to allow No. 15 Indiana to keep its 85-82 Big Ten victory before 8,117.
Led by sophomore Kevin Coble's career-high 37 points, Northwestern (7-18, 0-14) almost rose to the emotional occasion.
Tempers flared more than once in the hot gym as the momentum went back and forth during the feverish second half.
"It was great," Coble said. "I wish every game could be like that. It just gives a different sense to playing."
Indiana (23-4, 13-2) managed to grab a share of the Big Ten lead with little preparation and little sleep -- and with "KS" written in black marker on most of their adidas to commemorate one of the darkest periods in Indiana history.
"It's been a long 48 hours and everything happened so fast," said sophomore point guard Armon Bassett, who led Indiana with a season-high 24 points.
Bassett was one of six Hoosiers who didn't attend Friday's practice, which served as Dakich's first as the head coach and the only one devoted to Northwestern.
"It was just an emotional time for us," said Bassett, one of the four Indiana starters who wrote "KS" on their shoes. "We weren't going to sit out; we just had some things going on and we just couldn't come to practice. I'm sorry about that."
Dakich said he understood his players' feelings in light of Sampson's long-speculated firing. He understood their feelings even better when, shortly after getting on the plane in Bloomington, Ind., on Saturday morning, everyone fell asleep. Usually, they're a loud, boisterous group.
"(Sampson) is the one who got us all here in the first place," said freshman guard Eric Gordon, who contributed 11 of Indiana's 25 second-half free throws.
"He wasn't just like a coach, he was more like a father to us. We just miss him, but we've got to keep on playing and playing for Coach Dakich."