PRESEASON NIT : Indiana Nearly Loses 36-Point Lead

Indiana’s best substitutes were its starters.

The No. 4-ranked Hoosiers’ reserves nearly blew a 36-point lead Friday night at Bloomington, Ind., before Coach Bob Knight reinserted his starting lineup in the closing minutes to preserve a 102-92 victory over No. 17 Tulane in the second round of the preseason National Invitation Tournament.

“It was kind of hard to come back in after you figure you’re out for the rest of the game,” said forward Calbert Cheaney, who had 21 points, including two free throws in the final seconds.

“I’m not putting the guys on our team down,” he said of the reserves. “They just have to come in and work a little harder, and hopefully we’ll be all right the next time. We’re going to be playing teams just as good as Tulane is, and we can’t have that happen.”

Alan Henderson led Indiana with a career-high 28 points. His two free throws stopped a 19-0 run by Tulane (1-1) that had cut Indiana’s seemingly safe lead to eight points with less than three minutes to go.

“One of the hardest things is to be in complete control of a basketball game,” Knight said.

Indiana (2-0) will play Florida State on Wednesday in the NIT semifinals in New York.

Florida State 109, Iowa State 86--Bobby Sura made 14 of 20 shots and scored a career-high 34 points as the No. 9 Seminoles beat the No. 19 Cyclones at Tallahassee.

Doug Edwards added 22 points and Sam Cassell 20 for Florida State (2-0). Iowa State (1-1) had four players in double figures, led by Ron Bayless’ 16.