Davis’ Outburst Is Final Blow to Indiana

Until now, nobody realized how well Mike Davis could impersonate Bobby Knight.

The Indiana coach, enraged by a no-call, ran wildly onto the court with 2.6 seconds remaining in Saturday’s game with No. 18 Kentucky. He was ejected, and the No. 6 Hoosiers lost to the Wildcats, 70-64, at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky.

Davis’ outburst cost Indiana any chance it had of winning. The Hoosiers (8-1) trailed, 65-64, but Keith Bogans made five of six free throws awarded to the Wildcats (6-2) for the two technical fouls called on Davis.

It was the first time Davis, who was subdued and apologetic afterward, had been ejected from a game.

“There’s no way I should’ve acted like that,” he said. “I can’t explain it. I’ve done something to embarrass my team.

“There have been a lot of games won with 2.6 seconds on the clock. I cost us the game. I was so emotional. I need to learn and grow from this.”

It was Davis’ second meltdown playing Kentucky in Freedom Hall.

Two years ago, after an 88-74 loss to the Wildcats, Davis said in his postgame news conference that he wasn’t the man to succeed Bob Knight as the Hoosier coach.

With Kentucky, a 2 1/2-point favorite, clinging to the 65-64 lead, Indiana’s Bracey Wright drove to the basket and badly missed a layup. Davis thought the Hoosier freshman was fouled.

“To tell you the truth, I really didn’t see it once I went up,” Wright said. “All I saw were a lot of white jerseys and a lot of arms. Then, I saw myself going into a cameraman.”

Bogans got the rebound, but Davis jumped off the bench and ran to confront referee Bert Smith near the free-throw line. He slapped his forehead and screamed that Wright was hit in the face by Kentucky center Jules Camara.

“No matter what the officials call, sometimes we’re wrong and they’re right and we don’t know,” Davis said. “I do apologize to that official, because there’s no reason for me to act that way.”

Television replays showed that Indiana’s Jeff Newton, not Camara, inadvertently grazed Wright, who scored 18 points.

Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith evaded a question about the decisive play.

“I couldn’t see it,” he said. “I was at the other end of the court.”

No. 2 Alabama 69, Providence 61 -- Erwin Dudley and Mo Williams each scored 19 points at Tuscaloosa, Ala., and the Crimson Tide (8-0) made seven of eight shots from the free-throw line in the final 1:34 to hold off the Friars (4-3).

No. 4 Pittsburgh 87, Rhode Island 71 -- Brandin Knight scored 22 points at Kingston, R.I., as the Panthers (8-0) cruised past the Rams (5-3).

No. 7 Oklahoma 89, Georgia State 62 -- Hollis Price had 22 points and seven assists at Norman, Okla., as the Sooners (6-1) routed the Panthers (3-5).

No. 8 Connecticut 117, North Carolina Asheville 67 -- Ben Gordon scored 29 points at Hartford, Conn., as the Huskies (7-0) smashed the Bulldogs (3-4).

No. 12 Illinois 85, No. 11 Missouri 70 -- Freshman Dee Brown had 21 points at St. Louis as the Fighting Illini (8-0) handled the Tigers (6-1).

No. 13 Florida 94, Miami 93 -- Justin Hamilton made a free throw with six seconds left at Miami as the Gators (8-2) needed two overtimes to defeat the Hurricanes (4-4).

No. 14 Marquette 89, Elon 57 -- Dwyane Wade scored 29 points at Milwaukee as the Golden Eagles (7-1) cruised past the Phoenix (4-3).

No. 15 Michigan State 65, South Florida 56 -- Chris Hill and Alan Anderson each scored 12 points at East Lansing, Mich., as the Spartans (7-2) won their 35th consecutive home victory against nonconference opponents. South Florida is 5-3.

No. 17 Stanford 77, UNLV 66: The Cardinal improved to 7-3 with the win at Las Vegas.

No. 20 Creighton 81, Nebraska 73 -- Kyle Korver scored 25 points at Lincoln, Neb., as the Blue Jays (9-0) defeated the Cornhuskers (4-4).

OTHER GAMES

Ike Diogu scored 18 points as Arizona State (6-3) rolled to a 70-53 victory over Purdue (6-3) at the Las Vegas Shootout.... Amit Tamir scored 20 points at Berkeley as California (6-1) won the Golden Bear Classic with a 71-52 victory over Louisiana Lafayette (5-3).... Nate Robinson scored 14 points at Seattle to lead Washington (3-4) to an 83-48 victory over Florida International (4-6).... Thomas Kelati scored 17 points at Spokane, Wash., as Washington State (4-4) held on for a 78-71 victory against High Point (2-6).... Mike Mackell had 22 points at Houston to lead San Diego State (5-3) to a 71-61 victory over Houston (2-5).... Andre Emmett scored five of the last seven points for Texas Tech (7-1), which held on for an 85-84 victory over New Mexico State (7-2) at Lubbock, Texas.