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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 15th-ranked UIndy men's basketball team (24-5) advanced to the NCAA Division II Midwest Region semifinals with a convincing
74-53 win versus Michigan Tech Saturday in Louisville, Ky. Seniors
Joe Lawson and
Brennan McElroy combined for 39 points to help avenge last year's NCAA tournament loss to the Huskies (19-9)
Third-seeded UIndy advances to its third regional semifinal in the last four years. The Hounds will face No. 7-seed Lewis Sunday at 5 p.m. The Flyers (22-8) bested second-seeded Wisconsin-Parkside, 70-62, in their quarterfinal match-up. Find video and live stat links for Sunday's games
here.
Lawson delivered a game-high 21 points, five rebounds and two blocks for the Hounds while shooting 9-of-10 from the stripe. He enters play Sunday just one basket shy of 1,000 career points.
Meanwhile, McElroy sank 7 of 8 field goal attempts on the way to 18 points and nine boards. Junior
Jordan Loyd had 15 points, junior
Lucas Barker amassed seven assists and senior
Dai-Jon Parker had three steals.
Right from the tip, UIndy clamped down on Michigan Tech defensively, as the sixth-seeded Huskies struggled to surpass 20 points by the half. Tech shot just 33 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes as the Hounds built a 35-22 lead at the break.
"We really set the tone on defense," said UIndy head coach
Stan Gouard, "and I thought that ignited our offense. We trapped ball screens, and guys got excited about playing loose. I thought we played tight in the conference tournament against Bellarmine (last weekend), so this week in practice we wanted to emphasize trapping ball screens and paying attention to their star player in Stelzer."
Facing near-constant pressure from Parker and company, Midwest Region Player of the Year Ben Stelzer managed 21 points on just 6-for-15 (.400) shooting.
"I thought we did a tremendous job containing (Stelzer)," Gouard said. "He had 21 points but it was a hard 21. He didn't get very many open looks and had to work for everything he got.
"It was a total team effort defensively. Our guys did a great job of sticking to the game plan. Then once we got stops, I thought we did our best job of running in a long time."
That running translated to 12 fast break points for UIndy, compared to zero from Michigan Tech.
In the halfcourt, the Hounds' relentless attacking of the basket paid huge dividends as they got to the foul line 31 times. They sank 25 freebies for a percentage .806 and a new team record for free throws made in an NCAA Tournament game.
UIndy's lead first hit 20 on a pair of free throws by Loyd at the 11-minute mark. The Huskies never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.
Sunday's semifinal against Lewis will mark the third meeting of the year for the two teams. The Flyers defeated UIndy, 70-61, on their home court in January, and the UIndy downed Lewis by the same count on a neutral floor in the conference quarterfinals last week.
