The Pilot News - Davis sparks Indiana All-Stars off the bench

The 5-foot-11 guard played a couple ticks more than six minutes, tallying two points, a rebound, steal and assist. During Davis’ time on the floor, Indiana, which eked out an 83-82 win, jumped from a 52-51 advantage to a 63-59 lead.
“My job was to just come in and play my game,” Davis said. “That’s it. I think we started to pull away a little bit.
“There was a lot of them down here,” Davis said of the Plymouth contingent. “I’m glad they came down.”
Davis produced his lone basket — on his only field-goal attempt — courtesy of a head’s up defensive play. Davis pried the ball loose from Kentucky’s Arrez Henderson for a steal. Indiana’s Julius Mays emerged with the ball after a scramble and hit Davis on the break for an uncontested layup at the 11:51 mark.
“I helped off my guy,” Davis said of the sequence that led to his steal and eventual bucket. “He took an extra dribble, I got to him, we got the ball and I think it was (Mays), got it back to me.”
Davis rotated between guard spots and finished without a turnover. He set up Mr. Basketball Tyler Zeller — who scored a team-high 22 points, yanked down seven rebounds, blocked a pair of shots and earned game MVP honors — for a strong baseline move that broke a 56-56 tie with 13:52 left in the game.
Two possessions later, Davis’ dribble penetration and kick out to Butler recruit Garrett Butcher put Indiana on top 60-59, and also accounted for Davis’ assist.
“We’re just supposed to penetrate and kick and get it to Zeller in down low,” Davis said. “He makes it easy because when he gets the ball in the post, we know he’s going to draw a double team. He’s either going to put it up or he’s going to kick out to the perimeter, and since he’s being double teamed, our guy’s wide open.”
Although the home squad won the game with four free throws from IUPUI recruit Alex Young in the final 32 seconds, including a pair with 32 seconds left that snapped a 79-79 deadlock, the Indiana team had to claw back from a 31-20 deficit with 7:48 left in the first half. Behind Zeller, Butler-bound Gordon Hayward and point guard Larry Stone’s game-tying halftime buzzer-beating layup, Indiana pulled even at 40-all heading into the intermission.
“We know to never give up, and keep fighting,” Davis said. “(Kentucky) came out pretty hot. They had to start missing some time.”
That sentiment permeated throughout the team.
“We weren’t worried,” Stone said. “The Lakers had the Celtics down 24 (Thursday) and we all know what happened. Games are about runs. We had our runs. I wasn’t worried when we were down 24 points.”
The teams swapped the lead three times and were tied on five occasions in the second half.
Young, who started but picked up two early fouls and played just six minutes in the first half, went 6-for-6 from the line in the second half, including the game-winning charity tosses.
“The fouls bothered Alex in the first half and I told him that he couldn’t let those fouls bother him,” Indiana head coach Rick Baumgartner said. “He picked it up. He played extremely well when he finally turned it on. He stepped up big when it counted.”
Stone chipped in 12 points, six assists and three steals, followed by Hayward and Young with 11 and 10 respectively.
Kentucky’s Shelvin Mack, who signed with Butler, knocked down a game-high 24 points. Teammate Scotty Hopson lofted in a 3-pointer from half court at the buzzer to provide the final margin.
With the hectic week wrapping up, Davis said he enjoyed his turn as an Indiana All-Star.
“All of us are a little tired,” he said with a smile. “It’s been nice hanging out with the guys.”