Published: June 13, 2009 10:27 pm      

Indiana defeats Kentucky

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana All-Stars coach David Wood couldn't have told anyone who Errick Peck was two months ago.

Peck, a Cornell recruit out of Indianapolis Cathedral, eventually made himself known to his coach. He then introduced himself to the rest of the state on Saturday by posting 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks as Indiana beat Kentucky 78-65.

"Eight weeks ago, I had never even heard of the kid," Wood said. "The selection process is a very subjective thing, but let's face it, Errick Peck was not on the radar early. Errick Peck was probably one of the last two guys we picked for this team."

Peck had just two points in seven minutes in the first half, but he did enough to earn the start in the second half. He had 14 points and 10 rebounds in 15 minutes after the break.

"He was outstanding, certainly in the second half," Wood said. "I thought he really, really imposed his will on their team and our other guys committed to getting the ball in there."

Evansville recruit Colt Ryan scored all 12 of his points in the second half for Indiana.

Jordan Hulls, Indiana's Mr. Basketball, finished with just two points on 0-for-7 shooting, but the Indiana recruit out of Bloomington South had six assists in the second half. He didn't score until he made the first of two free throws with 2:38 to play.

But Hulls did what he so often has done throughout his playing days — he won. He was the point guard for the undefeated Class 4A champion this season, and he knew what was needed on Saturday.

"With this team, I don't really need to score for us to win," Hulls said. "When we got guys like Errick and Colt who are stepping up and playing big time, I just did whatever the defense was giving me."

Mooresville's Matt Kenney added 11 points for Indiana, which has won nine of the last 10 meetings in the series.

Kentucky's Jon Hood, a University of Kentucky recruit, led his team with 20 points. Ryan guarded Hood for much of the second half, when Hood was held to six points.

"I saw we were kind of giving him some space ... and that's unacceptable," Ryan said. "I just tried to stay as close to him."

The teams will play again Sunday in Louisville.

Kentucky led 37-35 at halftime, but Indiana started the second half on a 9-1 run. A 3-pointer by Ryan gave Indiana a 44-38 lead and forced Kentucky to call timeout.

Peck converted a 3-point play, then Ryan made another 3-pointer to increase Indiana's lead to 54-40 six minutes into the second half. The game was never close after that.

Peck felt confident once he got into the flow of the game.

"Once I got into a rhythm, I started to find my shot, hit a couple tough jump shots and then from there we just rolled," Peck said. "One-on-one moves, I felt like they really couldn't stop me. From there, the outside shot opened up."

Very little went right for Indiana in the first half. Hulls went scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting, and the team made just 4 of 20 3-pointers and shot 32 percent from the field.

Hood scored 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting in the first 20 minutes. Still, Kentucky led by just two points at halftime because it committed 14 turnovers and didn't shoot much better than Indiana.

Kentucky shot just 32 percent from the field in the second half.

"We had a hard time making baskets at times, and you have to attribute that to their size," Kentucky coach Tony Hopper said. "We had a hard time shooting over some of those guys. I thought our shot selection wasn't as good, there's no doubt about that. We took some tough shots."

Elliott County's Evan Faulkner scored seven and Ethan Faulkner added five points.





Kentucky All-Stars 65 - Jon Hood 9-16 0-0 20, Darren Ballou 0-3 0-0 0, Ethan Faulkner 2-6 1-2 5, Russ Middleton 2-7 1-2 5, Ridge Wilson 4-9 1-2 9, DeLon Butler 0-3 2-2 2, Evan Faulkner 3-5 0-0 7, Corey Jackson 0-0 0-0 0, C.J. Penny 1-2 0-1 2, Vee Sanford 2-6 0-0 4, Corey Wilford 2-8 0-0 6, Aaron Wilson 0-3 5-6 5. Totals 25-68 10-15 65.

Indiana All-Stars 78 - Jordan Hulls 0-7 2-2 2, Bruce Grimm, Jr. 1-5 0-0 3, Derek Elston 1-2 4-4 6, Scott Wood 3-9 0-0 7, Stephen Van Treese 2-3 1-2 5, D.J. Byrd 2-9 2-2 7, Colt Ryan 4-10 1-3 12, Jake Odum 0-1 0-0 0, Kendal Brown 1-4 0-0 2, Patrick Bade 1-2 0-0 2, Justin Jordan 2-5 0-0 5, Matt Kenney 4-5 2-2 11, Errick Peck 7-11 2-3 16. Totals 28-73 14-18 78.

3-point goals: Kentucky 5-20 (Hood 2-5, Ballou 0-1, Et. Faulkner 0-2, Middleton 0-2, Butler 0-1, Ev. Faulkner 1-3, Sanford 0-1, Wilford 2-5). Indiana 8-31 (Hulls 0-4, Grimm 1-2, Wood 1-4, Byrd 1-6, Ryan 3-7, Odum 0-1, Brown 0-1, Bade 0-1, Jordan 1-3, Kenney 1-1, Peck 0-1).