A.J. Becomes the Hoosiers’ Go-To Guyton

It was another bizarre blend of sentiment, tradition and crassness at fabled Assembly Hall. They understand such moments at Indiana U.

Bob Knight held a microphone and introduced his seniors, seasoning praise with profanity and fractured syntax. They understand Knight at Indiana.

“We didn’t win as many as we wanted to win to this point, but we won a hell of a lot more than some people thought we would,” Knight said.

“These five seniors that we are going to say goodbye to tonight, I think have added a great page to the long history of Indiana basketball, with what they’ve done this year opposed to what they were supposed to do.”

Knight introduced guard A.J. Guyton, the Big Ten’s co-most valuable player who averages 20.3 points. Guyton personified class, thanking the fans, his family, the trainer, his academic advisor, the assistant coaches and, finally, Knight.

But a bit of the coach had rubbed off.

“Even though he refers to me as ‘the little . . .’ I’ve had the most fun here, and I want him to know I love him too,” he said of Knight.

The fans erupted. They understand what Guyton has endured at Indiana.

Ignored by most recruiters at Peoria Central High in Illinois, Guyton made an immediate impact in Bloomington. He was a freshman All-American and became the only Hoosier freshman besides Isiah Thomas to amass 400 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists.

Indiana was pounded by Colorado, 80-62, in the NCAA tournament that season, the third consecutive time the Hoosiers had fallen in the first round. Guyton was unshaken, though. He had plenty of time to turn that around.

Funny how a college career can go by as quickly as a 35-second possession, beginning as an eternity and ending in a frantic attempt to create something special.

Guyton has scored more than 2,000 points. He is Indiana’s all-time three-point shooter. He is a first-team AP All-American.

But as the Hoosiers head into the first round of the East regional against Pepperdine on Friday in Buffalo, N.Y., Guyton bears the burden of unfinished business.

“We’re looking forward to this opportunity,” he said. “We haven’t closed our season the way we wanted the last couple of years, but this is another chance.”

The Hoosiers survived the first round the last two years, beating Oklahoma, 94-88, in overtime in 1998 and smothering George Washington last year, 108-88. The second round was a different story, with losses to Connecticut and St. John’s.

For a school that has won three NCAA titles, been in 29 NCAA tournaments and posted a tournament winning percentage of .693, failure to advance to the round of 16 is simply that--failure.

Pepperdine is no different from other foes: a team bent on making another dent in Indiana lore.

“We need to worry about ourselves rather than who we are playing and where we are playing,” Guyton said.

Most of Indiana’s struggles this season are recent. The Hoosiers are 20-8 after a 17-3 start and finished fifth in the Big Ten at 10-6. They blew leads against Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio State, and were horrible from start to finish against Illinois, trailing, 52-28, at halftime of an 87-63 loss.

They played the Illini tougher in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, but lost a late lead in a 72-69 defeat.

Guyton played poorly in the waning minutes of several games and has often appeared fatigued. He made no shots in the last 13 minutes against Ohio State, failed to score in the last seven minutes against Purdue and missed 16 consecutive shots against Indiana State. All were losses.

Even his best game ended in a question mark. Guyton scored a career-high 34 points in an 81-79 victory over Michigan State on Feb. 26, but he shot an airball from the corner with the score tied and four seconds remaining in overtime. Teammate Lynn Washington plucked the shot out of the air and put it in the basket.

Guyton has played more than 30 minutes in 15 games and at least 37 minutes in 11 games. But Knight scoffs at the notion that more rest is warranted.

“If you can’t play 40 minutes with a 2 1/2-minute break every four minutes, there’s something wrong,” Knight said after the Big Ten tournament loss.

So expect Guyton to play at least his 34-minute average against Pepperdine. His late-season slump isn’t about to change Knight’s substitution strategy.

The Hoosier coach of 29 years is a creature of habit. He will live or die with Guyton, who by the same token learned long ago to coexist with the totalitarian Knight.

Guyton had to wonder about Knight’s apparent antagonism toward former standout Hoosier guard Steve Alford, now the coach at Iowa. Alford led Indiana to a national championship in 1987.

And Guyton didn’t flinch when Knight pulled stunts such as tossing peppermints into the student section at Northwestern and sarcastically shaking hands with writers and photographers after a victory over Michigan.

Some Indiana followers believe the antics are Knight’s way of deflecting pressure from Guyton and some of his more inexperienced teammates. Maybe the coach is giving an odd nod to a group of players he genuinely appreciates.

“I think they’ve just had a much more focused approach to doing the things that help you become a good team, something that has lacked around here recently,” Knight said two weeks ago.

“We’ve had a period of time over the last several years where we’ve had guys whining and complaining about working. . . . I just think this group decided to try a different approach, and it’s paying off.”

Overachievers or just another in the recent string of good-but-not-great Hoosier teams? The legacy could be in Guyton’s hands, along with the ball.

“He’s done too much in his career, and he’s capable of doing too many things for us to quit getting him shots,” said Michael Lewis, Guyton’s backcourt mate. “I don’t care if he misses 18 in a row, he may hit the next 10. So we’re going to keep going to him no matter what kind of night he’s having.”

One look at Guyton’s sweet jump shot and the reason for Lewis’ undying faith is clear. He scored most of his 2,097 points by dribbling off the vicious screens Knight teaches and taking advantage of open looks.

Pepperdine will employ a variety of defenses, including triangle-two and box-and-one alignments. Tommie Prince, a quick, 6-foot-5 senior, will guard the 6-1 Guyton.

No matter that he scored only 20 points in two tournament games last year. Guyton has one more chance to put Indiana into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1994, one more chance to bring authenticity to Knight’s words on senior night, to win “a hell of a lot more than people thought we would.”

Pepperdine Facts

EAST REGIONAL

PEPPERDINE

vs. INDIANA

Friday,

7 p.m. PST, Ch. 2