The Associated Press

LAHAINA, Hawaii - Bracey Wright scored 21 points and fellow freshman guard Marshall Strickland added 15 as No. 19 Indiana beat Virginia 70-63 Wednesday night to win the Maui Invitational for the first time.

The Hoosiers (3-0) were making their fourth appearance in the eight-team tournament and they were in the title game for the third time. In 1990 and 1998, they lost to Syracuse in the final.

This time the young guards made sure the trophy was heading to Bloomington.

Wright, the tournament MVP, had 11 points in the opening win over Massachusetts and 15 in the semifinal victory over No. 20 Gonzaga.

Strickland, on the other hand, wasn't a factor in either game, getting a total of three, all against Gonzaga.

And unlike the game against Gonzaga, when the Hoosiers lost all but one point of a 17-point lead over the final three minutes, Indiana held the lead against the Cavaliers (3-1), who never got closer than seven points over the last four minutes.

Nick VanderLaan of Virginia made two free throws with 11:47 to play to tie the game at 44. Wright and Strickland then combined for all but four points of a 15-1 run that had the Hoosiers up 59-45 with 6:54 left.

Strickland had a four-point play and a three-point play in the run and Wright had two free throws and a breakaway layup after a Virginia turnover.

Strickland added a hoop on a nice flip move under the basket with 3:57 left after a 3-pointer by Todd Billet had Virginia within 61-55.

Travis Watson had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who advanced to the title game by beating No. 15 Kentucky in the semifinals. Virginia had been to the championship game in 1996, but lost to Kansas.

Jeff Newton added 11 points for Indiana, while George Leach had five points and 13 rebounds.

Elton Brown had 12 points for the Cavaliers and Derrick Byars added 11 and VanderLaan 10. Keith Jenifer had six points and eight assists for Virginia, which shot 35 percent (20-for-57).