Gordon, IU ride team play in win

The IU men’s basketball team improved its record to 5-1 by defeating the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 83-79 Tuesday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.\nIU coach Kelvin Sampson remains unbeaten at Assembly Hall during his tenure at IU after the Hoosiers extended their home winning streak to 21 games. A crowd of 17,230 almost saw the home winning streak come to an end as the Yellow Jackets pushed the No. 15 Hoosiers for the entire 40 minutes.\nSenior forward D.J. White anchored the Hoosiers in a game that saw six ties and 10 lead changes. White scored 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and tied a career-high by grabbing 14 rebounds. In addition, White tallied three blocks and two steals as IU responded with a win in its first outing after losing to Xavier Saturday night.\nIU looked to establish White’s presence early after the senior seemed lost in the Hoosier offense at times in the first few games of the season. Sampson said he knew White would become more involved in the offense as the season progressed.\n“D.J. comes to play,” Sampson said. “He likes to play against good teams. He’s a senior and he has a lot of pride.”\nJunior guard/forward Jamarcus Ellis said the team takes its cues from White, who gives the team its fire.\n“D.J. is our leader,” Ellis said. “When D.J. is all riled up, everyone is riled up. When D.J. is there, we are there.”\nEllis followed White’s lead, as the junior scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half, many of them coming in crucial situations in the game.\nEllis and the rest of the Hoosiers were able to drive on the Yellow Jackets all game, allowing IU to get to the free-throw line 38 times, something that was crucial for the win, Sampson said.\nFreshman guard Eric Gordon scored a game-high 29 points, but committed eight turnovers, something Sampson attributed to “being jittery.”\nEnding any speculation of redshirting, senior forward Mike White played 20 minutes, scoring two points and grabbing six rebounds.\nSampson said he was pleased with the way his team responded to the Xavier loss, and speculated that his team would not have progressed as much during the last two days without experiencing a setback.\n“I think we are going to continue to get better,” Sampson said. “I just didn’t overreact to that. A game like Saturday would have been a waste if we hadn’t been able to draw something from it.”