Shattering the ceiling

We all knew he had a high ceiling of expectation and potential coming in, but Eric Gordon blew the roof off of Assembly Hall by scoring 33 points and leading IU to a 99-79 win against Tennessee-Chattanooga.\nIf there were any skeptics holding out on the Gordon bandwagon Monday night, they quickly became believers. Even Tennessee-Chattanooga coach John Shulman, who dubbed the game “Eric Gordon Freshman Night,” was left wanting a memento.\n“They should have given out posters,” Shulman joked. “I would have got mine autographed.”\nGordon hit seven 3-pointers and threw down a monster dunk in the second half to tie the game at 50 en route to recording the most points by an IU freshman in his first regular season game.\nPerhaps the most significant contribution by Gordon though was on the defensive end in the second half, where he shut down Tennessee-Chattanooga point guard Kevin Bridgewaters, who torched the Hoosiers in the first half with 14 points. \nAt halftime Sampson instructed Gordon to guard Bridgewaters “hard. Get into him. Be physical.” With Gordon draped all over him in the last 20 minutes, Bridgewaters attempted one shot. You think Gordon got Sampson’s message?\nIU’s season opener gave Hoosier Nation a better idea of what it has here in this young team with this young star. And it ain’t all roses.\nIn the first half, the Hoosiers looked rough at times, turning the ball over on 10 occasions and continually getting beat on their rotations on defense. Like in IU’s first two exhibition games, however, the team – and Gordon – came out in the second half and shut the opposition down, allowing only 29 points.\nThe Hoosier’s season opening win was far from a one-man show. D.J. White got to the foul line consistently and Armon Bassett scored 20, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc as the Hoosiers continued their torrid 3-point shooting.\nIt was the kind of game IU fans have been anticipating for months, and the ceiling on this Gordon kid has officially been lifted.