Gordon leads Hoosiers to win in 1st road game

CARBONDALE, Ill. – For more than an hour before opening tip, the Southern Illinois students sitting on each end of the basketball court screamed hellfire directed at freshman Eric Gordon and the rest of the IU men’s basketball team. \n“Sampson cheats,” they chanted toward IU coach Kelvin Sampson. \n“Liar,” they yelled at Gordon, referring to his de-commitment from Illinois.\nFor the first 10 minutes of regulation, Gordon didn’t do much to quiet them, shooting 0-for-2, coughing up one turnover and picking up his first foul.\nWith no offensive production from their star freshman, the Hoosiers scored just 11 points in the first 10 minutes and trailed Southern Illinois by three.\nBut at the 9:43 mark, Gordon hit a 3-pointer from what seemed like the Wabash River and silenced the Saluki student section and the Southern Illinois offense to lead IU to a 64-51 victory in the Hoosiers’ first road game of the season.\nNo. 15 IU did not trail again after Gordon hit his first bucket of the night.\n“He didn’t play like a freshman trying to score,” Sampson said of Gordon. “He played like a basketball player with some experience. We were a good team tonight instead of a bunch of talented kids.”\nThe IU win snapped a 15-game home winning streak for the Salukis and was just the fourth home loss at Southern Illinois in the last 84 games. The 13-point loss was the most lopsided home loss for the Salukis since Feb. 10, 2001, when they lost to Creighton by 14.\nGordon finished the night with 22 points against a Southern Illinois team known for its staunch \ndefense. He grabbed two steals and blocked three shots in 40 minutes of action.\n“We made him take some very, very tough shots,” Saluki coach Chris Lowery said. “And he missed some, too, but he made some. He’s a good player, there’s no way around that.”\nGordon shot 7-of-14 from the field.\nIn addition to another stellar performance by Gordon, IU’s efforts were buoyed by a favorable, 38-29 rebounding margin. \nEarly in the game, though, IU was losing the battle of the boards. Senior forward D.J. White said his team was having trouble attacking the glass, especially on the weak side.\n“Coach got on us about that,” White said. “Us five guys, we just decided to go to the boards and start rebounding.”\nOn the defensive end, IU out-rebounded Southern Illinois 30-17. \nIU’s zone defense created problems for Southern Illinois’ leading scorer Randal Falker, who scored 12 points on a 5-of-11 shooting performance. Falker was 2-of-7 from the foul line. \nWithout an effective inside game, the Salukis were forced to kick the ball out to perimeter shooters Joshua Bone and Matt Shaw. Each took open shots, but neither found much success from behind the 3-point line. The Salukis shot 1-of-14 from behind the arc – Shaw made the only 3-pointer with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.\n“Right now we’re not making the easiest plays you can make,” Lowery said. “We’re wide open, and when you don’t make wide open shots, especially at home, you’re not going to win.”\nThe Hoosiers (6-1) host Tennessee State (2-3) at 7 p.m. today, which will be their seventh game in 15 days. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.