IU feels at home on the road

Business-like dominance.\nThat’s what IU asserted over Michigan last night in Crisler Arena. The Hoosiers seized control from the opening tip and hardly looked back in their 78-64 victory and second Big Ten road win to open conference play.\nIU led by six at the half and by as much as 22 in the second half. To borrow from prime time television, this Big Ten matchup turned out to be as lopsided as a joust duel in American Gladiators – and the Hoosiers weren’t the ones taking a stick to the face.\nEven with Eric Gordon and Jamarcus Ellis on the bench in foul trouble in the first half, you had the feeling IU was in control. The Wolverines made their best run with Gordon and Ellis sidelined, hitting two 3-pointers late in the first half followed by a half-court heave by DeShawn Sims that banked in at the buzzer.\nBut like a Roger Clemens argument, Michigan fell apart in the second half. The Wolverines had no answer for the outside shooting of Gordon and the inside rebounding of D.J. White.\nWhite had a field day on the glass pulling down 22 rebounds to go along with 21 points. White took his game to another level in one sequence where he blocked a Michigan layup attempt, pulled in the rebound, stole the ball after an IU missed shot and dunked the ball with two hands while being fouled.\nThat’s called stuffing the box score, kids.\nAs young as this team is, it has played with veteran-like confidence in its three road games. Gordon’s cat-like cool seems to follow him wherever he goes (another ho-hum 23 point night on 56 percent shooting) and seeps through to the jitteriest of the Hoosiers. Don’t be surprised if Adam Ahfeld starts wearing sunglasses from his sideline perch.\nIt’s important to recognize, however, IU has yet to square off against the big dogs of the Big Ten. They’ve yet to face Wisconsin or Michigan State, or a team that can really dig in on the defensive end and disrupt the game of IU’s star players.\nThat’s where Armon Bassett’s injury could come back to bite the Hoosiers. The return of A.J. Ratliff certainly bolsters the IU backcourt, but Bassett’s steady hand will be sorely missed during halves where Jordan Crawford shoots 2-for-11 like he did during the first half last night. Crawford has shown flashes of brilliance through the first half of the season (particularly when there’s an older sibling defending him), but there are other nights where his play is erratic and he simply looks like a kid in his first season of collegiate basketball.\nBut when you have two All-America candidates as teammates like Crawford , it’s OK for a freshman to play like a freshman. Especially, when you are playing a team that’s lost to Harvard.