POSTGAME:
Eamonn:
With just under eight minutes left in the second half, and the game tied at 39-39, it looked like the Hoosiers would be playing the same game they had played against Southern Illinois for the first 32 minutes - a grinding, loveless, defensive affair.
Instead, IU exploded with a 16-3 run, mounted a 55-42 lead, slapped a 1-3-1 zone defense on the Salukis, stifled the previously unmatchable Jamaal Tatum and ran away with an impressive 57-47 win.
Junior guard A.J. Ratliff, who came off the bench for IU, led the Hoosiers in scoring with 14 points. The Hoosiers spread their scoring contributions out evenly, but probably not by choice; D.J. White was held to eight points thanks to rabid SIU double teams , and the Hoosiers were forced to compensate accordingly. Freshman guard Armon Bassett had 11 and senior Rod Wilmont scored seven points, six of which keyed IU's second-half run.
Despite his lack of statistic contribution, Sampson said he was really pleased with Earl Calloway's effort, and wanted to see if Ratliff could string two solid games back-to-back.
I thought Earl had his best back-to-back games. I thought he was good against Kentucky, and I thought he was really good tonight. That's what I've been looking for - some consistency. I don't judge how a kid plays by his statistics, I judge a kid by how hard I think he's playing.When we go to practice tomorrow, A.J's challenge will be putting those back-to-back games together. Earl did it, now can he do it a third time? Can A.J. do it twice? From what I've seen with A.J., he's pretty good one night and then he's in the Witness Protection Program the next one. So we'll see if he shows up Wednesday or if we need to get hounds out after him.
IU's next game is at home Wednesday night vs. Western Michigan. Check back tomorrow for a full transcript of Coach Sampson from tonight's game and some early coverage of IU's Wednesday match up. See you then, and enjoy being home (or wherever you might be) for break.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ryan:
Ratliff hits the first free throw. And the second. 51-39 Hoosiers with just under 3:30 to go.
After a Saluki free throw, Wilmont slashes in from the sideline for a layup. 2:30 to go and Bassett gets fouled. Makes the first. I think makes the second.
Southern hits a three.
Ratliff drives down the court, ditches to White for a dunk. Ratliff has played a sensational night, boys and girls. He's playing with confidence and has made some real smart decisions. This must be encouraging for Coach Sampson. He's been calling for Ratliff to not be so timid and play consistent.
57-45 Hoosiers.
Bill Rafferty and Jay Bilas are in the midst of an interesting discussion here. For the presumable win IU is about to rack up, they'll get no credit for beating a very good mid-major team. But, if IU were to lose tonight, they'd be penalized and lambasted for it, if you catch my drift. Bilas thinks that needs to change. A bit of a double standard, if you will.
Errek Suhr checks into the game with under a minute to go. Man, he started against Kentucky in IU's last game.
And that does it. 57-47 Hoosiers win. This was a big victory for IU against a solid, veteran squad.
IU is now 6-3 on the season.
Thanks for reading, everyone. (All five of you.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Yep, it was Coach Hep. They just showed him again on the screen. IU gets a block. And on the ensuing possession, Bassett hits a tough jumper. 47-39 Hoosiers.
Rod puts up a three...and misses. Could have a dagger. But it doesn't matter. Because IU gets a steal and Rod is there to finish with a layup. D.J. is FIRED UP. He's got that swagger as he walks to the bench for a timeout.
And Ratliff gets a steal and then is fouled. Wow, IU is playing great defense. This is Kelvin Sampson basketball, boys and girls.
49-39 Hoosiers. Timeout.
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Keeling splits the free throws but Wilmont grabs the board. No score for IU though.
40-39 IU.
Bassett hits two free throws. And on the next IU possession, someone from IU hits a three from the corner. Oh, there he comes onto our screen, its Hot Rod Wilmont.
And the crowd erupts! 45-39. An ESPN camera scans the crowd. Wait, I'm pretty sure I saw Coach Hep sitting courtside. Did anyone else catch that?
Timeout.
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Ratliff hits a nice pull-up jumper in transition. 34-32 SIU.
IU gets a few layup chances around the rim and miss them all. But hey, Ratliff hits the rim, the glass then the net. It's a three. IU ties it up, 35-35.
The crowd is starting to get into it. And Bassett draws an offensive foul on Southern's Young. The 'IU' chants start.
Xavier Keeling just banked in a free throw. Sampson buries his head in his hands. Cheer up, Coach. He made the second as well. And IU leads. 37-35.
SIU hits two free throws. But Calloway answers back with a bucket. 39-37 IU.
And it's 39-all with Keeling on the line after a timeout. A little under eight to go.
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IU has ramped it up a few notches on the defensive end and is matching Southern's intensity.
At 13:24 to go, IU is in the bonus. But they need to make them, or it's all for naught. Ratliff makes the first and misses the second. Hey, that's progress.
30-29 Southern.
Calloway gets fouled in the open court going for a layup. He's on the free throw line. Let's see what he'll do.
Jay Bilas just said 'it seems like Indiana should be up eight or 10 right now.' So true. These free throws are killing them.
By the way, Calloway makes 1-of-2.
On the other end, SIU gets a bucket.
32-30 Southern. Then on a fast break for SIU, Ratliff goaltends. Suddenly, SIU leads by four.
11:38 to go. Timeout.
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Armon Bassett hits a three off the timeout. Nice set play coming out of the huddle.
D.J. gets fouled but misses both free throws. Man, he is just 2-of-6 on the night. IU plays some nice pressure D though, and gets the ball back.
Calloway throws a crisp pass to Ratliff cutting to the rim. He gets fouled going up. And he misses BOTH free throws. Wow.
30-28 SIU.
Just over 14 to play.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IU goes up strong under the hoop a few times and D.J. finally puts it in. 24-23 IU.
SIU hits two free throws.
Shaw makes a couple nice moves in the open court but misses the lay-up. Then Stemler gets called for a foul over the back. The crowd doesn't like it. Looks like it should have been on SIU.
SIU nails a three.
Stemler gets fouled, but misses his first free throw attempt. Makes the second.
28-25 Southern. 16:45 to go.
D.J. White just got called for a walk. No way he did. Jay Bilas and crew agree.
We have a timeout. SIU leads 30-25.
HALFTIME:
Eamonn:
There's nothing quite like watching a half of basketball in Assembly Hall and walking back into the press room just in time to hear Steve Lavin on the press room TV complimenting a team for "sharing the sugar." Must be college hoops season.
Speaking of college hoops, the Hoosiers are matching a rigid defensive effort from Southern Illinois with some tough defense of their own. The result is a game locked at 23-22, SIU, and which seems destined for less than 90 total points.
For their part, IU fans have made a pretty strong showing here tonight. The East balcony is entirely empty, and the West balcony is pretty paltry, but the main sections (especially the East) are really full. Those non-students in the student seats seem to be living up the opportunity up there; the atmosphere, even with the smaller crowd, is really loud. (The collective "YEAH!!" as soon as D.J. caught the ball on that two-handed dunk was an especially exciting moment.)
A friend just texted me to say he thought IU needed to dribble drive to the hoop as much as possible and make dump offs to D.J., since the post is being doubled so quickly. What do you think? How should the Hoosiers break down this extremely active, strong SIU defense? Leave your thoughts in the comments; Ryan will be back with you shortly.
Ryan:
IU comes out in a 1-3-1 zone after a timeout and they draw a turnover. The announcing crew tells us this frustrated SIU last season in the tournament.
Stemler gets fouled going up strong. He makes the first and the second. 18-15 IU.
Wesly Clemmons for SIU hits two free throws. 18-17 IU. 2:50 to go.
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Perhaps the best they've done all year, IU is doing a good job of getting fouled and getting to the line early on here. At seven minutes to go, they're already in a one-and-one situation. Joey Shaw misses the front end of it though.
Ratliff hits another three.
Then SIU scores. 16-15 IU leads.
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At a little over 11 minutes left in the half, we get our first Bob Knight reference. He's one win away from tying Dean Smith's all-time wins record. So, if nothing else, it's at least warranted. No Dickie V. ramblings out of the booth tonight.
Xavier Keeling is getting some playing time here in the first half. He hit one of two free throws and finished on IU's first fast break of the night. IU's half-court set isn't working very well against this tough defense SIU squad. They need to push the pace to be successful tonight.
13-8 SIU. Scratch that. Rim-rattling dunk from D.J. 13-10 SIU.
Ratliff just banked in a three. Whoops. I think Coach Sampson will take it.
13 all.
Timeout. 8:39 to go.
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IU has played great defense all season. But Southern is outplaying them so far in that category tonight. They are all up in IU's grill. After two Earl Calloway free throws, IU only has five points a little over six minutes into the game.
11-5 SIU.
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Jay Bilas just referred to the SIU squad as a 'bunch of heavyweight boxers.' These guys are big and brawny. And they're loaded with talent and experience. An victory for the Hoosiers tonight won't come easy.
D.J. gets a good look inside, but misses.
8-3 SIU. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm not going to be writing as extensively as I usually do during tonight's game, but it will still be a good time. Trust me.
Early on here, Joey Shaw is playing with confidence. He slashed in and drew a foul. Seconds later he nailed a three.
Also, I haven't made mention of this all year yet, but I'm pretty sure Kelvin Sampson's closet looks a lot Homer Simpson's as far as non-varying wardrobe is concerned.
He's worn wears a blue shirt and red tie to EVERY game this year. Hey, it's a nice look. But still. Any chance you'll vary it up this year, coach?
PREGAME:
Eamonn: Greetings from Assembly Hall. Yes, I'm still in Bloomington, even though none of you are. Come back! It's lonely here without you.
Anyway, I'm at Assembly Hall because, as you know, your IU Hoosiers are set to face the Southern Illinois Salukis in just a couple of minutes. The crowd is still arriving, as usual, but you'll be perhaps be interested to hear that the usual student seats are almost entirely filled by non-student patrons. The normal non-student seats are, however, still quite empty. Interesting dynamic there.
We'll be doing something a little different here tonight; I'll be updating at halftime and after the game, and Ryan will be hopping in to the live-blog the action throughout. He's reporting live from his home in beautiful suburban Chicago. (You'll know it's him from the bolded name, like mine above. See? It's not so bad.)
The game is on ESPN, and your projected starters are D.J. White, Lance Stemler, Roderick Wilmont, Armon Bassett, and Errek Suhr.
