Game over. IU 70 Illinois State 57
Gordon carried the team the whole night, finishing with 31 points. Sloppy play plagued IU on both sides of the ball, and star forward D.J. White scored just four points in the contest. It was not IU's prettiest game, but a win nonetheless.
Check back to idsnews.com for a full wrap of tonight's game.
And visit us again tomorrow night for IU's championship game against Xavier.
With 2:22 left, IU has stretched the lead to 11. Dom Johnson of ISU just fouled out.
IU 65-54
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IU's lead is back in double digits, but the Redbirds quickly bring the Hoosiers' lead back to nine.
Gordon has 29 points.
IU 63-54 w. 4:00
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There have been many Gordon-Jordan comparisons, but EJ's turnaround fade away jumper left a lot of the fans here in the Sears Centre in awe.
IU 60-52 w. 5:57
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Deandre just picked up his fourth fould. Stemler subs in for him.
IU 57-52 w. 7:10 left
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The IU coaching staff is not happy with the officiating on IU's offensive end. Needless to say there is some very physical basketball on that end.
IU 55-52 w/ 7:56
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Gordon connected on the first of a one-and-one, missed the second, got his own rebound and scored.
IU 55-49 w/ 8:38.
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A big 3 from Levi Dyer and a strong layup from Anthony Slack, and the Redbirds find themselves down by just two points with 11:00 remaining. D.J. White is coming back on the floor for the first time in a while.
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In what is becoming an ongoing trend, Gordon just brought the crowd to its feet with an emphatic dunk. He's got some fire in his eyes after that one.
IU 50-42 w/ 12:21.
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Bassett's back on the bench, but it appears he's favoring his left ankle. He's stretching out his ankles right now as his team sits in a timeout. The Hoosiers have extended their lead to 13, but still look a bit sloppy on both ends of the ball.
IU 46-33 w. 15:51 in the second half.
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Second half:
No official word on Bassett. An IU spokesperson said it might be cramping, which kept Bassett on the bench for a good portion of IU's game Tuesday against UNC-Wilmington.
Gordon has 20 first-half points. Anyone he can break the freshman record (36) tonight?
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End of First Half, IU 38, ISU 28.
By far the worst offensive first half for the Hoosiers. Eric Gordon has scored more than half of the Hoosiers point total. Armon Bassett left the first half early and headed toward the locker room. Not sure what was going on, but we'll try to get an official word from IU athletics by the start of the next half.
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Jordan Crawford just scored the two most acrobatic points of the night. He took a pass near the baseline, went up for the layup and was fouled. On the way back down he threw the ball high off the glass and scored. He then converted the foul shot.
IU 38-27 with 1:30 left.
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ISU came storming back. Down 13, poor shots from the Hoosiers and solid offensive play brought the Redbirds within 5. IU 30-25.
Gordon has 17 of IU's 30 pts.
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Holman's contribution is immediate. On the first defensive possession, Holman stuffs an ISU player and Gordon grabs the ball, streaks down court and draws the foul.
IU 21-16 @ 7:57.
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Deandre gets called for his third foul. Eli Holman will see his first action of the game. Holman and Stemler are playing the 4 and 5.
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White gets called for travelling while making a post move, but he drains a turnaround jumper on the next possession to get his first shot and points of the night.
The Hoosiers go right back to the well on the next trip down the court, but White's shot hits off the rim.
IU 17-15 at 9:30.
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D.J. White has no shots through the first nine minutes. It was clear when Gordon signed for IU that the Hoosiers would run a different offense this year than last, but did anyone expect it to be this different?
Armon Bassett continues to be lights out from behind the arc. He drained a 3-pointer to put IU up four at 15-11 with 11:21 on the clock. Bassett entered the night shooting .733 from 3-point range.
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After a brief rest, Deandre Thomas picks up two quick fouls. IU 11-8 at 12:30.
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Strong start defensively for IU. The Hoosiers have forced a number of turnovers in the first four minutes. Whether stealing the ball, forcing an Illinois State player out of bounds or forcing poor shots, IU has dominated the early portion of the game. IU 8-ISU 2 at the 15:34 mark.
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Ahh, Sampson found his jacket. All is right in the universe again.
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About two minutes till the teams stop warming up and I already have one key observation -- college basketball games are weird with no band. Plus the music selection at this arena is terrible. Absolutely terrible. Tony Bennett? Really?!
There are a ton of IU fans here, though it is kind of hard to tell. Illinois State is another red and white team. But there are a lot more boos for the Redbirds than the Hoosiers.
Kelvin Sampson is starting the night without a suit jacket on for the first time that I can remember.
Starting lineup for IU: Eric Gordon, Armon Bassett, Jamarcus Ellis, Deandre Thomas and D.J. White. Tip soon to come...
Game over. Strong play from Xavier's Drew Lavender toward the end of the game iced the contest. Xavier 78, Kent State 65. IU-Illinois State next in about 20 minutes.
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Comeback?
Kent State is down by just 6 with a little under four minutes remaining.
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Xavier is starting to pull away. Sloppy play from Kent State and 3-point plays the old fashioned way for Xavier. Muskateers 59, Golden Flashes 49. 6:50 remaining.
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Sitting here in Chicago Hoffman Estates, Ill., watching the Xavier-Kent State semifinal matchup. Score right now is Xavier 44, Kent State 40 with 14:08 left in the second half. The IU-Illinois State game will start a little later than scheduled due to an earlier game running into Double OT.
Already a lot of red in the crowd, although there is a lot of navy blue for Xavier. One gentleman is holding up a "Call me, Kelvin" sign, with a 1-800-RECRUIT-ME phone number.
Xavier looks like they have a pretty tough inside game. Forward Josh Duncan leads all scorers in the contest. Check back for updates.
