Hot Rod

On Tuesday afternoon, his back pressed against an Assembly Hall corridor wall, Rod Wilmont was asked if he was in a slump.\nThe senior guard began laughing. He knew better.\nWilmont -- who scored just four points total in IU's previous two games -- tallied 20 points and 10 rebounds in the Hoosiers' 92-40 victory against Western Illinois University on Wednesday night in Bloomington. The double-double marked the first of Wilmont's career and helped the Hoosiers improve to 5-2 overall on the season.\nWilmont said after the game that he and IU coach Kelvin Sampson took a unique approach to getting the senior guard's offense back on track. \n"Coach emphasized in practice for me to start getting back in the gym, like I was doing at the beginning of the season, and I went two nights in a row," Wilmont said. "Then me and Coach, before the game today, played Horse."\nBesides his impact on the offensive end, Wilmont's 10 rebounds -- which included five on the offensive end -- marked the second consecutive game in which he tallied double-digit rebounds. The senior guard broke out of his 1-of-8 shooting tab in the previous two games by nailing 8 of 12 shots, including a 3-for-6 mark from the 3-point line.\n"(Sampson) told me just shoot when you're open, and that's what I did tonight," Wilmont said.\nWilmont and fellow senior guard Earl Calloway returned to the Hoosiers' starting lineup after beginning Saturday's game against Charlotte on the bench. The duo sparked the IU offense early -- Calloway dished out six assists in the first half, and Wilmont contributed five points and four rebounds.\nIU came into Wednesday night's matchup averaging 18 turnovers a game but completed its victory against the Leathernecks with only three giveaways. The Leathernecks kept the game close early in the first half, but a 23-5 Hoosier run pushed IU's lead up to 20 heading into halftime with the Hoosiers shooting 46.9 percent from the field. IU's defense held Western Illinois to just 36 percent shooting and recorded eight blocks and 10 steals in the contest.\n"Irregardless of who was in the game, I thought our defensive intensity was solid throughout," Sampson said. "We rebounded the ball, we got on the floor after loose balls, we played unselfish. And we ran our offense."\nIn the second half, the Hoosiers were firing on all cylinders, shooting 50 percent from the field -- including nearly 44 percent from the 3-point line -- and scoring 51 points en route to the victory. Five Hoosiers scored in double-digits, while the defense limited the Leathernecks to just 19 second-half points.\n"I think our team will get better because of just repetition and playing together," Sampson said. "Like, we had three turnovers. ... We didn't all of a sudden put in a new offense or change anything -- we just stayed with what we had."\nSampson said after the game that he was pleased with the play of his senior guards Wilmont and Errek Suhr and that he feels they are helping the Hoosiers find their identity. The first-year Hoosiers coach also acknowledged Wilmont's "energy," and he was happy to see it come out in Wednesday night's victory.\n"Rod has such an outgoing personality," Sampson said. "Sometimes kids play to their personality, like Rod does. Rod has a big heart"