Hoosier seniors say goodbye with blowout victory at home

IU’s senior night is expected to be a celebration. On Saturday night, seniors Earl Calloway, Errek Suhr and Rod Wilmont – and the 17,315 at Assembly Hall – turned it into a party.\nThe Hoosiers treated their fans to a 94-63 blowout win against Penn State. The fans returned the favor with a cascade of appreciation. \nEvery time Suhr touched the ball, they cheered. Every time Calloway raised his arms to a cluster of fans on the sidelines, they stood and screamed. When Wilmont hit a series of shots in the second half – punctuated by a one-handed fast-break dunk – Assembly Hall shook with excitement. \nAnd as each senior walked off Branch McCracken court for the last time, they were given a raucous standing ovation – and a hug from their coach. \n“This is such a special group of seniors,” IU coach Kelvin Sampson said Friday. “For a new coach coming in and trying to establish certain things the first year, I couldn’t have asked for three better people. I’m honored to have had the chance to coach those three young men.\n“They set a tone in practice every day,” Sampson said. “Coaching becomes hard if you’ve constantly got to coach effort. The best teams are teams that freely give effort. Not every kid is the same. These three seniors, all three of them have been really good practice players.”\nOn Saturday night, as they have been for most of IU’s 20-9 (10-6 Big Ten) year, those three were good game players, too. \nAfter a record-setting shooting performance Wednesday night at Northwestern, Wilmont struggled to find his rhythm in the first half and shot only 2-of-7 from the field. The guard recovered in the second half, though, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds in 30 minutes on the floor. \nBy comparison, Suhr barely dented the final score sheet, but the 5-foot-8-inch guard scrapped for loose balls and played tough perimeter defense on Penn State’s point guards. \nAnd Calloway’s 15 point-, 11 assist-effort was remarkable considering the guard’s absence in IU’s last three games. Thanks to a right shoulder separation Calloway suffered Feb. 15 at Purdue, he missed three of the last four games and played only nine minutes Wednesday night at Northwestern. He had two points and two turnovers in that game. \nSaturday Calloway looked back to full strength, scoring points in the break and in the half-court, hitting open threes and looking crisp while distributing the ball against Penn State’s zone defense. \n“One of the things that will really help Earl is that we don’t play until Friday night,” Sampson said, referring to the Hoosiers’ Big Ten tournament game Friday against the winner of the Penn State-Illinois first-round matchup. “We can get some rest and get right back at it Tuesday or Wednesday for Friday night.”\nThe Hoosiers still have that postseason play – as well as a likely berth in the NCAA Tournament – to worry about. But Wilmont said the year IU has had so far is already the stuff of memories for its seniors. \n“This year is something I’ll never forget,” Wilmont said. “Twenty wins, undefeated at home. That’s something that’s always going to be in my heart.”