Hoosiers hang on to win, move on to tournament championship

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Hoosiers 1, Tryptophan 0.\nThe IU men’s basketball team fought off a post-Thanksgiving lull and a pesky Illinois State team Friday night to earn a 70-57 win and advance to the finals of the Chicago Invitational Challenge. \nThe Hoosiers shot just 45 percent from the field – the first time they shot below 50 percent this season. The IU offense turned the ball over 16 times while only tallying 14 assists.\nFreshman guard Eric Gordon continued to carry the Hoosiers, scoring 31 points in the semifinal win.\nBut it was not easy. \nThough the Hoosiers never surrendered their lead in the game, the Redbirds came within two points of IU with about 10 minutes remaining in the second half. \nFrom that point on, the Hoosiers allowed just three Illinois State field goals and dominated the glass for offensive and defensive rebounds. \n“For the most part, I thought we defended them well,” said IU coach Kelvin Sampson. \nIU earned 24 trips to the free-throw line, but shot just 63 percent from the charity stripe on the game.\n“That’s going to be a big part of this team’s offense,” Sampson said of free-throw shooting.\nFor the second game in a row, starting point guard Armon Bassett sat out of the second half of the game with an injury. Sampson said he was not sure if Bassett would play in Saturday night’s championship game against Xavier.\n“I’m not sure,” Sampson said when asked what was wrong with Bassett. “It could be his Achilles tendon. That’s what I heard, but I’m not sure.”\nBassett also left IU’s last exhibition game against UNC-Pembroke with an ankle injury.\nPlaying without Bassett hurts an already depleted IU backcourt. Senior guard A.J. Ratliff cannot play until the end of the first semester because he is academically ineligible.\nSampson said the team’s sloppy play was a result, in part, to Bassett’s absence. \nWithout Bassett, Gordon, freshman Jordan Crawford and junior guard Jamarcus Ellis ran the point guard position in the second half. All had played the position earlier in the year, but not under the same close-game circumstances.\n“I practice at the point a lot with both (practice teams)” Crawford said after the game. “All four of us can run the point, so whoever has the ball can run it.”\nSampson said losing Bassett for the last 20 minutes might have been a blessing in disguise. \n“At the end of the day, we’re 4-0 and that’s what the goal was,” Sampson said. \nThe championship game of the Chicago Invitational Challenge is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Follow the action at www.idsnews.com/basketblog.