Backups shine in blowout of Kentucky

Fans on both sides of the Ohio River might have guessed the IU men’s basketball team was ripe for an upset once they heard that freshman guard Eric Gordon and sophomore guard Armon Bassett would sit out of Saturday’s game against Kentucky.\nThe No. 15 Hoosiers had played short-handed in several games so far this season, but never without the services of its leading scorer, Gordon, for a whole game. Add in the suspension of Bassett, who sat out for violating an unspecified team rule, and the Hoosiers were left with only two guards for their annual rivalry game.\nTo fill the void left by Gordon’s absence, IU coach Kelvin Sampson and the Hoosiers relied on senior forward and leader D.J. White early in the game. White started off strong – scoring, creating opportunities for his teammates and rebounding – but fell into foul trouble, limiting him to only 10 minutes in the first half.\nWith White joining a growing list of IU starters on the bench, Sampson relied on several role players to propel the Hoosiers to a 37-25 half-time lead en route to a 70-51 victory over the Wildcats.\n“They are playing without three starters basically in the first half on only 10 minutes from one of three starters, so I think you can say ‘Well, this ought to be easy,’” Kentucky coach Bill Gillispie said. “But until we get better at executing and taking advantage of opportunities, we are going to struggle no matter who we play against.”\nWhile Kentucky did struggle on the offensive end, Gillispie was quick to give credit to the contributions from the Hoosiers filling in for Gordon and Bassett.\nWhite – who notched his fifth consecutive double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds – was helped in the front court by senior forward Mike White, seven points and three rebounds, and junior forward DeAndre Thomas, 11 points and five rebounds. \nSampson said with D.J. White in foul trouble, Thomas came in and logged crucial minutes.\n“I thought him coming off the bench really juiced us,” Sampson said. \nThere was even a time in the second half when the two Whites were joined by Thomas in the lineup – a move dictated by the lack of available guards. \n“Better enjoy it – it will never happen again,” Sampson said jokingly.\nNobody, however, came up bigger than freshman guard Jordan Crawford. Returning from a three-game suspension and playing against his older brother Joe, Crawford scored a game-high 20 points.\nCrawford credited the outcome to a team effort.\n“We all contributed together,” Crawford said. “We all had to step up, because we had players out.”\nWith Gordon, Bassett and senior guard A.J. Ratliff expected to return the line-up soon, IU will have more options and will be able to distribute minutes to rest players. Though the team has been thin the past few games, Sampson said in the long run, this four-game stretch could be crucial for the team’s development.\n“I think there are always blessings in disguise in everything,” Sampson said. “Maybe if everyone had been there, none of them would be playing with as much confidence.”