Indiana tops Illinois St. at Sears Centre

So, how do you stop Eric Gordon?

That was the question posed to a Xavier assistant Friday night as he scribbled notes preparing for tonight's championship game against Indiana.

Gordon, the Hoosiers' freshman phenom, had just dropped in another 3-pointer and nearly matched Illinois State's score by himself in the first half.

"Hope he gets hurt," the assistant said with a laugh.

Illinois State had no such luck. Gordon scored in every possible way against the Redbirds, putting up 20 of his game-high 31 points in the first half, and Indiana defeated the Redbirds 70-57 in the Chicago Invitational Challenge at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.

The No. 8 Hoosiers (4-0) will meet Xavier at 7:30 p.m. in the championship game. Xavier defeated Kent State 78-65 in the evening's first game.

Gordon was as good as advertised. He blew past whomever Illinois State put on him with his explosive first step. If given room, he let the ball fly, and it more often than not passed through the net. When more than one defender came at him, he found the open man for an easy bucket.

His numbers in the first half told the whole story. He hit 8 of 11 shots, including both of his 3-pointers, scored 20 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and dished out 2 assists.

"I think I played pretty good," Gordon said. "I felt good offensively, especially in the first half."

Illinois State's Osiris Eldridge, who had a part-time responsibility of guarding Gordon, summed it up in a word.

"He's nice," Eldridge said.

Despite Gordon's individual heroics, Illinois State did have the Hoosiers' sweating toward the end.

Once down by as many as 14 in the second half, the Redbirds cut the lead to 3 on two different occasions with under 10 minutes.

Each time, Indiana did respond.

The final occurrence, as Illinois State pulled within 55-52, the Redbirds went scoreless on four consecutive possessions and Indiana went on an 8-0 run, which included 4 points from Gordon, and put the game away.

Illinois State (3-1) scored 1 field goal in the final 7:57.

While Gordon was being closely watched by the NBA scouts who lined press row, Eldridge, Illinois State's sophomore star, did little to get himself noticed.

Coming in averaging 21.7 points per game, Eldridge struggled from the beginning. His first shot, which he waited four minutes for, was long, and his second one, which didn't come until 29 points had been scored in the game, was blocked.

He eventually scored late in the first half, but he never was able to get himself going as he had done in the team's first three games. He finished with 7 points on 3-of-10 shooting, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range.

"It's disappointing because we lost, and I know we could have beat them at one point," Eldridge said. "I know I could have played better than I played.

"I think we did show a lot about ourselves. We can be good in the (Missouri) Valley this year."

The Redbirds' big men kept them in the game. Inside, it was 6-foot-7 Anthony Slack who maneuvered around Indiana's D.J. White all night and scored 13 points.

Outside, 6-11 Levi Dyer connected on five of six 3s and finished with a team-high 18 points.