Gordon, Indiana brace for an earful at Illinois
Once upon a time, Bruce Weber thought Eric Gordon would play 30-35 games on the Assembly Hall floor.
Of course, those were the days when Weber pegged Gordon as a two-year college player … and assumed he'd spend those years in an Illinois uniform.
The course of human events have proven Gordon to be one-and-done as a college player … and none-and-done in an Illinois uniform.
That means Indiana's visit to Illinois today (8 p.m., ESPN) serves as Illini fans' only chance to witness Gordon on the Assembly Hall floor.
Rest assured it will be memorable for all concerned. Whether it will be that way for the right reasons remains to be seen.
Considering Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson's harsh reception when the Hoosiers visited last season -- though the Orange Krush student section tried to be more clever than profane -- Gordon's presence figures to double the crowd's volume and viciousness.
"Well, we just have to come out and play," Gordon told reporters in Bloomington, Ind. "It's going to be a real hostile environment and we just have to come out with a win somehow."
"It should be fun," Weber said. "I think the crowd will be into it. But I would say in the most part, our crowd has some self-control. I don't think it will get out of hand."
While Weber secretly might hold more ill will toward Sampson and his staff than any other in America, he's trying to frame today's affair as a chance for the Illini to re-establish themselves.
"Any time you have situations like this, you don't really enjoy it," Weber said. "I think we've moved beyond it. We've just got to move forward with what we have and do the best we can and then, you know, see if we can have a good finish to the season and have some momentum into next season."
Illinois' problems can be summed up by a quick glance at the Sagarin ratings: The Illini are 0-9 against national top-50 teams and 10-4 against all others.
Of those 9 top-50 losses, only 2 have been by more than 10 points.
"I've joked that we're the best 10-win team in the country," Weber said. "And I don't think a lot of people would love to play against us. At the same time, we haven't won the close games and we haven't gotten over the hump and that's why we're in the situation we're in."
Indiana, though it's one of three Big Ten teams with 1 league loss, doesn't exactly feel great about itself right now. The Hoosiers have lost two of their last three -- and struggled to shed Northwestern at home Sunday.
"If we were playing better defense and if our team was playing a little bit better as a whole I would feel a little better," Sampson said. "We've got to become more junkyard dogs on defense. We need to have more mud in our blood."
And Indiana needs more than Gordon (21.8 ppg) and center D.J. White on offense, especially since Illinois did a stellar job against Gordon in its 62-58 loss at IU on Jan. 13.
Calvin Brock and Brian Randle combined to hold Gordon to 17 points on 4-of-10 shooting. Chester Frazier, who missed the first meeting with an injured rib cage, will join the Gordon rotation today.
"You've got to be there when 'E.J.' catches (the ball) and not let him get into a rhythm," Weber said. "Hopefully we can do that again this time."
Indiana (18-3, 7-1) at Illinois (10-13, 2-8)
When: 8 p.m. at Assembly Hall
TV: ESPN
Radio: WIND 560-AM
The skinny: For all of the focus on Eric Gordon's appearance in Champaign, the Illini don't plan to lose sight of IU sophomore guard Armon Bassett. He has been a clutch shot-making menace in the teams' last two regular-season meetings, both of which went the Hoosiers' way in the final minute. Center D.J. White, meanwhile, ranks No. 8 nationally in rebounds (10.8) to go with his 17.5 points per game. Illinois has won the last six meetings in Champaign, which offers hope that this could be the program's first win over a top-25 team since Indiana's visit last year.
-- Lindsey Willhite