Xavier's experience too much for Indiana

Cell phone cameras transfixed on their beloved Hoosiers, scores of cream-and-crimson clad Indiana supporters stood along the baseline and throughout the Sears Centre as Eric Gordon and the boys from Bloomington warmed up for their title game against Xavier.

But after the 80-65 beating the Musketeers (4-1) served up on their eighth-ranked Hoosiers on Saturday at the second Annual Chicagoland Invitational Classic at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, those photos are going to elicit some bad memories.

"They have a better team than we do right now," said Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson.

Not to mention more experience.

"They're blending in six new players, and those six players play a predominant role," said Xavier coach Sean Miller.

The most prominent new player, the freshman phenom Gordon, played most of the night, well, like a freshman. The 6-foot-4 guard missed his first 4 shots, and with Xavier senior Stanley Burrell shadowing his every move, finished the first half with only 4 points on 1-of-6 shooting. Gordon, second in the country with 28.8 points per game, made all 12 of his free-throw attempts but made only 4 of 12 from the field.

"I don't know if I've ever been more proud of a player than I am of Stan tonight," Miller said. "I don't know if an individual player could take on a bigger challenge any better than he did. Although (Gordon) earned 20 points, he really earned them in a different way."

After picking up 2 fouls in a 16-second span, including a foul on Burrell with 7:09 left in the first half, last year's Mr. Basketball in Indiana had to sit the final 7:09 of the first half near Mr. Sampson.

"The thing about kids, they're going to make mistakes," the second-year Indiana coach said.

Xavier didn't have that problem. With two seniors starting at guard (Burrell and Drew Lavender) and senior Josh Duncan as the team's cornerstones, the Muskateers calmly dodged every punch and knocked out the Hoosiers with a 15-5 run to end the first half.

With Indiana trailing 38-29, senior D. J. White (16 points, 10 rebounds) picked up his third foul on a charging call with two seconds left before the half. Xavier junior C.J. Anderson (19 points, 8 rebounds) threw a length-of-the-court baseball pass to 6-foot-6 B.J. Raymond (19 points, 10 rebounds), who drilled a buzzer-beating 18-foot fade away.

"They just took it to us," Sampson said.