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Indiana drubs Kentucky without Gordon

Dec 9, 2007 - 1:20 AM BLOOMINGTON, Indiana (Ticker) -- Indiana did not miss freshman phenom Eric Gordon.

Fellow freshman Jordan Crawford picked up the slack, scoring 12 of his 20 points in the first half, as the 15th-ranked Hoosiers coasted to a 70-51 victory over Kentucky on Saturday.

Returning from a team-imposed three-game suspension, Crawford also won family bragging rights as he is the younger brother of Kentucky senior Joe Crawford.

"It was fun playing him," Crawford said of the battle against his older sibling. "It was weird. The past three years, I have been watching him on TV and just to see him out there was crazy."

"Jordan was raring to go," Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson added. "He had a great week of practice, a super week of practice."

The Big Ten Conference's preseason player of the year, Gordon injured his lower back in Indiana's 84-72 win over Tennessee State on Monday.

Gordon, who is averaging 24.3 points early in his freshman season, suffered the injury when he hit and fell on his back while driving to the basket.

After Monday's game, Sampson said he expected Gordon to play against Kentucky (4-3) but he was still experiencing pain late in the week.

"I really thought he would play on Tuesday and Wednesday," Sampson said. "He just didn't get any better. I think Thursday afternoon was when I realized he probably wasn't going to play."

Gordon was not needed in the Hoosiers' surprisingly easy victory over one of their rivals.

Indiana also overcame the absence of Gordon's backcourt mate, Armon Bassett, who was suspended for an undisclosed reason.

D.J. White recorded his fifth straight double-double for the Hoosiers (8-1) with 16 points and 13 rebounds. He also became the 41st player in Indiana history to surpass 1,000 points.

"I take pride in rebounding," White said. "My goal is I want to be a double-double guy."

Indiana never trailed and took control early, using an 8-0 run to open a 25-13 lead on DeAndre Thomas' jumper with 7:37 left in the first half.

"I thought he (Jordan Crawford) really ran the offense," Sampson added. "Jordan studies things pretty well. He took his discipline (the suspension) like a man and he practiced well. If anything, I thought it helped him."

Indiana grabbed a 37-25 halftime lead, then got the lead over 20 early in the second half.

"It was a tough game for us," Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said. "They whooped us in every aspect and did it with a shorthanded team. I don't take very well to that."

The Hoosiers posted their 23rd straight home win and have won four in a row overall since their only loss to Xavier, 80-65, on November 24.

Freshman Patrick Patterson scored 15 points for Kentucky, which dropped its second straight to a top-15 team. The Wildcats fell to No. 1 North Carolina, 86-77, in their last outing a week ago.

Joe Crawford and Perry Stevenson scored 10 points apiece for the Wildcats, who committed 19 turnovers and shot under 39 percent (19-of-49) from the field.

"I don't think we took too many bad shots," Gillispie added. "We are just not getting the ball reversed and thrown inside enough."

Jamarcus Ellis and Thomas chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench for the Hoosiers.