Indiana 84, Tennessee State 72.

This one didn't go as expected. A number of things went against the Hoosiers: less than a 48 hour turnaround, the Gordon injury, and the Crawford suspension led to a thin, tired team. TSU played an aggressive, often full court defense and created more problems for IU than a team of the Tigers' caliber should. Here's the box score.

The pace: about 74 possessions, fairly fast. Even at that pace, IU's 19 turnovers ended over 25 percent of IU's possessions, although TSU was happy to oblige with 18 turnovers. The field goal percentages and number of attempts were nearly identical and were at about 48 percent for both teams. TSU shot 8-18 from behind the arc (it seemed worse) and IU was only 4-14, ad if I recall correctly two or three of the makes were in the last five minutes of the game. IU won the game at the free throw line, again, making 28-36 to TSU's 10-14. In his 12 minutes, Gordon made 6-6 free throws and accounted for eight points on four shots. The star for the Hoosiers was DJ White, who continues to play well. White scored 29 points on 16 shots and was 7-9 from the line. He grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked four shots. Jamarcus Ellis would have had a nice night, with 10 points on 6 shots, 7 boards, and 10 assists, but turned the ball over 7 times. Including Gordon and Armon Bassett along with Ellis, the starting backcourt accounted for 13 turnovers all by itself. This has to get better. Another red flag: after a great start, Armon Bassett's shot has left him (his shot must be sleeping on a park bench next to Lance Stemler's shot, which has been on the street for a year). Bassed scored 8 points on 2-11 from the field, saves only by 3-4 from the line.

IU's rebounding was pretty good: IU grabbed 80 percent of TSU's misses and and 47 percent of its own. As with many of this season's easier games, there are some red flags: ball handling and perimeter defense most conspicuously. The Hoosiers and Gordon now can rest up and prepare for Kentucky. We'll start discussing the Wildcats tomorrow.

Gordon injury.

More on the game later, a lackluster 12 point win by what must have been a tired IU team. The main story, of course, is the injury to Eric Gordon, who left the game in the first half and returned to the sideline with an ice pack on his low back, but never returned to the game.

Terry Hutchens, because of a chance meeting with Gordon Sr. and Jr., has an update on his blog, an update that presumably didn't make the print version of the Star. The key quote:

About an hour after the game had ended, and everyone had left Assembly Hall, the Gordon's returned from the hospital and walked across the Assembly Hall court toward the exits. I asked his dad about the x-rays and he said they were negative. I then stumbled upon Eric Gordon in the hallway outside the locker room. He was walking with a noticeable limp but when I asked him how he was feeling, he simply said that he would be OK.

Worth reading the whole thing, but it doesn't appear that this will be a serious injury.

You mean there's a game tonight? Tennessee State preview.

Tennessee State Tigers
Current record: 2-3
Ohio Valley Conference record: 0-0
2006-07 record: 11-20
2006-07 RPI: 260
2006-07 Sagarin: 275
Series: first meeting
TV: 7 pm, Big Ten Network

Less than 48 hours after IU played a tough road game, the Hoosiers play again, albeit against a less formidable opponent. I don't know much about this team, and given time constraints, probably never will. It would appear that TSU probably was one of the worst teams in Division I last year. They haven't yet defeated a Division I opponent this year, although they have been moderately competitive at times. The Tigers lost by two to Akron and by 15 to common opponent Georgia Tech.

This year, the Tigers have an average pace, at about 69 possessions per game. They score at a good clip (1.082 points per possession, good enough for #70 nationally), but their defense is truly hideous: 1.23 points per possession, #339 in the nation. Pomeroy ranks 341 teams, and Tennessee State is absolutely, positively dead last in the nation in effective field goal percentage allowed. Outscoring Eric Gordon and the Hoosiers might be a bit of a challenge. TSU's offense has been more productive this year than last, when TSU scored only .97 points per possession, but the defense has been worse this year (1.05 ppp defensively last year). Perhaps the defensive numbers can be explained by the quality of the competition, which, except for the Division II teams, has been higher than OVC quality. TSU is okay on the offensive boards so far, but like everything else defensively, is poor on the defensive boards.

Not much else to say about this one. It should be comparable to the first three games, and something of a practice game as we enter Kentucky Week.