After trailing 18-8 early in the first half, No. 8 Indiana went on a 44-14 run and crushed visiting UNC Wilmington 95-71 Tuesday night in Assembly Hall.

The win moved Indiana to 3-0 this season and extended their winning streak at Assembly Hall to 20.

Eric Gordon led the way for the Hoosiers with 30 points.

Gordon was 8 of 12 from the field and 12 of 13 from the free throw line. He also added six assists and three steals.

Gordon’s running mate in the backcourt, Armon Bassett, had 19 points on 5 of 8 shooting. Jordan Crawford came off the bench to score 15 points and D.J. White had 12.

The Hoosiers shot 60 percent from the field and hit 24 of 28 free throws for 85 percent.

The Seahawks (1-2) struggled after their early 10-point lead, committing 17 first-half turnovers. In all, UNC Wilmington committed 26 turnovers, leading to 43 points by Indiana.

Todd Hendley led UNC Wilmington with 20 points.

Indiana returns to action on Friday night at 8:30 against Illinois State in the Chicago Invitational Challenge at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. That game will be shown on the Big Ten Network.

Related:

• Box score

Opponent: UNC Wilmington (Chicago Invitational Challenge)

Date: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 | 7:00 EST

Arena: Assembly Hall (17,538) – Bloomington, Indiana

TV: Big Ten Network; Radio: IU Radio Network

Probable Starters:

• UNC Wilmington (1-1): Daniel Fountain, Chad Tomko, T.J. Carter, Vladimir Kuljanin, Todd Hendley

• Indiana (2-0): Armon Bassett, Eric Gordon, Jamarcus Ellis, D.J. White, DeAndre Thomas

As always, your predictions and comments are welcome in the game thread.

The Hoosiers will continue play in the Chicago Invitational Challenge tonight against the UNC Wilmington Seahawks. Indiana is 2-0 all-time against UNC-Wilmington and beat the Seahawks 76-67 on the road to the Final Four back in 2002.

Wilmington, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association, is 1-1 this season. They beat the College of Charleston in their season opener and lost on Sunday at Illinois State in the Chicago Invitational Challenge.

In the preseason coaches poll, Wilmington was picked to finish sixth in the CAA behind George Mason, VCU, Old Dominion, Drexel and Hofstra.

Benny Moss is in his second year as the head coach at Wilmington. Moss took over for Brad Brownell who left for Wright State after leading Wilmington to the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Before taking over at Wilmington, Moss was the top assistant for six seasons at UNC-Charlotte for Bobby Lutz.

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