Gordon’s Message to Illinois: Take That!

The disgraceful chant of boos from the opening tip until the final buzzer.

An angry mob of students screaming so many expletives it sounded like Pulp Fiction.

Not to mention, an 18-year old student athlete feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders because he is considered the biggest traitor west of the Indiana border.

Despite all those factors, Indiana freshman phenom Eric Gordon embraced the inferior Assembly Hall and torched the Fighting Illini for 19 well-deserved points and retreated more hated than ever.

His message for the Illini?

Take that!

Gordon, who orally committed to Illinois, only to spurn them for Indiana, is more hated in the state of Illinois than Barrack Obama at a KKK meeting.

Gordon betrayed the University of Illinois. Gordon betrayed coach Bruck Weber. Gordon betrayed the town of Champaign. Gordon betrayed the thousands of fans that had jumped on the EJ (Eric Gordon Jr.) bandwagon soon after his oral commitment.

So after his initial and probably only ever trip to the Assembly Hall in Champaign, Gordon left a message:

Take that.

Gordon is the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 21.6 points a game, but he was very un-Gordon-like in the Hoosiers’ 83-79 victory over the Illini on Thursday. He did manage a team-high 19 points, but he had to work hard for every single one of them.

Gordon was not only harassed by a raucous home crowd, but every shot was well-defended by a smothering Illini defense.

After scoring a season-low one point in the first half, Gordon picked up the scoring – and emotion – in the second half. Despite shooting 3-13 from the field (all three field goals from beyond the arc), his three-point bank shot from the left wing with under a minute remaining in regulation to tie the game will go down as one of the most clutch shots in the history of Indiana basketball.

It will rival Keith Smart’s shot to win the 1987 title game. It will be talked of in the same sentence as Jay Edwards’ winning three-pointer against Michigan in the late ‘80s.

No matter how Gordon’s playing career turns out – both at IU and in the pros – his three-pointer that stabbed the Illini in the back (figuratively and literally) will define Gordon’s career.

As the renewed rivalry between the Hoosiers and Fighting Illini intensifies, Gordon’s shot will be the first and defining moment.

After a season sweep in a pair of come-from-behind wins over a jealous and struggling Illinois team, one would say two words:

Advantage Indiana.

As for Gordon, the smile and excitement on his face after his banked three-pointer was not just from hitting a career-changing shot. It was a sign of relief. It was his way of silencing his critics. It was his way of silencing the Orange Crush.

It was his way of saying another two words:

Take that, Illinois.

Ok, make that three words.