You don't often hear a college basketball coach wishing a star player would be more self-centered. But that's how Kelvin Sampson sounded when talking about standout freshman Eric Gordon.

"I thought (Gordon) was a little too unselfish the other night," Sampson said. "I thought he could have attacked more. A kid like E.J., he can get to the rim any time, unless you double him."

Iowa wasn't always putting a second defender on Eric Gordon last Wednesday, when he scored 25 points in the Hoosiers' 79-76 victory. The Indianapolis native likely will see more pressure tonight when IU (12-1, 1-0) plays at Michigan (4-10, 0-2) in its second Big Ten Conference game of the season.

Undermanned under first-year coach John Beilin, formerly of West Virginia, the Wolverines are a zone defense team.

"We've played teams that have played 1-3-1 against us, but not with their length," said Sampson. "We've got to attack the 1-3-1.

"We've just got to play tougher. As the Big Ten season goes along, our guys, especially the new guys, see the intensity level that these games are played at. It's different when you get to Big Ten play."

For IU, it starts with the 6-foot-4 Gordon.

He's averaging 23.5 points, best in the Big Ten, but had only 12 shots (hitting seven) against Iowa, to go with 9-of-11 free throw shooting. He's averaging a nation's-best 8.25 free-throw attempts per game.

"I always try to go to the hole a lot more because that is what gets me to the line to shoot free throws," said Gordon.

Sampson said Gordon needs to adopt the mentality of IU's second-leading scorer, D.J. White, who's averaing 16.4 points and 10.1 rebounds while shooting 64.5 percent from the field. "If you don't double-team D.J. and we throw it to him, he will shoot it every time."

And if White is double-teamed, Sampson noted, he can start a quick ball reversal that will lead to an opening for a teammate.

Eric Gordon, meantime, has given the ball up a little too quickly. "He could shoot more; he'd be fine," said Sampson. "There are some guys that can make hard shots."

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