Sports / NCAA IU Survives First Without Sampson Boycotting players come back as Hoosiers edge Northwestern By Mitch Pritchard, Newser Staff Posted Feb 23, 2008 10:36 PM CST Copied Indiana's Interim head coach Dan Dakich, left, talks to Jamarcus Ellis during the second half of a basketball game against Northwestern Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008, in Evanston, Ill. Indiana won 85-82.(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) (Associated Press) Jordan Crawford ended his boycott long enough to score 21 points and help No. 15 Indiana hold off Northwestern 85-82 in a Big Ten win last night, reports the Associated Press. Crawford and five other Hoosiers skipped practice yesterday in protest of the buyout of coach Kelvin Sampson, let go in the face of possible NCAA sanctions against IU because of alleged recruiting violations committed by Sampson and his staff. Armon Bassett led the Hoosiers (23-4, 13-2) as they barely managed to beat a team with no Big Ten wins. D.J. White, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds, saved the day when he blocked a potential go ahead layup by Michael Thompson, then followed up with two free throws to put the game away with five seconds left. (More NCAA stories.) Report an error