If the IU men’s basketball team could just play some semblance of defense.
Wait, no. The Hoosiers’ offense was the reason they lost to Northwestern. For possibly the first time all season, or at most since the Michigan State game, IU’s offense was worse than its defense.
After an offensively-fueled first half of basketball, the score was tied at 40, and it appeared it was going to be another classic Hoosier game — lots of scoring, poor defense.
In the second half, that story changed.
In the first 16 minutes after intermission, the Hoosiers scored a miniscule eight points. That included a drought of more than ?10 minutes without scoring.
That’s right. For a quarter of the basketball game, the Hoosiers failed to record a single point.
IU even got into the bonus with more than 12 minutes remaining, but that was more of a curse than a blessing. The Hoosiers finished the game 7-of-16 from the charity stripe, good for just 43.8 percent.
IU was so bad from the free throw line, they would have been better off chucking the ball at the front of the rim and going for the rebound — a popular move in the game “21” on the playground.
IU fans should be worried. Yes, Northwestern is on a hot streak and is not as bad as their record suggests. But the Hoosiers are in trouble.
IU is just 4-6 over its last 10 games and has been exposed on offense in their last two losses. Against Purdue last week and in the second half against Northwestern on Wednesday, IU’s opponent proved the Hoosiers are nothing without the ?3-pointer.
This is not the time to be struggling. As the Big Ten season winds down and teams prepare for the conference tournament and beyond, everyone wants to be playing their best basketball.
Home games against Iowa and Michigan State loom as opportunities to bolster IU’s resume. But the reverse side of that coin is losses in one or both of those contests could mean IU gets ousted.
For some reason, despite IU’s recent struggles, everyone seems to think the Hoosiers are safe. A pretty strong RPI number and a few quality wins provide a semi-false sense of security.
But at some point, you just need to look at wins and losses.
IU is 19-10, but seven of those wins are from nonconference games against college basketball nobodies. And now, at just 9-7 in conference games, they’re drifting further away from the word “lock.”
Certain selection committees for certain basketball tournaments are paying attention, and IU is reeling. IU isn’t a lock for the NCAA Tournament just yet. In fact, after Wednesday, the Hoosiers are on the bubble.
crkrajew@indiana.edu
