Hoosiers blow another opportunity

He spent Friday battling flulike symptoms, and well, he just doesn’t look like a basketball player.\nBut there Drew Neitzel was in the second half, crossing up IU’s senior guard Errek Suhr and nailing a tough jumper from just right of the free-throw line. And there he was, nailing 3 after 3, seemingly dissolving IU’s halftime lead to nothing in an instant. (Raymar Morgan helped out with that, too.)\nAnd here the Hoosiers were again – squandering yet another opportunity to pick up a road win. They led by 10 at half. They held a team that has been so dominant at home – Michigan State is now 18-1 on the season – to a mere 20 points in the first half. They forced the Spartans into 14 first-half turnovers. It seemed, finally – finally! – IU was poised to knock off a team of significance on the road. \nBut the second half came, and, boom, IU and Michigan State switched roles. It was now the Hoosiers running aloof and turning the ball over. Freshman guard Joey Shaw dribbled a ball off his foot and kicked it out of bounds. Fellow freshman guard Armon Bassett – though scoring a career-high 25 points – threw the ball away on occasion.\nDoes Earl Calloway make a difference in this game? I think we might be starting to find out how important he is to this team. Even though Bassett is at times an exceptional freshman, he’s a scorer more than a true point guard. In the second half, coach Kelvin Sampson seemed to think as much, as he delineated Suhr to the point-guard role for a portion of the half.\nCalloway is this team’s leader. Sampson might not have been too keen on his style of play early on this season, but the senior point guard has made a believer out of his coach. When IU started falling apart in the second half, Calloway could have provided a nice spark and perhaps saved the Hoosiers from another road loss. But, alas, he was relegated to the bench, barking orders all game to his teammates as he continued to rest his shoulder injury. But with the way this team has played on the road, it might not have even mattered.\nWe all know the deal now. With Saturday night’s 66-58 loss to the Spartans, the Hoosiers lost sole possession of third place in the Big Ten, ceding the spot to Illinois. IU is now tied with Michigan State and Iowa for fourth in the conference. \nThe Illini only have one game left in the Big Ten season. If IU can snatch a road win – yes, folks, a road win – at Northwestern on Wednesday, something six other Big Ten teams have done this year, and win its last game of the season Saturday, they’ll grab sole possession of third place back. That is, if Illinois loses its last game of the year at Iowa and Michigan State loses at Wisconsin on Saturday. Oh, and Iowa would have to lose at Penn State. Phew, that was a lot to swallow there.\nBut hey, do you think IU can get any Big Ten or NCAA tourney games inside Assembly Hall this postseason?