Hoosiers drop 10th straight, face Buckeyes on Saturday

For the first time all season, IU brought its intensity on the road, but for the 10th time in a row, it wasn’t enough. 

The Hoosiers dropped a heartbreaker to Northwestern 77-75 in Evanston, Ill. IU had the ball with five seconds left down by two, but turned it over for the 22nd time on the inbounds to seal its fate.

“This was, like I said in the beginning, one of the most intense games I have ever been apart of,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “I’m really disappointed for my players that they didn’t get an opportunity to have that joy that they would have had from winning this game.”

The turnover was the last in a back-and-forth affair that saw both sides squander large leads. 

Contrary to its typical road game, IU was the early aggressor and the one lighting it up from behind the arc. Two early threes from junior Devan Dumes started a 9-0 IU run.

But Dumes was just getting warmed up. The shooting guard put on a clinic in the half, amassing 19 points in the first half to help IU match its highest first half point total – 39 – in conference play this season.

Unfortunately for IU, some trends on the road stayed the same – namely turnovers.

Northwestern shot the ball effectively to charge back in the game and tie the Hoosiers at the half.

“At the end of the game, you know, I wouldn’t change anything,” Crean said. “We just didn’t execute the way that we wanted to.”

After a bizarre start to the second half in which the shot clocks malfunctioned, Northwestern tried to bury IU early.

The Hoosiers were helpless to stop the Wildcat offense and fell behind by as many as 11. 

But like the mantra on the back of the free T-shirts given to fans against Minnesota, the Hoosiers never gave up. 

Improving from its last game, IU got to the free-throw line early and often in the half and slowly clawed back to bring the game back to within one possession. 

With 6.6 seconds left, Dumes hacked senior guard Craig Moore on the drive to send him to the free-throw line. Moore hit both free throws to put the Wildcats up by two before IU got the ball back with a chance to win. Verdell Jones committed a turnover to end the game.

“I haven’t coached forever,” Crean said, “but I’ve coached long enough to know what the great games are for intensity, and that was one of them.”

- Sports editor Ryan Gregg contributed to this report.