Defense struggles in 93-81 loss to Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. — The Hoosiers need to learn how to play 40 minutes — and quickly.

At least that’s how IU men’s basketball coach Tom Crean summed up what went wrong in their sixth straight loss, a 93-81 decision at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday.

The Hoosiers dug an early hole, falling behind by 12 at halftime behind 36 percent shooting and eight turnovers. The Wildcats’ lead grew to as large as 24 points in the second half, before the Hoosiers clicked in the game’s final four minutes.

IU (9-8, 0-4) narrowed the deficit using 3-point shots and a full-court pressing defense to trim the deficit to eight points with 2:06 remaining. However, it was a sense of urgency that Crean said came about 38 minutes too late.

“We played extremely immature in the first half; extremely immature,” he said. “In the second half, we start to come back, and we play desperate, and we don’t understand that we’ve got to play that way in the first half.”

Northwestern (10-4, 1-3) forward John Shurna used a 4-of-5 effort from the 3-point line to score a game-high 24 points, his ninth game with 20 or more points this season.

Shurna often found himself with wide open looks as the Wildcats moved in transition, something Crean said simply cannot be allowed to happen to whom he called the best player on the court.

“He’s an excellent player. He’s the leading 3-point shooter in the country for a reason,” he said of Shurna. “You can’t give him any space. He’s going to be a pro for a long time.”

Northwestern center Luka Mirkovic added damage inside, setting season highs with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

“He just out-toughed us,” Crean said of the 6-11 Siberian. “He out-toughed us inside. And that’s the bottom line.”

IU freshmen guards Will Sheehey and Victor Oladipo combined for 22 points and seven rebounds, but Crean said they made noticeable freshman mistakes. Sheehey fouled out with 10:39 remaining in the second half, and Oladipo led the team with four turnovers.

Players were not made available for comment.

Still, the third-year IU coach said those are the kinds of things his team will have to play through, because neither Sheehey nor Oladipo will see a drastic decrease in playing time.

“They have to be on the court. There’s no question about that,” Crean said. “Their energy and their toughness are something that we have got to have. So you’re going to have some of those mistakes.”

IU’s only lead vanished with 18:24 remaining in the first half, after senior guard Jeremiah Rivers scored the team’s first five points. Sophomore forward Christian Watford was held scoreless until the 15:26 mark of the second half, but he finished with a team-high 17 points.

The 93 points scored by Northwestern is the most given up by IU this season. Crean stressed the importance of team defense as the Hoosiers search for their first conference win of the season.

“When we go with a blue-collar mindset, and it’s everybody defending together, a lot of better things happen,” Crean said. “Not great things, but better things. Our discipline was not where it needed to be.”