34,200 seconds.
As the IU-Louisville game reaches its denouement on Dec. 31 around 2:30 p.m., there will be about 570 minutes left in the year of 2016, which can further be translated into 34,200 seconds.
The large hand on the clock will tick with one of two feelings for IU basketball, joy for the prospects ahead or fear of impending doom as the Hoosiers lose their fourth game of the season.
After the Fort Wayne game, Tom Crean and company followed up their devastating loss with a monumental statement win over No. 3 North Carolina. To start off the Big Ten season, Assembly Hall fell deathly silent as the Hoosiers lost to a Cornhusker team that had no right to outplay IU on its home floor. This is their chance to make amends as they have already done once this season.
Here’s the problem: No. 6 Louisville is good. The No. 16 Hoosiers, contrary to popular belief, might just be smoke and mirrors. This is quite possibly an overreaction to a bad night, but we’ve collectively seen three bad nights out of 13. At some point the team isn’t just off, that’s just who they are.
What we’re about to find out is if IU’s wins over top-five teams were mirages or have staying power. The victory over Kansas can easily be attributed to an early season win over an inexperienced team finding its way and the UNC game could have just been the Assembly Hall boost.
The last time the Hoosiers set foot in Indianapolis they lost convincingly to Butler. It can easily happen again as they venture into Bankers Life Fieldhouse for the Louisville matchup.
IU is at its best running and gunning. The threes are swishing, the ball is moving and the dunks are devastating. Louisville can matchup with a hodgepodge of styles that the squad can play at a moment’s notice.
The Cardinals beat Kentucky, which thrives under a breakneck-pace style. They have vanquished Wichita State and lost by a slim margin to Baylor, who both grind the game to a halt. No matter the opponent Rick Pitino’s team will be able to compete and keep the margin close.
It's time to find out IU’s true colors, which brings us to the age-old question.
What color is a zebra?
Are they black with white stripes or white with black?
Are the Hoosiers a top-caliber team with a few lapses? Or, are they worse than we expected with a few moments of brilliance standing out?
From game to game — even from play to play — viewers can have completely different answers.
The bipolar swings seem almost normal as of this moment. All we know is that after the last two IU gaffes, the team responded in a big way with tremendous victories over top teams.
This is another chance for IU to do just that, get back on the wagon.
gigottfr@indiana.edu
@gott31
