EVANSTON, Ill.-- Sometimes things don’t make sense.
The end of "Memento," for example, is pretty confusing and can be lost on a lot of people if they’re not paying attention. Drake’s "Views" being nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys is dumbfounding as well due to its mediocrity. Participating in a group project and doing all the work only to get the second-highest grade out of your peers is also perplexing.
What does make sense, however, is what happened Sunday in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Hoosiers lost convincingly. IU lost 68-55 to a Northwestern team that was better at every facet of the game.
It wasn’t about the Wildcats wanting it more or a poor shooting night for the Hoosiers.
There are no excuses.
IU just isn’t good enough right now.
Northwestern was supposed to win. The Wildcats were a 6.5-point favorite heading into the game, and they covered.
As the injuries continue to mount — senior forward Collin Hartman, junior guard James Blackmon Jr., sophomore forwards Juwan Morgan and OG Anunoby, freshman guard Curtis Jones — the Hoosiers shall continue to descend into the Big Ten abyss.
The ailments are a factor, but they shouldn’t be a justification.
With eight losses in 22 games, the Hoosiers have proven time and time again that this is not the team that was expected to be a juggernaut heading into the season.
With early wins against Kansas and North Carolina, IU seemed to be on top of the world, but the further we get from those two victories the more those games seem to be outliers instead of the norm.
From top to bottom, this team doesn’t have what it takes. A general malaise has overtaken IU.
The coaches hold up cute signs. During the Northwestern game, there was one that said, “Call out screens,” but that’s a coaching gimmick more than a coaching strategy. What we should be focusing on, however, is IU didn’t appear to have a game plan on the road in Evanston besides pounding the ball to Bryant and seeing what happens.
The big man had a good game — 23 points on 13 shots — but it isolated the rest of the team and led to dead possessions without cuts or movement.
Alongside the big men, the backcourt is led by inexperience and recklessness.
Junior guard Robert Johnson and freshman guard Devonte Green had three and two turnovers, respectively. Junior guard Josh Newkirk limited himself to just one, but that statistic doesn’t include his constant drives, which are hasty and lead to wild flings at the basket.
Those three players are supposed to be the leaders on the court.
The defensive end was also a catastrophe, a festering wound opening on seemingly every possession.
Defensive assignments were blown, 3-point shooters were routinely wide open, and junior guard Bryant McIntosh scored with the ease of a player in lay-up lines. The Wildcat standout put up 21 points on 13 shots.
If the shots aren’t falling, as they haven’t the past few games, IU would have needed to up the defensive ante to have an inkling of a chance to leave with a “W.”
That obviously wasn’t the case because they lost by 13 and trailed by double-digits for a large portion of the game.
We’re no longer at an impasse, a place Hoosier fanatics likely felt the team was at after the annihilation at Michigan.
“Maybe they’ll bounce back. They have to,” IU fans must have yearned.
Nope.
At Northwestern, during a pivotal moment of the season, with its back against the wall, IU folded.
Walking off the court and heading to the press room, I overheard a conversation between a man in a Northwestern sweatshirt and a man in an IU getup.
“That was a tough loss,” said the Wildcat.
“Man, we suck right now,” replied the Hoosier.
He’s right.
This team can work as hard as they can, but its first-rate talent can only take them so far. IU just isn’t a tournament team at this juncture.
Forget about making a run. The once-ranked Hoosiers may not even play after the Big Ten tournament.
This is where IU basketball is at right now. The mighty have fallen, and with Blackmon sidelined, the sunlight is fast dwindling on the 2016-17 season.
gigottfr@indiana.edu
@gott31
