EVANSTON, ILL. — IU began its two-game road trip a winner of three consecutive games and four out of five.
It appeared the Hoosiers had weathered the early Big Ten adversity and started to figure things out. However, rather than keeping that momentum going, IU proceeded to drop both games of the road trip by a combined 43 points.
IU lost the second of those two games Sunday, 68-55, at Northwestern after its offense struggled without junior guard and leading scorer James Blackmon Jr.
After a sluggish start led to a 30-point loss at Michigan on Thursday, IU was able to get out to a hot start against Northwestern. The Hoosiers started out the game on a 10-to-1 run, as sophomore forward Thomas Bryant scored IU’s first five points.
“We just wanted to flow right into our offense,” Bryant said. “We worked on it in practice. We paid great attention to it before the game, and I think that’s what was flowing for us early in the first half.”
Later in the first half, Northwestern ripped off a 20-2 run to take the lead, and the Wildcats never looked back. The Wildcats’ first-half run was sparked by the Hoosiers’ turnover problem, which has dogged IU all season long.
During this stretch IU turned the ball over on seven consecutive possessions and allowed Northwestern to get out in transition and take a commanding lead.
IU’s defense did show significant improvement from its inability Thursday to keep Michigan’s offense from getting any shot it wanted, and held Northwestern to 41.1-percent shooting from the field and only five 3-pointers.
However, IU struggled to contain Northwestern’s dribble penetration. The Wildcats were able to attack the rim and total 21 free throws by game’s end.
Northwestern junior guard Bryant McIntosh paced the Wildcats’ attack with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
“We let him get to his right hand too much,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “We let him get too comfortable.”
McIntosh routinely found his teammates for easy shots and finished with eight assists.
In the second half the Hoosiers couldn’t mount much of a comeback. Northwestern was able to stretch its lead and keep IU at bay.
The Hoosiers whittled the lead down to 12 late in the game but couldn’t get it any closer.
“When we switched defenses late in the game, and the game was still in the balance, we committed a foul late in the clock,” Crean said. “And then we gave up two offensive rebounds.”
The Hoosiers just weren’t able to muster enough stops and scores to come back on the Wildcats in the second half.
IU has now lost two straight games and is below .500 in Big Ten play.
“We try not to focus on that,” junior guard Robert Johnson said. “At the end of the day, we just have to keep moving forward and look at every game like a one-game season from this point on — try to stack some wins together.”
