The trio of IU junior guards have turned in largely inconsistent seasons thus far.
IU Coach Tom Crean has called out Robert Johnson, Josh Newkirk and James Blackmon Jr. for their lack of leadership this season and the trend of spotty play from the three guards continued Tuesday against Iowa.
In a game where the Hoosiers were desperate to salvage a win in conference play while riding a four-game losing streak, IU fell to Iowa in overtime, 96-90.
In overtime, the three guards did nothing to help IU when things were spiraling out of control with the game was on the line.
The trio did help the Hoosiers in regulation, as Johnson responded to struggles the last few weeks with an uptick in performance against the Hawkeyes. He had 19 points and made seven of his 14 shots, yet he fouled out in overtime.
After scoring seven of IU’s first nine points of the game, Newkirk nearly disappeared for IU, scoring only four points the rest of the way. His last made field goal came with 14:54 left in the first half.
Newkirk paced IU’s early offense as the Hoosiers opened the game nine-of-15 from the field, but the IU offense was erratic the rest of the way, especially when Iowa used a zone defense.
“When they went to the zone, we got a little stagnant,” Crean said. “That’s not the idea. The idea is to not be on the wing.”
Iowa stormed back to close the gap in the second half and freshman guard Jordan Bohannon hit a three-pointer with just over six minutes left that tied the game for the Hawkeyes.
Johnson would answer back with what was just his second made 3-pointer of the game in seven attempts.
On the next possession, Blackmon hit a three of his own, but he finished the game with 10 missed shots. Even held a two-point lead with fewer than two minutes remaining.
Iowa climbed back to hold a two-point lead with fewer than two minutes remaining, and Johnson had to make a clutch steal just to send the game to overtime.
Afterwards, Blackmon said he was happy with the way the team played to end regulation, but the final result was not what the team wanted.
“I felt like we made a lot of big plays down the stretch to get it to the extra five minutes, but we just came up short,” Blackmon said.
