Indiana men’s basketball won Tuesday night — but it didn’t feel like a victory.
The Hoosiers (8-3) overcame a 15-point deficit with less than nine minutes to play, surviving to take a 69-68 victory over Morehead State University (8-4) on Tuesday night inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Indiana played Morehead State on Nov. 7, 2022, and took an 88-53 victory. Some 13 months later, the Hoosiers trailed the Eagles for over 32 minutes. They closed the game on a 20-4 run and needed every point.
It’ll ultimately go down as a win, but in a game Indiana entered as 10.5-point favorites, it was far from an encouraging showing.
Indiana went to the locker room at halftime with boos reigning down from the crowd of 15,582. An emphatic dunk by Morehead State freshman Eddie Ricks III extended the Eagles’ lead to 11 points and ended a dismal first half in which the Hoosiers shot just 11-of-32 from the field and 0-of-6 from long distance.
The result was a short but intense speech from Indiana head coach Mike Woodson.
“It wasn't real pretty,” Woodson said of his halftime remarks. “We were awful. Our fans don't come out to see stuff like that. I was very disappointed.”
The Hoosiers stormed out of the break, closing the deficit to 37-33, but found themselves staring down perhaps the worst loss of Woodson’s tenure with seven minutes remaining.
The Eagles entered the night ranked No. 124 in NET, per the NCAA, and have already lost to a pair of Big Ten teams by 20-plus points in Purdue and Penn State.
This was supposed to be a strong bounce-back for Indiana after a pair of losses to Auburn University and the No. 2-ranked University of Kansas. Instead, Woodson’s team fought for its life.
“The Kansas game was a great game,” Woodson said. “That doesn't mean you come back the next game and lay an egg to start. That's unacceptable. That's on me, man. I've just got to keep working as a coach to get them better to make sure that we don't put ourselves in that position again.”
Through the first 10 games, Indiana shot just 28.5% from 3-point range. It struggled again Tuesday, connecting on just 3-of-16 attempts beyond the arc for an 18.75% clip. The Hoosiers’ numbers at the free throw line weren’t much better, as they hit 16-of-28 foul shots, or 57.1%.
Indiana’s defense struggled guarding Morehead State’s pick and roll action, Woodson said, as Eagles senior guard Jordan Lathon scored 30 points.
The Hoosiers are flawed offensively, as their perimeter shooting remains lackluster and shows few signs of improvement. Defensively, guarding the perimeter has been of concern to Woodson, but pick and roll defense wasn’t — until now.
Those are tangible flaws. But it’s possible Indiana’s most alarming trait Tuesday night was its lack of energy.
Woodson noted his team came out flat and looked like it didn’t want to be out there.
After the game, neither Woodson nor senior forward Anthony Walker, who scored a team-high 18 points, had an answer for why the energy wasn’t present.
“I really couldn't tell you specifically, but it shouldn't have happened,” Walker said. “We know that, and we obviously grouped together and pulled together and pulled out with a win, but this is a good lesson for us.”
Tuesday night was not the first time Indiana’s been plagued by low energy and slow starts in lower-stakes non-conference games, potentially hinting at a deeper issue.
Consider four contests: the exhibition opener against the University of Indianapolis, the season opener vs. Florida Gulf Coast University, the second game against Army West Point and the third game vs. Wright State University.
Indiana won each of these games, but all were within five points at halftime. Against Morehead State, the Hoosiers’ 36-25 halftime deficit simply magnified this flaw.
Still, Indiana kept fighting, going on a 16-0 run to take its first lead in the second half with just over three minutes remaining and didn’t trail the rest of the way.
“I'm just pleased that we didn't quit,” Woodson said. “Could have easily thrown in the towel and said, ‘hey, we'll get ready for the next game,’ but we didn't do that. We kept fighting and was able to get the win.”
Woodson noted postgame securing a win is ultimately what counts, no matter how difficult the road to get there. Tuesday night goes down as a winding path of emotions illustrating the troubles of Indiana’s roster construction and the continuation of a season-long struggle.
But still, a win is a win.
“Just being able to come together when we did get punched in the face early in the game and finish the game is something that means a lot to us,” Walker said.
Follow reporters Will Foley (@foles24) and Matt Press (@MattPress23) and columnist Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
