With the ball at half court and 5.2 seconds left on the clock, the Hoosiers had a chance to snap their nine-game losing streak and steal a win for the first time since Dec. 10.
Instead, Northwestern pressured freshman guard Verdell Jones and IU's inbounds pass ended up in the Wildcats' hands. The Hoosiers' 77-75 loss marks the team's 10th in a row.
IU made what seemed like a promising run in the closing minutes, highlighted by a baseline 3-pointer by Matt Roth to tie the game at 75. The bench erupted and for a minute it seemed like tonight might be the night things finally go the Hoosiers way in conference play. But Devan Dumes committed a personal foul on the other end and the Wildcats hit both free throws to put the home team ahead by two.
Although he was whistled for the late foul that ultimately doomed the Hoosiers, Dumes' play kept IU in the game most of the night. The junior guard scored a career-high 26 points and hit six 3-pointers, some from impressively deep. VJ3 add 14 and Roth chipped in with 12.
Unlike the Minnesota game, the Hoosiers shot well from the free-throw line, hitting 17-of-19 attempts Wednesday. But the team struggled with turnovers (24) as they have often they season, and were easily frustrated by the Wildcats' trapping defense.
The Hoosiers will look to change their losing ways Saturday when they host Ohio State at 4 p.m. For more coverage of tonight's game check back with the basketblog and idsnews.com. For a blow-by-blow recap of tonight's live blog, follow the jump.
