If the second half of Thursday night's game left you frustrated, you're not alone.
Rarely raising his voice above a whisper, Crean was visibly displeased with his team's performance in his brief four-minute press conference.
"I don't think we competed very well in the second half, our defense certainly let us down," Crean said. "There was nothing early mid-second half we could hang our hat on."
The Hoosiers (6-19, 1-12) managed just 21 points in the second half, after trailing only 31-30 at halftime. The Badgers stretched their lead to as many as 22 and beat the Hoosiers in Assembly Hall, 68-51.
SLIDESHOW: Wisconsin 68, IU 51 AUDIO: IU coach Tom Crean AUDIO: Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan
IU got off to a fast start in the first half, holding the lead at times, hitting shots, forcing turnovers and taking care of the ball. But the second half was drastically different for the Hoosiers. The Badgers exposed IU's weaknesses and built their lead.
Wisconsin, who was fifth in the nation in turnovers (10.3) coming into the game, committed only seven Thursday.
"They played like a veteran club and we played like a bunch of rookies, that's the bottom line," Crean said.
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said his team didn't do anything differently in the second half, his players were just "better at what we do."
Freshman guard Verdell Jones led the Hoosiers with 16 points and junior guard Devan Dumes, in his first game back from a two-game suspension, finished with 12 points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field and 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. Wisconsin was led by Trevon Hughes with 21 points and Joe Krabbenhoft with 18.
In the final minutes of the Thursday's game, Crean stood on the sideline with his hands on his hips, staring off into the distance, holding the same disgruntled expression. After the game, a reporter asked Crean if he wanted his players to forget Thursday's game quickly with the Hoosiers having to turnaround and face No. 19 Purdue on Saturday.
"I don't want them to forget what it feels like in any of these games, because I'm not forgetting," he said. "The foundation of the program is being set forth, I don't want this to be what the foundation is known for. There is no Dr. Phil going, "Let's rebound and rally." We just got to do what we need to do put the most competitive team on the floor Saturday against one of the most competitive teams in America."
Game Notes ... Former IU guard and Big Ten all-time leading scorer Calbert Cheaney was IU's honorary captain ... Freshman guard Matt Roth left Thursday's game in the final minutes after suffering a rib injury. Crean said he had no update on Roth's status ... The Hoosiers shot just 2-of-11 from behind the arc.
For a blow-by-blow of today's live blog, follow the jump.
