I've been trying to make sense of IU's successes and failures at the free throw line this year. But I'm struggling.
The Facts
The Hoosiers currently (as of 9:45 p.m. on Wednesday) are at the bottom of the Big Ten in free throw shooting at 65.9 %, though not far behind No. 9 ranked Michigan State (67.0%) and No. 17 Ohio State (66.1%).
Freshman Christian Watford is pacing the Hoosiers at 83.3% (50-60), good for seventh in the Big Ten. Among all Big Ten players, only Manny Harris, Talor Battle and Trevon Hughes have gotten to the line more than Watford, and none of those three are shooting better than the IU freshman.
Loyola Game
What jumped out at me during IU's poor start versus Loyola was how poorly they played in the first half, yet how well they were shooting from the charity stripe. Looking through the box score, I noticed the Hoosiers went 10-for-12 from the line in the first half.
Upon further research, I figured out that IU was shooting 17-for-19 through 24 minutes, despite trailing by 21 at that time.
The rest of way, IU went 5-for-13, despite outscoring the Greyhounds 33-17 in those final 16 or so minutes.
Follow the jump to see the discrepancy between the Hoosiers' first and second half free throw shooting:
First Half vs. Second Half
Watching IU play on Wednesday prompted me to compare the team's first half free throw shooting versus their second half efforts. Certainly as each game progresses, the players will tire and the free throw shooting might drop a bit. In IU's case, it is more than just a tiny discrepancy.
Through 11 games, IU has gone 87-for-122 from the line in the first halves. That's 77.7%. In the second halves, however, the Hoosiers have shot an abysmal 102-for-180, or 56.7%.
In their last three games, IU has gone 19-for-23 (82.6%) in first half action, while staying on par by connecting on 56.8% of their 44 second half free throws versus Kentucky, North Carolina Central and Loyola.
Perhaps I am reading into all this too much considering those three opponents combined for 57.5% from the line in the second halves versus IU, but that does not make the Hoosiers' numbers look any better.
What I do know is that IU missed 7 of its last 10 free throws on Wednesday and Jeremiah Rivers went 0-for-4 in the last 2:03 of the contest.
In a game in which Rivers posted a career high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting (plus 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 block), the point guard shot 3-of-9 from the stripe. It's also hard to forget the two 4-point plays converted by Loyola courtesy of Rivers fouls.
Free Throw Struggles
Of course, Rivers is not the only one struggling. Freshman Bobby Capobianco is 3-for-11 (27.3%), Tom Pritchard is 10-for-20 (50%), Derek Elston is 10-for-18 (58.8%) and Verdell Jones is 31-for-48 (64.6).
But Rivers is still 26-for-49 (53.1%), and considering he and Jones have shot roughly one-third of IU's total free throw shots, that's not so great.
Noticing that Rivers shot around 52 percent from the line at Georgetown, I asked him about that prior to the season. His response:
I shoot 500 a day, nearly. That's probably one of the main things my dad told me this summer. 'You're going to be at the line probably 10, 12 times a night and you've got to be at least 80 percent there.' So that's all we've been working on, just getting my free throws ready. Really, free throws also prepare your jump shot as well, especially if I'm having an off night and you don't have every night where it's 10 for 12, 12 for 14, however it is. Steph(en) Curry is a friend of mine and there were those games where you'd see him struggling out there and the free throw line really got him going and it really helps kind of push the momentum for the team.
Moving Forward
It's important for IU's guards to penetrate, but it does not do a ton of good if they draw fouls and can't convert on the free throws.
Certainly IU was plagued by more than just a few bad plays and missed free throws at the end of the game, but as they move forward they cannot afford to shoot so poorly down the stretch.
Up next is 0-11 Bryant U., but then comes Big Ten play.
