Hoosiers no longer a tournament lock
By TYLER SMITH
ISL Editor
(Courtesy of IU Athletics/Mike Dickbernd)
BLOOMINGTON — At the beginning of the season, most Hoosier fans would have taken Indiana’s current position:
A chance for 20 wins and an NCAA tournament bid.
A chance to finish 6th or 7th in the conference.
A chance to have a winning record in the Big Ten.
Since the Hoosiers are on a downward trend, however, fans can’t be feeling too good about this team’s chances. The Iowa Hawkeyes came into Assembly Hall and knocked off the reeling Hoosiers 77-63 in front of a disappointed and highly vocal home crowd. Indiana is now just 4-7 in their last 11 games and are no longer a lock for the NCAA tournament.
“A loss like this is pretty disappointing,” Indiana guard Yogi Ferrell said. “We just have to come back, and now we’re on to the next one against Michigan State.”
Ferrell struggled along with most of his teammates. He shot just 3-of-11 for the game and finished with 11 points. The Hoosiers missed a high number of shots in the paint, and only connected on 13-of-35 two-point shots for the game (37%).
“We’ve just got to do our job,” Coach Crean said after the loss. “As simple as that sounds, it’s not that simple. The timely second chance points were a big difference.”
After a close first half that saw the Hoosiers trailing 32-28, things changed in a hurry in the second half. Iowa went on an 8-0 run to open their lead to double-digits. They dominated the second half and outscored the Hoosiers 45-35 in that stretch.
Coach Crean remains focused on getting his team to play better instead of worrying about their tournament hopes: “We have to bounce back in a hurry. We’re not going to magically match up better, so we need to match up smarter. We knew it was going to be this kind of week. Our focus is to get ready for the next practice and continue getting better.”
Finding more shots for Nick Zeisloft would be a good idea for Indiana. He connected on 5-of-7 from behind the arc to lead the team with 15 points in 24 minutes of action. Freshman guard James Blackmon Jr. added 14 points.
The Hawkeyes used their size advantage to attack the paint and get to the foul line. They made 23-of-28 attempts from the line on way to their 20th win of the season.
All of a sudden, the Hoosiers find themselves on the bubble of the NCAA tournament. Saturday’s game against Michigan State may be do-or-die for this young Hoosiers team. The opportunity is still there, but time is no longer on their side.
Follow Tyler on Twitter: @TylerSmith_ISL
