Live Commentary: 2nd half @Iowa

Well, we’ve seen this one before. Indiana gets off to a terrible start, is sloppy with the ball, has poor shot selection, gets some unlucky breaks, and before you know it, it’s a double-digit deficit at halftime against a team we should be beating easily.

If not for Roth and Elston having tremendous first halves, this could be even worse than an 11 point game. I’d like to see Watford, Jones, or Hulls to step up and be a leader in the second half. IU is going to make a run, but it remains to be seen if Iowa can withstand it. Lets jump into a live commentary

19: 27 Hulls misses an open 3. It’s definitely not his night so far. Next possession Hulls gets beat easily on the baseline. Now down 15, the exact opposite of what we wanted to start the half.

18:41- Oladipo with a nice and-1. Buckets like those are huge to stop momentum.

My buddy Ethan Richter with a nice point, Hulls plays fantastic vs. big time competition, but seems to struggle vs. inferior teams, the opposite of a lot of college players.

16:57- There’s the obligatory Derek Elston-jab-step-travel that we all love to see. At least he’s consistent.

16:13- Elston and Sheehey playing great defense. Abell missed a box out which allowed Iowa to remain with possession, followed by a Zeller stuff. 3 blocks in 1 possession. Great to see.

15:33- Zeller with a nice move to get fouled. Iowa has played great team defense on him, but I don’t think they have an individual who can stop him alone. Need to keep going back to him.

15:33- Can’t decide whether or not I like the Quicken Loans commercial where the girl dumps her boyfriend when he proposes. Ethan thinks it is phenomenal. By the way Ethan had a great intramural game today, 4 steals and about 20 points.

15:33- The piano music for Big Ten Network’s “The Journey” is just fantastic. An argument about Indiana girls looks vs. Iowa girls looks begins between Michael Phillips and Ethan. I remain neutral in this matter.

15:13- Zeller with another block, followed by Jones taking an ill-advised runner. This leads to an easy layup for Iowa. Not only was that shot -2 points for Indiana, it was really -4 because of the ensuing fast break. There needs to be a stat for this called “the compounding mistake”.

13:53- Down 14, Indiana needs to make a move right now. Anything later than this will be too little too late.

13:45- Watford simply beaten to the hole by Gatens for Iowa. Terrible defense between Watford and Hulls tonight, Crean may have to switch to zone soon.

Quicken Loans brings another commercial into the rotation. Keeping us on our toes, I see. Ethan appreciates the variety.

If there aren’t big heads of Purdue’s D.J Byrd and Kelsey Barlow in their mugshots at the next home game, the Sports Marketing department isn’t doing their job. Nothing sweeter than seeing Barlow kicked off the team 2 years after the famous “choke” sign he gave to the IU student section

12:55- IU goes 2-3  zone to accommodate the slow defense. Iowa misses a 3 and puts in back in. Watford and Pritchard both missed box outs. I really hope Crean has someone keeping the “missed box-out” stats. Watford loses the ball on the other end, his 3rd turnover.

11:58- Down 19 going into the under-12 TV timeout. The fact that IU was a 3 seed in ESPN’s latest bracketology is a joke. If another 3-seed team like Baylor came into Iowa, they would run Iowa off the court and have their JV-squad in by halftime.

11:58- They don’t have JV squads anymore in college basketball? Oh.

11:58- 16 offensive rebounds for Iowa so far. That’s a great way to lose a 1st round NCAA Tournament game.

11:34- STELLAR defense from Remy Abell. I love our team defense when he’s on the court.

11:04- Full court press installed by Crean. Love that, especially with Abell and Oladipo both in.

10:39- Ethan sets a goal: we need to be down by 10 with 8 minutes left. I love setting incremental objectives in games when you’re down big. Rather than the team thinking they have to get it all back right now, the “chip away” mentality is healthier.

9:18- Terrible charge call on Verdell. The Iowa player was in the restricted area, Ted Valentine missed that one.

8:58- Zeller with 3 great box-outs in a row, followed by Pritchard subbing in for him. WHAT????

8:25- HUGE possession here. We can accomplish that goal of down 10 with 8 minutes left here. Oladipo draws a foul and makes both free throws. Talk about a sophomore playing like a senior.

7:46- Oladipo picks up his 4th foul on a terrible blocking call. That was the worst possible thing that could happen, Oladipo is the only Hoosier stepping up their level of play right now. Watford is absent, and looks like he just drank 3 doses of NyQuill, while Hulls is just not in rhythm. Victor’s our leader right now and we need him on the court.

7:23- My dad has texted my twice in disgust over this game. I’m right there with him.

6:32- Matt Gatens hits back to back 3’s. Looks like this could be over. Watford blocked. He seriously looks groggy, I wouldn’t be surprised if he just fell asleep standing up in the middle of a possession.

Ethan wonders if Christian Watford works out. I’m sure he does, but he has a point, the horizontal speed and agility just isn’t there.

5:55- The Iowa crowd collectively boos a good call by the refs, something they have done consistently in the second half. This is a state that needs to stick to football.

5:20- Gatens hits a 3rd three in a row. We are starting to make dinner plans.

Hulls has gone 1-4, Watford 0-5, Sheehey 1-5, and Verdell 0-2 from the field. We need our best players to step up and play with passion and leadership in games where the rest of the team is flat. Just a lack of leadership in my opinion, not from Crean but from the players. Give Oladipo credit for having that fire tonight. The nice thing is that next year, Crean will have the depth to instantly yank anyone who is not giving 100% on a given night.

3:59- Would Gus Johnson and Dan Dakich not be the greatest Play-By-Play & Color Commentary combo of all time? Can we make this happen? How did CBS let an announcer of Gus Johnson’s stature go? Did he sleep with the producer’s wife? This will always puzzle me.

2:43- I have never seen a crowd influence the referees’ calls quite like this. As soon as the stadium grows into a frenzy while a Hoosier slides his feet on defense, the whistle blows.

There’s nothing quite like listening to the Phillips brothers debating on dinner locations. “Where do you want to go” … “Uhhh”… “I don’t care. Where do you want to go” … “I don’t care either” … “Ok”

1:48- Roth makes 2 more 3’s. The guy is automatic. I owe him a personal apology for doubting him before the season started. By the way, what is the NCAA record for 3pt%  in a season? Roth has got to be close, shooting at a 55% rate.

1:08- Gatens again from range. This guy in unconscious.

0:52- The “overrated” chant rains down from the Iowa students. It’s hard to challenge that statement right now.

Final- Well, another terrible loss for Indiana to go with the Nebraska and Minnesota games. Indiana hasn’t won @Iowa in the Tom Crean era, even though the Hawkeyes have been consistently poor the last 3 years.

This season continues to be the tale of 2 teams, we have to hope the good one shows up in March. If only the NCAA tournament was held in Assembly Hall!