Game Recap: Indiana Hoosiers fall to Northwestwern 68-55
By Brian Lewis
The Indiana Hoosiers fell at the hands of the Northwestern Wildcats on Sunday losing by a score of 68-55.
It was another bad loss for the Hoosiers and things do not look too promising for Tom Crean’s squad moving forward. Here is more from Sunday’s contest and where the Indiana Hoosiers stand at this point in the season.
It was Indiana’s first game playing without leading scorer James Blackmon Jr. The junior guard was averaging 17.6 points per game before suffering a lower leg injury in Thursday’s blowout loss to Michigan that is keeping him out of action indefinitely. The Hoosiers missed Blackmon mightily on Sunday as they really struggled to score the basketball posting a season-low 55 points.
“All we did was just miss shots,” Indiana center Thomas Bryant said. “It was more on us, not so much on the defense although they did play a great game. It falls on us.” The Hoosiers shot just 32.1% from the field on 17-for-53 shooting in Sunday’s loss. Thomas Bryant tied a career-high 23 points and tallied 12 rebounds. Junior guard Robert Johnson added on 12 points on a bad 4-for-13 shooting night. Bryant and Johnson were the only Hoosiers in double figures on Sunday. De’Ron Davis was third on the team in scoring with just six points.
It looked like a great start for the Hoosiers. Indiana forced the Wildcats to miss their first seven shots. The Hoosiers found themselves leading 10-1 in the opening minutes of the game. Northwestern quickly responded with a 20-2 run of its own that Indiana could not answer. The Wildcats controlled the rest of the game from that point on. The Hoosiers couldn’t do anything about it. The lead grew to as big as 18 after junior guard Bryant McIntosh hit a 3-pointer with 7:28 to play in the game making it 56-38 in favor of the Wildcats.
“Just really proud of McIntosh,” coach Chris Collins said. “I thought he controlled the game.” The southeast Indiana native posted 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting and dished out eight dimes in the winning effort. The Wildcats are trying to make history this season by earning their first trip to the NCAA tournament come March. Northwestern is the only school represented by a Power Five conference that has never danced in March. They will look to change that this year and it will be fueled by the play of McIntosh.
The struggles continue…
The rollercoaster ride that the Indiana Hoosiers have been on all season continues. And it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Turnovers continue to be a reoccurring issue for the Hoosiers and that was the case again on Sunday. Indiana committed another 13 turnovers in Sunday’s loss compared to Northwestern’s seven.
Plagued with injuries to Colin Hartman, OG Anunoby and Blackmon, the Hoosiers’ roster is depleted. That, plus being unable to take care of the basketball, does not equate to success. All three players were projected to be starters and pivotal pieces for Indiana’s 2016-2017 campaign. They were expected to knock down threes for the Hoosiers this year. They were expected to lead the Hoosiers as they chased their third Big Ten regular season championship in the last five seasons.
It’s now January 30. The Hoosiers are 14-8, 4-5 in Big Ten play. After Johnson and Blackmon, no Hoosier has made over 15 three-pointers despite shooting 39.3% from beyond the arc on the season as a team. Indiana’s turnover margin is -3.6, which is good for dead last in the Big Ten. It is No. 11 in the Big Ten in scoring defense allowing 70.5 points per game.
What does it all mean?
The Hoosiers are in trouble. Between the injuries and all of the problems with the X’s and O’s, Indiana is going to have a tough back-end of its conference schedule. The last two losses have been nothing but demeaning for Hoosier players. They are playing with very low confidence. Hoosier fans are starting to realize this is not the team it was opening night in Honolulu with its win over then-No. 3 Kansas.
Moving forward…
As previously mentioned, it is not going to be easy for Indiana. The Hoosiers’ tournament chances are slowly slipping away from them as they continue to lose games. Indiana still has five road games on its schedule including at No. 10 Wisconsin and at in-state rival No. 23 Purdue. In the meantime, Indiana will play three of its next four games at home. The Hoosiers must go on a run during that stretch or else dancing in March will not be an option for Indiana. The Hoosiers return home this week to take on Penn State (12-10, 4-5) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. ET.