The Indiana Hoosiers were looking to keep a mere glimmer of hope for a NCAA tournament bid alive Tuesday night while No. 16 Purdue had other plans.
I think the one thing that perfectly sums up the Indiana season is watching your long-time in-state rival celebrate a conference title on their home floor. No. 16 Purdue Boilermakers did just that on Thursday night as they handed the Hoosiers their 11th loss in conference play.
Indiana was merely hanging on by a thread in tournament conversation at this point. I have repeatedly said over the past few weeks that ‘this game is a must win’. Unfortunately for the Hoosiers, it was the last time I needed to say it.
The loss to Purdue bears more than just having to stomach Mackey Arena celebrate their 23rd Big Ten Title, a conference record they now hold.
To quickly sum the game up, Purdue guard Dakota Mathias was open a lot. For one reason or another, Indiana let him shoot all night. Mathias finished with 19 points and seven rebounds. Shots kept falling and Indiana continued to turn the ball over. The same carousel of problems Indiana has faced all season was once again in full swing.
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Freshman forward De’Ron Davis had his worst night of the season all around. He played in just nine minutes and managed to foul out of the game. Thomas Bryant found himself in foul trouble early and often too. Bryant had four fouls with 10 minutes left in the second half. It left head coach Tom Crean no choice but to allow forward Tim Priller into the game. The junior forward only logged 22 minutes of play all season. If that was not embarrassing enough, Priller records his first basket ever in Big Ten Conference play.
What’s left for Indiana Basketball…
Even the most optimistic Indiana Hoosiers fans will agree that the season has come to a close. The teams on the bubble for a NCAA Tournament bid are the weakest they have been in recent history. Keeping in mind that teams like Illinois, which Indiana beat by 16 at home, are looking at a possible birth when all set and done.
This is all still not enough for the committee consider Tom Crean’s Hoosiers as a team dancing in March. A team with two of the best wins in all of college basketball season will more than likely be sitting March out.
The only way that Indiana could possibly find their way into the tournament is by winning the Big Ten Tournament and an automatic bid. The Hoosiers have never won the Big Ten Tournament since its start back in 2002. The Hoosier have pretty much punched their ticket to playing on the very first day of the tournament, something Indiana has also not done since the beginning of the conference tournament. As it stands right now, Indiana would be the No. 12 seed and would take on the No. 13 seed (Penn State).
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The Hoosiers would have to win five games in as many days to capture the Big Ten Tournament Title. Indiana has not collectively won five straight games since late November into early December against non-conference cupcakes. Indiana will play their final regular season game against Ohio State on Saturday at 12 PM ET in Columbus, OH.