Indiana Basketball: Poor shooting ends the season for the Hoosiers

Indiana basketball’s season came to an end after a 73-63 loss to Wichita State in the NIT Quarterfinals.

In a matchup that saw the final home game of the season in Assembly Hall, it was also for a possible trip to the NIT Semifinals in Madison Square Garden.

Out of sorts for most of the night, the Hoosiers shot just 32.4 percent from the field in the first half, having to spend the rest of the game from behind.

Despite multiple mini-runs throughout the second half for Indiana, the Shockers always had an answer.

Coming into the game shooting just 31 percent on the year from three, making an average of just seven threes a game, the Shockers drained 11 shots from deep tonight.

Markis McDuffie paced Wichita State all night long finishing with 21 points.

Not much of an overpowering team in the paint on the season, the Shockers rose to the moment tonight and had a season-high nine blocks.

Juwan Morgan did everything he could to keep Indiana in the game, scoring 21 points on the night, ending his career in an Indiana jersey.

Dexter Dennis, only averaging 8.0 points per game on the season, scored a season-high 17 points for the Shockers, including draining five threes.

Al Durham bounced back from a poor offensive night against Arkansas, finishing with 13 points while Devonte Green, who was hobbled by an ankle injury for the entire second half, added 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Hoosiers went just 7-of-13 from the free throw line, while Wichita State finished 18-of-25.

With three point shooting being the downfall of Indiana all season, it stayed that way tonight as they finished just 6-of-18 from deep.

Wichita State moves on to the ‘Garden’ and become the first team in NIT history to beat the first, second, and third ranked team in their region.

As for Indiana, their season comes to a close, and they will turn their attention to a healthy offseason and NCAA Tournament berth next year.