Hoosier State of Mind
Fansided

Indiana Basketball: Five Takeaways From The 2018-19 Season

By Alec Lasley

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 02: Indiana Hoosiers celebrates 79 - 75 win against Michigan State Spartans at Breslin Center on February 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 02: Indiana Hoosiers celebrates 79 - 75 win against Michigan State Spartans at Breslin Center on February 2, 2019 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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BLOOMINGTON, IN – MARCH 02: Aaron Henry #11 of the Michigan State Spartans and Aljami Durham #1 of the Indiana Hoosiers scramble for the loose ball during the game at Assembly Hall on March 2, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN – MARCH 02: Aaron Henry #11 of the Michigan State Spartans and Aljami Durham #1 of the Indiana Hoosiers scramble for the loose ball during the game at Assembly Hall on March 2, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

4. Improved Effort

Any Indiana fan who watched the games this season saw a correlation with their wins and their effort. It’s just unfortunate that the players didn’t realize that until too late.

In the midst of losing 12 of 13 games, it was highlighted by a 21 point embarrassment on ESPN against Minnesota. Though that was the low point of the season, it was also the turning point.

Granted it didn’t turn into an NCAA berth, but it did lead to Indiana eventually winning six of their last eight games to end the season, with two additional losses coming by a total of just eight points.

Effort isn’t normally shown in the box score, but when it comes to the defensive end, you can at least see a correlation.

After the Minnesota game, which was the second worst defensive rating of the season, the Hoosiers went on to have three of their top 10 defense rating games, including six of their top 10 defensive rating games in Big Ten play.

With the ability to lock down on the defensive end, it not only kept the Hoosiers in most of their games to finish out the year, but it also allowed for some of the inconsistent offensive possessions on the other end of the floor.

If Indiana can keep the effort they had in the last month of the season and bring that from day one next year, the team on the floor will be a lot more fun to watch from start to finish.

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