Indiana basketball outplayed again & more takeaways in Northwestern loss

Indiana basketball drops another Big Ten game, losing their first home game of the season and barely showing any fight in an 84-83 loss to Northwestern on Sunday.

From the 13:32 mark of the first half against Iowa to the 8:28 mark of the first half against Northwestern, the Hoosiers were outscored by their opponents 118-78. A 40-point differential and Indiana basketball’s defense looked like one of the worst in the country.

Allowing a Northwestern offense to put up 84 points in your home arena is unacceptable. The turnover battle was the story of the game, along with the Wildcats’ three-point shooting to start, but aside from Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino, nobody stepped up for Indiana basketball.

Check out the highlights and lowlights below:

Here are my six takeaways from the Hoosiers’ loss against Northwestern at home on Sunday:

Six takeaways from No. 15 Indiana basketball 84-83 loss to Northwestern:

#6. This Indiana basketball team is not even close to being an NCAA Tournament team right now

Without the two senior defensive leaders available on the floor, Indiana basketball looks like an NIT team at best now, which comes as a huge surprise after being named the favorite to win the Big Ten in the preseason.

Both Xavier Johnson & Race Thompson are ruled ‘out indefinitely’ which can mean a whole lot. Basically, how I’m viewing it, is that both seniors will be out until at least mid-February, which means the earliest that either of them returns to the floor would be for the Hoosiers’ final five Big Ten games of the 2022-23 season.

If the Hoosiers keep playing how they have been, the returns of our two senior leaders will almost be worthless. Who is going to step up besides Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino? It has to be someone or it will be another wasted season in Bloomington.