There are letdowns and there are disappointments in sports. The Indiana basketball faithful saw that first-hand Saturday afternoon.
After knocking off 3rd-ranked and previously unbeaten Wisconsin on Tuesday night, the Hoosiers responded with a performance to forget as they fell short to conference foe Northwestern (9-10, 2-4), 53-47.
Just when the thought was that Indiana (12-7, 2-3) was turning their season around, this was a game Indiana needed to avoid.
“We actually took a step back now. We have to take a couple of steps forward to get back to where we were,” said IU guard Stanford Robinson.
Northwestern played tough throughout this low-scoring affair. It was 22-19 in the Wildcats favor at halftime. The second half saw them shoot 50 percent from the field led by backup guard Tre Demps’s 13 points in the final 20 minutes.
Defensively, they were able to prevent Indiana from getting easy baskets by clogging the lane and forcing IU to take outside shots.
It was an effective strategy as Indiana shot 25 percent on the game and 4-18 from 3-point range.
“There's a way to win and there's a way to lose. Today, we showed a way to lose. I can't put it on youth,” explained Indiana head coach Tom Crean. “We didn't have some of the older guys play as well. We didn't have the hunger that you need to play with on a daily basis.”
Noah Vonleh led the way for Indiana with 17 points and 12 rebounds, his first double-double in Big Ten play. But it was the ineffectiveness from the veterans that cost the Hoosiers. Will Sheehey, Evan Gordon, and Yogi Ferrell combined to shoot an abysmal 6-33 from the floor.
“We try to make them make contested jump shots,” said Northwestern head coach Chris Collins, whose team also had 8 blocks. “Some nights they are going to make them. Today we were fortunate. Indiana didn’t make their shots.”
For the third straight game, Jeremy Hollowell saw no playing time.
Indiana did not respond to their first real success of the season with the game on Saturday. In a year filled with inconsistent play from this team, they will have to get back on track for the continuing grind that is the Big Ten season. It appears that personnel changes could be coming as well.
“There are a lot of spots open to be won starting tomorrow,” said Crean.
