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CHICAGO -- With their NCAA Tournament hopes on the line, the Hoosiers played like they were on a sandy beach and watched their post-season wash away like the tide.\nIn the Big Ten tourney, eight Hoosiers emerged from the locker room in the United Center March 11 with shaved heads in hopes of locking up a bid for The Big Dance. Led by barber Marshall Strickland, the team followed sophomore Rod Wilmont's lead in an attempt to mirror assistant coach Kerry Rupp. \nBut the hairless Hoosiers still gave a lackluster performance against Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago, losing 71-55.\nIU was led by a double-double from Big Ten Freshman of the Year D.J. White -- but it wasn't enough as the Gophers persisted through senior center Jeff Hagen's foul trouble. Junior guard Bracey Wright added 14 points in the defeat. \n"It's real frustrating. The way we played against them in our place -- it was like we were playing a different team," Strickland said after the Minnesota loss. "I guess that's the fun part about college basketball -- on any given day, anyone can beat anyone."\nThe loss capped any hope of an NCAA bid, as the team found out Sunday evening when they didn't hear their name called in the field of 65. \nBeing left out of the Big Dance gave the Hoosiers an opportunity to get more games under their belt in the National Invitation Tournament. \nDisappointed they didn't make it, the Hoosiers let the talk of not making it to the tournament get to their heads.\n"Everybody always talks about who's not making the NCAA, and that's what all the talk was around here," Wright said.\nIU played host to Vanderbilt Wednesday in first-round NIT action, but the hangover from not making the NCAA Tournament was evident.\nA record-setting low crowd of 5,113 showed up to see the Hoosiers lose 67-60 to the Commodores, ending the 2004-05 campaign with a 15-14 record.\nDespite three Hoosiers scoring in double figures Wednesday, IU came out more uninspired than the team was against Minnesota, and it showed in the sloppy play. From top to bottom, IU couldn't catch passes, run the offense or combat the Commodores presence in Assembly Hall. The loss snapped the Hoosiers' 10-game winning streak on Branch McCracken Court.\n"We tried to prepare the best we could for this game," Davis said. "I think we did a poor job of getting our guys ready to play. I think the toughest thing sometimes is to play through disappointment. To play in the NIT is a great opportunity to be still playing basketball. We tried to motivate our guys about other teams that lost last night at home. Home court wasn't the key; it was the mindset. I did a poor job of getting our guys ready and excited to play NIT."\nThe Hoosiers were led by Wright's 17 points, in what could have been his last game in an IU uniform. Freshman Robert Vaden chipped in with 13, and Strickland contributed 10 in the losing effort. \n-- Contact Staff Writer Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu.