Hoosiers felled by Gophers, sustain 9th straight loss

A near sell-out crowd in matching T-shirts, a Verdell Jones half-court basket and an early eight-point lead weren’t enough to stop IU’s losing streak on Sunday.

The Hoosiers (5-13, 0-6) dropped their ninth game in a row to Minnesota, 67-63. The game came down to the Golden Gophers’ (17-3, 5-3) ability to execute down the stretch and IU’s inability to do so.

Trailing 66-63 with 21 seconds left, the Hoosiers had the ball and a chance to tie the game. But after a timeout the team looked uncertain, eventually settling for junior Devan Dumes’ long 3-point attempt that rimmed out as Dumes clasped a hand to his face.

IU coach Tom Crean said the initial plan was to try and get a 2-point basket to keep the pressure on Minnesota or find freshman Matt Roth for an open 3-point look. But the Golden Gophers’ defense prevented IU from executing. 

“We wanted to score two at that point if it was there on the cut,” Crean said. “And if it wasn’t, then flow right in and get the roll layup or throw back for the 3. Matt (Roth) never really got open on those last two screens.”

Minnesota sophomore Paul Carter sealed the game after coming down with the rebound and making a free throw to put the Golden Gophers up by four.
 
The sequence will be the lasting memory, but several of the Hoosiers’ bad habits resurfaced to get them to that point.

IU’s 16 turnovers numbered six more than its assists, and the team’s 52.4 percent free-throw shooting was actually worse than its 3-point percentage for the game. 
Except for Dumes, who made 5-6 from the line, the Hoosiers were just 6-15 from the charity stripe, hindering any chance of pulling off the upset. 

Crean said he doesn’t want to get frustrated over the team’s free-throw shooting woes, and that the squads’ execution in practice is much better than on game day.

“Our numbers, and most coaches are going to say the same thing, the numbers that we chart in practice would astound you,” Crean said. “But it’s also at an empty Assembly Hall.”

The result spoiled strong efforts from Dumes and freshman Malik Story. Dumes led the team in scoring with 19 points while Story went from playing only three minutes in the last game to tallying 14 points on Sunday, many of which came down the stretch to keep the Hoosiers in the game.

Crean said the past week was the first time he got a sense his team believed they belonged in the Big Ten, something Story said started at the beginning of the week.
“Especially after our first practice,” Story said. “Practice was crazy. It was real hard. We went hard for a long time.”

But now IU takes its nine-game losing streak back on the road, where there will be no white outs, flags or familiarity. Only Northwestern, looking to keep the Hoosiers winless away from Bloomington and bring their losing streak to double digits, awaits them.

Dumes says despite what’s happened, IU will be ready.

“We played tough all week, and we’re going to continue to play like that,” Dumes said. “I know we’re on a (nine-)game losing streak, but nobody’s head is down.”