Tougher than advertised

When he took over last April, Tom Crean knew “a very challenging situation” lay ahead. But no amount of preparation could have readied him for a season like this.

“It’s been far harder than anything we could have expected,” Crean said on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption on Wednesday.

Tuesday’s five-point loss to No. 8 Michigan State was just the latest challenge the Hoosiers (6-23, 1-16) have had to overcome this season.

The other trials and tribulations the team has survived over the last 11 months include a roster overhaul, an NCAA investigation, a new athletics director, the youngest team in the country, 782 minutes played by walk-ons, blowouts on the road, losses at home to Northeastern and Lipscomb, a washout in Maui, overcoming turnovers, countless heartbreaking losses, suspending its leading scorer and battling insanely high expectations, to name a few.

On Monday, Crean stopped a reporter who called the week ahead “formidable,” with the Hoosiers facing No. 8 Michigan State and Wisconsin within six days.

“When hasn’t it been?” Crean asked. “You want to throw me a week?”

The Badgers (18-11, 9-8) represent the second-to-last speed bump on the long and winding road that has been the Hoosiers’ season, with next week’s Big Ten Tournament serving as the last.

With victories at a premium this year, Crean told Pardon the Interruption the most important lesson he’s learned this season is to savor the wins.

“To never take winning for granted,” Crean said. “To never make it a ho-hum type of deal. When you win and you put that time and effort and energy into it, it really means something.”

But the losses have meant something to Crean, too.

Following his team’s 68-51 loss to Wisconsin on Feb. 19, Crean was as solemn as he’d been all season in his post-game press conference.

“I don’t want them to forget what it feels like (to lose) in any of these games, because I’m not forgetting,” Crean said. “The foundation of this program is being set forth. I don’t want this to be what the foundation is going for.”

IU’s first-year head coach will likely remind his players of that feeling before Sunday’s game.

After the Feb. 19 loss in Assembly Hall, Crean said the Badgers had “exposed” the Hoosiers.

“Our defense really let us down, and there is really nothing in the second half that we can hang our hat on,” he said after the game. “We were much different than the first half and they exposed that.”

But the games haven’t always told the whole story for IU this season. The fact that they were even able to compete in the first half is impressive to some, including Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan.

“I told him before the game, I told him he’s done a heck of a job,” Ryan said. “He’s done a heck of a job, what he’s got these guys doing and how they are playing.

“That’s obvious. Sometimes you have to state the obvious. He knows the respect I have. There are no secrets out there in our profession,” he said.