Ugly performance plagues Hoosiers

With 3:34 to go in Thursday night’s game at Crisler Arena, Michigan claimed a 57-45 lead. The Wolverines finished the contest on a 12-0 run, but by then it made no difference.

Michigan finally did what it had been trying to do all game – and that was blow it wide open for a 69-45 win.

IU put up a lackluster effort and was outplayed by a Michigan team that looks like it will be sitting comfortably in the N.I.T. field two months from now.

After being dominated at Ohio State and seeing the Illinois game slip out of their hands on Saturday, perhaps the Hoosiers deserve some credit for hanging tough on the road for as long as they did.

The way IU shot, the way they carelessly passed the ball at times and the way they let Michigan get the number of second chance opportunities that they did, it could have been a lot worse even earlier.

As the Hoosiers have done all season, they managed some big buckets when their back was seemingly up against the wall.

Early in the second half, one that started just as ugly as the first, freshman guard Jordan Hulls took his man one way, spun and drove in for a crafty lay up from the other side to cut the deficit to just four points.

“A little razzle dazzle by Jordan Hulls,” ESPN commentator Steve Lavin exclaimed on the broadcast.

But as the half wore on, the Hoosiers continued to play sloppily, missed a lot of shots and looked more frazzled than anything near “razzle dazzle.”

IU couldn’t get over the hump and bring the lead under four points, and the mistakes mounted.

Freshman forward Derek Elston badly overthrew a wide open freshman forward in Bobby Capobianco, and he later airballed a free throw; Hulls dribbled a ball off his knee and out of bounds; Michigan began beating IU to the basket with simple crossovers; and Wolverines star guard Manny Harris scored 17 points in the final 11:03 of the game to seal the deal.

Without freshman guard Maurice Creek able to suit up, IU has lacked a true scorer. Further, while freshman forward Christian Watford was very productive, the Hoosiers continue to get next to no production from the other big men.

Aside from Watford, IU’s three other members of the front court combined for 8 points and 9 fouls.

Capobianco didn’t even take a shot, despite some open looks.

The Hoosiers hung by a thread for most of the game until Michigan completed the inevitable and took over late.

It wasn’t as bad as the performance at Ohio State earlier in the month, but IU simply looks uncomfortable away from Assembly Hall.

From purely a shooting standpoint, the Hoosiers have connected on 35.2 percent of their field goal attempts (37-of-103) and 15.1 percent of their 3-point shots (5-of-33) in the two road games versus Ohio State and Michigan.

IU alternates home and road games over the next 12 contests and will need a much better effort versus Minnesota on Sunday to restore some of its confidence.

Or maybe they don’t need more confidence.  Just a better overall effort.