First-half deficit too much for IU

MINNEAPOLIS — Well, at least they didn’t have a lot of turnovers.
Despite the many things the Hoosiers (9-17, 3-11) did wrong Saturday night, the team managed to keep its turnovers down to nine, below its average of 15.2.

But nothing else seemed to fall in place in the 81-58 loss at Minnesota on Saturday.
IU shot less than 33 percent both from the field and the 3-point line. Its free throw shooting — which had been stellar in the previous seven losses — was a mere 14-of-22 in its eighth consecutive loss.

Everything that went wrong for the Hoosiers started early in the first half and was not fixed in the second.

The avalanche began quickly, as Minnesota took an 11-point lead nine minutes into the first half. The Gophers ended the first half with a 19-point lead. Despite cutting it
briefly in the second half, IU was never able to get it back within single digits. With five minutes gone by in the second half, IU went down by 20 and was unable to get within 18 for the rest of the game.

Still, the Gophers only outscored IU by four in the second half, while the Hoosiers had 18 rebounds and doubled their assists in the second half.

“The light finally came on, and we moved it pretty well,” Dumes said. “It worked. We played a little bit faster. It worked in the second. Wish it would have worked in the first half, it might have been a different outcome.”

Coming into the game, Minnesota averaged 74.5 points per game, and the Hoosiers had let their opponents score an average of 70.2.

And while freshman guard Christian Watford said there are a lot of positives to take away from Saturday’s game, there were few to find on the stat sheet.

Watford himself was not among the positives. The team’s second-leading scorer was 1-of-12 and had only 3 points, down from his usual average of 12.3 points per game.

“There are going to be nights like this,” he said.

Watford wasn’t alone in his slump. Sophomore guard Verdell Jones also struggled from the field, hitting only 2 of 8 shots.  

But offense wasn’t the only problem. IU coach Tom Crean said the team didn’t defend the Gophers the same way it did in its 14-point loss to Michigan State on Tuesday.  

“Energy and fight and toughness — those weren’t the issues,” Crean said. “Execution and defensive field-goal percentage were the issues for us tonight.”