Hoosiers display growth in tough defeat

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – If a picture is worth a thousand words, it takes only one to describe the look on Jeremiah Rivers’ face moments after Saturday’s loss to Illinois: devastation.

With IU coach Tom Crean by his side, the junior guard slowly walked across the court toward the IU bench with a look on his face that epitomized the clichéd words “agony of defeat.”

This was not just any loss.

Sophomore guard Verdell Jones called the loss “gut-wrenching” – the same term he once used to describe the scene of freshman guard Maurice Creek hitting the floor with what became a season-ending knee injury.

Considering the manner in which IU lost Saturday, a buzzer-beating floater from Illinois guard Demetri McCamey, the Hoosiers had every right to bury their faces into their jerseys.

But watching IU battle for 40 solid minutes on the road, Crean’s squad has a lot to be proud of.

Six days after Crean spoke of his team’s “lack of physicality and toughness” in its 15-point loss to Iowa on Jan. 24, he praised his players’ efforts in “an incredibly hard-fought game.”

“I’m certainly proud of the resiliency, the edge, the energy and the execution of my team,” Crean said.

Without a doubt, he should be.

IU had its share of mistakes and gave Illinois a number of easy baskets, including six dunks.

But for much of the game, including the majority of the second half, the Hoosiers looked like the more experienced team between the two and hardly flashed any signs of inexperience.

The Hoosiers hit 13-of-14 from the free-throw line in the second half, including their last seven.

IU had 17 offensive rebounds and converted those into 19 second-chance points. They made smart plays with and off the ball, and not once did the Hoosiers flinch in the wake of danger.

The jury is still out on Illinois, as its six conference wins have come against the Big Ten teams with the four worst records.

However, no matter who they played, the effort the Hoosiers displayed Saturday seemed indicative of good things to come.

IU’s trip to Illinois came six days after the loss to Iowa, and the team responded to its week of practice in a big way and displayed its growth.

“We took that week and we thought we really capitalized on a bunch of days of really focusing on the things that we need to do to be successful,” freshman forward Bobby Capobianco said. “We came out tonight and were able to execute those things.”

Jones also spoke highly of the team’s preparations prior to the trip, saying it was “probably the best week of practice we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

The scoreboard and the standings both indicated an IU loss on Saturday, but the Hoosiers played like winners and, as Jones said, there wasn’t a single weak link on the floor.

Freshman forward Christian Watford, for example, shot 1-of-10 from the floor, picked up a technical foul and had one of his worst overall outings in his young career. Yet he hit four key free throws and made a nice hook shot late in the second half.

IU played some of its best team basketball Saturday and simply made plays.
Perhaps it made the loss that much harder to swallow.

While the players were crushed following the loss and likely the rest of the weekend, it is games like these that can make a young team stronger and significantly better in the long run.

“It’s very hard, but we’re learning about what it takes to be successful,” Crean said. “Our game was constituted by the week we had of practice, by the week we had of work, by the combativeness and energy of our work against one another. That’s what we have to continue to build on.”