Near-perfect effort not enough for Hoosiers

It was a familiar scene watching the IU men’s basketball team leave the court after the game, only this time it was a different setting.

At Illinois on Saturday, sophomore guard Verdell Jones stood by the IU bench with both hands up high on the back of his head with a look of extreme disappointment on his face.

Following a miss on a potential game-tying 3-pointer from deep in the backcourt on Thursday at Assembly Hall, Jones made his way to the bench with the same body language and a similar look on his face.

For the second time in five days, IU lost a one-possession game, only this time it was against a top-10 team.

Earlier in the week, IU coach Tom Crean said his players would essentially need to play a perfect game to upend the Boilermakers. For 35 of the game’s 40 minutes, they essentially did just that.

But once again, IU went cold from the floor and didn’t make the necessary defensive stops.

The Hoosiers were close, but when push came to shove, the veteran Boilermakers were more composed than the Hoosiers and made big plays down the stretch.

“We just didn’t get enough defensive stops in this game at key times,” Crean said. “You’ve got to be able to finish things in stretches defensively.”

With 5:44 to play, freshman guard Jordan Hulls capitalized on a Jones steal by burying a 3-pointer to put the Hoosiers ahead 69-66. It was IU’s first lead since they led 49-47 less than two minutes into the second half.  

In the next 4:46, the Hoosiers missed two field goals and the front ends of three 1-and-1 free-throw situations.

Purdue capitalized and went on a 9-0 run, jumpstarted by a pair of free throws from junior JaJuan Johnson.

Elston’s missed free throw turned into a 3-pointer from junior Robbie Hummel – essentially a four-point swing. Jones’ miss, meanwhile, by way of a failed putback from freshman forward Christian Watford, led to a jumper from junior E’Twaun Moore.
In that same stretch, Hummel also connected on a two-point jumper.

The Hoosiers had just gone on an 8-0 run to capture the lead, but Purdue’s star trio put the gold and black up by six with 1:16 to play.

Certainly IU wasn’t out of the game, as Jones nearly sent the rivalry matchup into overtime with his desperate 3-point attempt at the buzzer. But the team somewhat unraveled at the end and lost not only the lead, but also the momentum.

“They hit some big shots, and I’ve got to give credit when credit’s due,” junior guard Jeremiah Rivers said. “They’re a good team. We had our chances, we just weren’t able to close out.”

As much as Purdue deserves credit, especially the team’s three star juniors, IU really shot itself in the foot late in the game.

You can see how different this team is since the loss to Iowa – “a direct result of how we’ve practiced,” Crean said – but it looks the same in terms of late-game management.

The Hoosiers are young and will have plenty of time to grow, but their late-game play could result in a number of losses.

As always, however, it’s time to move on.

“It’s another heartbreaker for us. It was tough for us,” Rivers said. “The team’s got to rebound. You can’t really go home and sulk over these. We’ve got a game on Sunday, and we’ve got to get ready for that.”