Hoosiers lose to Northwestern, 73-58

It’s been another down season for the IU men’s basketball team, and now it’s officially done.

The Hoosiers fell to the Northwestern Wildcats 73-58 on Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse. With the win, Northwestern moves on to play Purdue tomorrow at 6:30 p.m.

IU led throughout much of the game, including a 30-27 lead at the half. As the second half went on, however, Wildcats guard Michael Thompson went off. Thompson scored 13 of his 16 points from the 9:11 mark in the second period to the final buzzer.

The Hoosiers, meanwhile, went 9:26 without a field goal in the second half, scoring just seven points off free throws in that span. The difference paved the way to an 18-point difference, as Northwestern outscored IU 46-28.

Sophomore guard Verdell Jones led the Hoosiers with 20 points and 5 assists, while freshman forward Derek Elston was the only other IU player in double digits with 10 points.

The contrast in the previous two IU-NU matchups was field-goal percentage, but the two teams were virtually even in the tiebreaker.

Turnovers, however, were another story.

IU coughed it up 18 times to Northwestern’s five, and the Wildcats blocked five Hoosier shots.

IU coach Tom Crean used the same lineup as the previous matchup, including starting senior center Tijan Jobe. The native of The Gambia had no points with 4 fouls in his final collegiate game.

Senior Devan Dumes struggled as well, scoring just 2 points with 4 turnovers.


— Ryan Winn