Column: Injuries aren’t the only explanation for loss

In one sense, it could be easy to accept IU’s 64-63 loss to Iowa.

It’s injuries. It’s, for whatever reason, a bad matchup. It’s a hard-fought one-point loss.

As IU coach Tom Crean said after the game, this team is lacking warm bodies for practice time.

“Frankly, the fact that not only have we had injuries, but so fewer guys that can practice, and we have to tailor-make things for game preparation rather than continuing to get better,” Crean said. “The last couple days we haven’t gotten better, and it caught up with us a little bit.”

But in another sense, this is last-place in the Big Ten Iowa, this is an improving IU basketball team and this is a game that the Hoosiers had few reasons to lose.

How much does lack of competitive practice time really cause silly mistakes in a game?

I mean, it’s easy to see how poor practices and a short-handed team could be under-prepared to face Iowa.

If it was all about being under-prepared or not being ready to face the Hawkeyes, then this game could (almost) get a free pass.

But to drop a game after leading 58-48 with a little less than eight minutes to go can’t all be about a lack of good practices.

That 10-0 run Iowa went on to tie the game at 58 consisted of several poor IU plays — from missing an assignment on a triangle-and-two defense to looking completely confused running a possession against Iowa’s 2-3 zone.

The run also consisted of silly mistakes — freshman guard Victor Oladipo committed a pointless foul as Iowa’s Bryce Cartwright scored a layup.

Fellow freshman Will Sheehey (props to him for one-upping Tom Pritchard’s dunk) failed to properly block out Iowa rebounding machine Melsahn Basabe on the ensuing free throw, allowing Basabe to score.

Long story short, IU made some mistakes that lost the game. It’s hard to believe those mistakes are just because of the lack of quality practices.

So what is it? Why did IU lose? The Hoosiers lost because they made mistakes while holding a lead — something they aren’t much used to in Big Ten play.

“Turnovers at the end of the game really killed us,” sophomore guard Jordan Hulls said. “We never thought we were going to lose. You have to have that mindset when you play. Defense just didn’t work out for us.”

They also went away from their No. 1 option in Hulls.

Whether it was a coaching thing or not, the team’s hottest player took three shots in the game’s final 12 minutes. Of the three, only one counted, and that one only because of a goaltending call.

It’s hard to fault just the last play of the game in which junior guard Verdell Jones took the shot instead of Hulls when Hulls had disappeared offensively for a while.

Yes, Iowa did adjust to slow him down, but Hulls scored 38 percent of IU’s points (tying a career-high 24 points). Crean needed to get Hulls involved late, and Hulls and the rest of the players needed to ensure that happened.

I’m always concerned of being too critical after a loss. This is, after all, an at-best average basketball team. These losses — even getting swept this season by Big Ten bottom feeder Iowa — can’t be unexpected.

Maybe I should just credit Iowa for two good wins against IU.

But for the Hoosiers’ sake, this was a very winnable game, despite the tempting excuses that could be used to write it off.


E-mail: nmhart@indiana.edu