Column: Watford’s absence evident in tough matchup for Hoosiers

WEST LAFAYETTE — If the Hoosiers were fully healthy, Purdue would’ve still been a tough matchup.

But with the “gray sweat suit brigade” going strong on the sidelines, a win — despite many positives Tuesday from IU — would’ve been very hard to come by against the No. 14 Boilers.

This is the third game IU’s leading scorer Christian Watford wore the increasingly recognizable gray on the sidelines due to a broken left hand.

And his absence, even more than the last two games, was a significant factor in the game’s final result.

It’s not like the other Hoosiers didn’t fill in. They did, for all intents, put forth an admirable effort against a talented Purdue team.

The Boilers feature two All-Americans in 6-foot-10 JaJuan Johnson and slashing guard E’Twaun Moore. Johnson, in particular, has the ability to alter the game on both ends of the court.

IU coach Tom Crean was quick to point that out.

“We don’t have a matchup for JaJuan Johnson,” Crean said. “Not many do, but we don’t. We had to mix it, and that’s exactly what we did.”

But in a game in which the Hoosiers struggled to shoot from the perimeter (2-for-13 from the 3-point line and 22-for-62 from the field), another scoring option would’ve been vital.

In the past two games without Watford, there was that extra contribution. The team played inspired basketball against Minnesota as junior forward Tom Pritchard led the charge.

Sophomore guard Jordan Hulls tied a career high with 24 points in the ensuing Iowa game, despite the loss.

Purdue, on the other hand, was able to zero in on the guard play and hound Hulls all night with hard-nose perimeter defense. Hulls shot 6-for-15 and only hit four jump shots.

“Any time you are going to hit 3-pointers, you can be in a lot of games that way,” Hulls said.

IU struggled to shoot from the outside and then lacked the ability to go to the inside consistently.

That makes for a tough game to win.

Crean said focusing on the absence of Watford would be disrespectful to the players on the court.

And those players’ effort should not go unnoticed. Freshman forward Will Sheehey scored 14 points (including 12 in the second half) and is learning more and more how to create his own shot.

Pritchard and sophomore forward Derek Elston combined for 13 rebounds, and the undersized Hoosiers had as many offensive rebounds (six) in the first half as the Boilers.

Crean pointed out that the Hoosiers had 53 defensive deflections on defense, the most he’s seen against a Big Ten opponent since he came to Bloomington.

In that sense, IU continued to fill the “next man up” philosophy quite well, as it has most of this challenging season.

But from a matchup standpoint, against the scouting nightmare that is Purdue’s Johnson, a healthy Watford might’ve made a difference.

That is neither to fault the players on the court nor make an excuse for the loss.
It is what it is, and Watford will be back for the Hoosiers at some point this season.
As individuals continue to improve (Hulls and Sheehey are prime examples), that additional scoring threat from a healthy Watford (whenever that happens) will become increasingly difficult to stop.

It will stretch teams thin just as Purdue’s roster can do now.

A healthier Hoosier team, when and if that finally arrives, will be a tough out for remaining Big Ten competition.


nmhart@indiana.edu