IU offense goes cold in loss against Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – When asked about his team’s performance against Illinois on Saturday, IU junior guard Verdell Jones answered with three words: “disappointing and embarrassing.”

And while some of that feeling stemmed from allowing the Illini to shoot nearly 50 percent from the field, much was based on the Hoosiers’ inability to score in their 72-48 road loss.

Jones said IU’s offense — which shot 31.6 percent from the field, including 17.6 from 3-point range — came as a result of little energy early on.

“I felt that as a collective group, our energy wasn’t there,” Jones said. “I felt like there were certain guys who still had some fight in them, but it’s draining when not everyone is on the same page.”

That lack of effort was noticeable from the opening tip. 

The Hoosiers (12-19, 3-15) did not get into double figures until the 10:36 mark in the first half. IU sophomore forward Christian Watford’s tip-in cut the Illini’s deficit to 12 points, at 23-11. 

Not only were the Hoosiers not hitting shots, but they were also turning the ball over.  

Errant passing and dribbling into crowds ended with IU giving the ball up five times in the first half. Illinois (19-12, 9-9) capitalized with 10 points off those mistakes and went into halftime with a 46-27 advantage.

IU coach Tom Crean said that early turnovers plagued the Hoosiers’ first half.

“They were costly because of where they happened,” Crean said. “We dribbled into traffic and tried to make plays that weren’t there. You got to open up the defense by reversing the ball, by getting it swung two, three or even four times. They collapsed, and we weren’t very strong with the ball. That’s where the turnovers came.”

IU’s offense, though, was even worse in the final 20 minutes.

The Hoosiers scored seven points through the first 10 minutes of the half. IU faced its largest deficit with 10:41 remaining in the contest, down 29 points.

Similar problems from earlier in the game continued down the stretch, as the Hoosiers shot 24.1 percent in the second half.

Sophomore guard Jordan Hulls and Watford finished a combined 1-of-15 from the field. Jones, who ended with 12 points, was the only Hoosier in double figures.

“You don’t even have a chance. It doesn’t matter what your defense looks like if you are shooting 17 percent from three and in the low 30s for the game,” Crean said. “We took too many jump shots early when we needed to try to attack them at the basket. Then when we needed jump shots, they didn’t go either.”

Saturday’s loss marked the first time since the 1900-01 season that IU did not win a true road game in a season.

It also locked the Hoosiers in the No. 11 seed for the Big Ten Tournament, in which they face No. 6 Penn State at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse. 

Hulls said for his team to be successful in Indianapolis, improvements on both sides of the ball need to occur.

“We came in, and they blew us out,” he said. “We didn’t rebound the ball well, we didn’t play tough, we didn’t fight them — just a lot of things that we can control that we didn’t do.”