Column: A match made in heaven

The honeymoon was nice while it lasted.

The big wins, high expectations and national relevance — it felt like the good ol’ days of Hoosier basketball.

After beating No. 13 Michigan at home Jan. 5 to advance to 14-1, the date was all but set to wed IU to a top-10 ranking — an estranged relationship reunited after four years of separation.

But after reaching the height of its regular season, IU needs to make sure the slide down the other side of the hill doesn’t have too many rocks.

After a 80-63 drubbing to Ohio State on Sunday, it is now evident the Hoosiers are in the midst of that fall.

IU Coach Tom Crean’s squad is still a top-25 worthy team. I think they’re still a NCAA Tournament team.

But, let’s be honest. Jimmy Chitwood was not going to walk into Value City Arena and lead IU to another shocking upset like the Hoosiers have done twice at home this season.

I guess it’s a lot easier to travel from Hickory to Bloomington than to Columbus, Ohio.

The Buckeyes have the talent to be a Final Four-caliber team, and no one has beaten them at home this season.


That doesn’t mean I’m giving IU a free pass after playing its worst half all season, in which the Hoosiers were outscored 35-14 with a 27.3 field goal percentage, committed 16 turnovers to 12 assists and shot 7-of-21 from three-pointer range after making just 4-of-18 in the loss to Minnesota.

But expectations need to be brought back down to earth by the fact that this team can’t stand toe-to-toe with the Ohio States of the country in terms of individual talent.

This is still the same scrappy group of three- and four-stars plus a McDonald’s All-American in the post.

In games when the Hoosiers have to match up in their own islands, they lose. But when the help is there and the defense isn’t giving up easy points at the hoop en route to a 54.4 percent Buckeye field goal percentage, the game tends to be more in control.

After a nonsensical loss to Minnesota and subsequent defeat in Columbus to drop to 3-3 in the Big Ten, it’s clear this marriage is starting to have some issues, which is perfectly normal because no relationship is perfect.

The Hoosiers have to cope with the defeats they weren’t supposed to drop and win the games they know they can.

This union between IU and winning can still work.

As long as the Hoosiers learn from these losses and keep their focus, I still have faith that this surprising couple will last.

The defeats and poor play in those losses will drum up the murmurs of divorce, but what bonds the Hoosiers to success is how much they love it.