Hoosiers fall to Michigan, 68-56

IU Coach Tom Crean was not happy with the way his team started off Wednesday night’s game.

“Our starting lineup was a joke,” Crean said. “That’s why we didn’t play that lineup much longer after the initial start of the game.”

Despite that start, IU still had a chance to finish.

But after nearly erasing a 20-point first-half deficit, the IU men’s basketball team came up short in its comeback attempt and fell 68-56 against No. 23 Michigan at the Crisler Arena.

“We dug ourselves a hole there in the beginning of the game,” IU freshman forward Cody Zeller said. “We really can’t do that if we want to win, especially on the road. We did a nice job coming back, but it wasn’t enough. We can’t start like that.”

The Hoosiers (17-6, 5-6) trailed 10-0 at the first media timeout, with eight of those points coming from Michigan (17-6, 7-3) guard Trey Burke.

Crean said his team didn’t come out ready to play on the road.

“At the start of the game, we allowed a very good team to play like a great team because our players came out playing like they had seen a ghost,” Crean said.

The deficit ballooned to as much as 20 points just less than 13 minutes into the game.
But IU was able to shake the cobwebs off of its early start.

During the next 14 minutes and 19 seconds, the Hoosiers responded with a run of their own.

With junior guard Jordan Hulls fueling the offensive attack, IU outscored Michigan 28-10 to narrow the deficit to two.

Crean said IU’s defensive prowess triggered the comeback.

“The bottom line was, we knew we were going to be in a position to come back if we could just settle in,” Crean said. “It wasn’t the offense as much as it was the defense.”

But IU could not get over the hump.

All three times that IU trimmed it to a one-possession game, the Wolverines answered. Hulls said IU just ran out of gas.

“It’s frustrating,” Hulls said. “It’s a lot of work coming back from 20-down. You just can’t do that.”

IU is no stranger to falling short after a comeback attempt at the Crisler Arena.
This past season, IU trailed by 22 with just more than five minutes to go and pulled within three of the Wolverines but couldn’t complete the comeback attempt.

Like this past season, IU has continued to struggle on the road. The Hoosiers are now 1-5 on the road in conference play.

Zeller said IU is searching for the remedy to cure the road woes.
“I guess everyone’s wondering that,” Zeller said. “It’s finding that mentality, not worrying about the crowd. It’s something we’ve got to get corrected.”

Crean said the road problems stem from starts like they had against Michigan.
“We need more leadership at the start of the game when we go on the road,” Crean said.

Whatever IU’s problem on the road is, they won’t have much time to figure it out.
The Hoosiers will look to snap their four-game Big Ten road losing streak at Purdue on Saturday night.

IU could also be doing so without senior guard Verdell Jones III, who went down with a bruised shoulder at the end of the first half and is day-to-day.

Crean said IU cannot afford to rely on another comeback attempt.

“When you’re playing against a team like Michigan that’s as good as they are, you can’t spot them that kind of lead,” Crean said. “You have to play extremely well to come all the way back. Even though we were close, it wasn’t enough.”