Ferrell fails to find rhythm against Orange

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With 14 of his team’s first 16 points to open the 2013 NCAA Tournament run against James Madison in Dayton a week ago, it looked as though freshman guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell may have been the extra spark that could power the Hoosiers all the way to Atlanta.

Ferrell appeared confident, and said after the game that he was just excited to get his March Madness experience off to a great start.

But since the first 5:26 of IU’s tournament run, where he had 14 points, three rebounds and one assist with zero turnovers, Ferrell’s numbers took a turn for the worse.

He scored just one bucket the rest of the game against JMU, and in the Hoosiers’ come-from-behind thriller against Temple, the freshman managed just two rebounds and three assists partnered with three turnovers and zero points.

Coming into Thursday’s 61-50 loss to Syracuse in the Sweet 16 at the Verizon Center, Ferrell had not lost a postseason tournament game since his sophomore year of high school, when he lost in the Indiana Class 2A title game. He won state titles each of his next two high school seasons, but after another scoreless performance Thursday, Ferrell learned again what defeat in the postseason felt like.

Syracuse’s zone defense seemed to frustrate the Hoosier offense early, but no Hoosier seemed more out-of-sync than Ferrell.

The freshman managed just four turnovers and a single missed bucket for zero points during the first half. After his third turnover with 10:21 left in the first half and IU down 14-5, he was visibly upset, kicking his feet at mid-court as he’d thrown another pass away.

The Hoosiers went into the locker room down 12 points off their lowest first-half total of the season.

IU Coach Tom Crean walked off the court with his arm around Ferrell’s shoulder, but even he could tell his freshman was flustered.

“I’m sure the strength and size of Syracuse had something to do with it,” Crean said. “We prepared for it, there’s no doubt about it, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”

And though Crean would give Ferrell more opportunities to turn his slump around, he didn’t throw Ferrell back into the fire right away.

Ferrell started Thursday night’s second half on the bench — the first time this season he had done so.  Junior forward Will Sheehey replaced Ferrell, and for a moment, it appeared that the lineup change was just what the Hoosiers needed.

Within less than 90 seconds of the start of the half, IU was down just seven points.

The Hoosiers would inch within six, but they couldn’t manage to break through Syracuse’s famed zone defense enough times to mount a big enough charge.

Ferrell himself took just one more shot during the game’s final 20 minutes, but he also saw more than five fewer minutes Thursday night — 23 — than his season average of 28.3 coming into the game.

After Ferrell had two years of nearly flawless post seasons to end his high school career, Crean said his point guard ran into a zone defense he simply wasn’t ready for.

“Yogi’s going to be a great player,” Crean said. “This is the first time Yogi has seen that kind of length.

“He’ll learn from it. He’ll be a great learner from it.”