Column: Hoosiers need to continue to develop consistency

There’s no remedy like home cooking.

That’s exactly what IU needed following a humbling 69-52 loss at Syracuse last Tuesday evening, and it arrived in the form of an 89-68 victory against North Florida on Saturday at Assembly Hall.

Make no mistake about it: a plethora of corrections were necessary after the Hoosiers unraveled in embarrassing fashion during the second half of their matchup with the Orange at the Carrier Dome.

IU Coach Tom Crean’s squad played extremely out of character, as it was grotesquely sloppy with the basketball and maddeningly inefficient on the offensive end.

But worst of all was the lack of leadership that Crean fumed about following the 17-point loss.

“Our leadership took a step back tonight,” Crean said after the Syracuse game. “And I don’t know if it’s the inexperience of the team, I don’t know if it’s the fact that we have a senior like Will (Sheehey) that’s in a different role right now. But there’s no excuse for it.”

While gaining consistency in those aspects is an ongoing — and at times frustrating — process, the Hoosiers’ win against North Florida was something to take solace in.
The opening segment of the first half was a direct testament to that notion.

The Ospreys opened up in a 2-3 zone defense, which the Hoosiers easily penetrated en route to a 10-7 lead prior to the game’s first media timeout. It was an offensive rebirth of sorts, with an unexpected leader of the effort emerging.

Graduate student guard Evan Gordon led the Hoosiers in scoring with 15 points, doing so in an impressively efficient manner. The 6-foot, 192-pound Arizona State transfer converted 7-of-9 field goal attempts.

It was, undoubtedly, Gordon’s best performance of the season, though not an expected one.

“He’s always been comfortable,” redshirt sophomore forward Austin Etherington said of Gordon’s outing against North Florida. “It just happened to be tonight where he got the points that he got.

“You know, he works as hard like anyone else, and he deserves what he got tonight. Everyone’s happy for him.”

If the Hoosier offense is to experience success against the likes of its competition within the Big Ten Conference, it will need consistent performances from a player of Gordon’s experience.

Crean certainly recognizes that, and he addressed it during his postgame press conference.

“We saw a lot left in the tank that he could get better at,” Crean said. “We didn’t just see a guy that had played four years of college basketball that was coming in for his fifth year. We wouldn’t have done it.

“We saw a guy that could have a bigger role. We saw a guy that could really, really be a stellar defender.”

Aside from Gordon’s stellar performance, there was much left to be desired.
The Hoosiers shot just 33.3 percent from the 3-point line and missed nine free throw attempts. For a team that relies on generating offense by attacking the rim, those are alarming figures.

Corrections and consistency must arrive — and quickly — because only four games remain before IU begins its quest through the Big Ten gauntlet.  

­— ckillore@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Connor Killoren on Twitter @Connor_Killoren.