COLUMN: IU needs a shooter

IU's offense looked stagnant against Michigan State. And stagnant is putting it nicely.

IU scored just 56 points, the second lowest output of the season. Without a consistent shooter, the offense is doubtful to see improvement.

Sophomore guard Kevin ‘Yogi’ Ferrell has been a lights-out shooter this season.

He’s hit 46 percent from behind the arc. Which is just stupid good.

That number is impressive because as the Hoosiers main (and sometimes only) offensive option, he has the ball in his hands much of the time and draws consistent attention from the opposing defense.

What’s even more impressive about Ferrell’s figure is the amount he’s taken. He has shot 92 threes this season, which is 52 more than any other Hoosier.

But after Ferrell, the pickings get slim in terms of outside shooting.

Very, very slim.

Senior forward Will Sheehey is shooting 30 percent from three. This number was bolstered by a 3-for-3 performance against the Spartans.

Coming into the game against MSU, the senior was struggling, hitting just 24 percent of his threes.

Sophomore forward Jeremy Hollowell has shot an abysmal 21 percent from three. He’s hit only six threes this year despite hoisting the fourth most attempts.

Freshmen Troy Williams and Stan Robinson bring much to the table, but not shooting.

They are a combined 14 percent from three.

So, it's unclear who besides Ferrell can be a consistent shooter.

Sophomore forward Austin Etherington was billed a pure shooter when he came to IU, but he has seen limited playing time, averaging less than seven minutes a game.

And when he’s been on the floor, he’s gone 2-for-9 from behind the arc.

Sophomore guard Jonny Marlin saw three minutes of playing time against Michigan State, but he can’t be relied upon to be the team’s sharpshooter.

Marlin looked visibly flustered when Spartan guards pressured him. He has shot exactly one three point shot this year, which he missed.

The only other consistent shooter besides Ferrell has been graduate student Evan Gordon. Gordon has hit 38 percent of his threes.

But even his numbers are inflated.

Gordon went off against Oakland on Dec. 10, going 4-for-5 from behind the arc. Take away that game, and he’s hitting 29 percent of his threes.

What this IU squad needs is an off-ball sharpshooter.

They need a Matt Roth 2.0; a cold-blooded shooter who can work off the ball and make the opponent’s defense respect him.

This would not allow defenders to sag off and clog the paint when Ferrell, Robinson or Gordon attack the rim.

The lack of a consistent off-ball shooter makes the offense looked clogged down. This is also why zones have been extremely effective against the Hoosier offense.

IU shot a respectable 50 percent from behind the arc against Michigan State, but that’s not the issue.

The issue is the number of threes IU is taking.

The Hoosiers took only 10 threes, compared to 24 attempts from Michigan State.

So although the Spartans shot 41 percent from three, their sheer volume of threes made the Hoosier defense respect the Spartan outside shot.

This opened up the lane for driving Spartan guards. In the second half it looked like Michigan State was running a layup line for an offense.

The two-point shooting percentage was the most telling in the game.

Michigan State shot 51 percent on its two-point shots, while IU shot 37 percent on two-point shots.

That’s because the Spartans had space to operate inside the arc.

Meanwhile, IU had to deal with Michigan State defenders packing the paint because Michigan State had no respect for the Hoosier outside shot.

Offensive success isn’t always how you shoot the ball, it’s how your opponent thinks you’ll shoot the ball.

On Saturday, the Spartans knew the Hoosiers couldn’t shoot from outside.

And they were right.