Column: Same old story for Hoosiers

I have an idea.

When IU Coach Tom Crean is prepping for the next game, he needs to lie to his team.

No matter who IU is playing, put a single digit number in front of their name.

Just say things like “No. 6 Nebraska is coming to town guys,” and, “Oh, we’re traveling to No. 4 Minnesota this weekend.”

Even though IU (12-7, 2-4) fell to Michigan State (18-1, 7-0) 71-66 last night, IU hung in the game till the very end against the No. 3 team in the country.

This young, raw IU team is the ultimate example of a team playing to the level of their competition.

Look at the past few games.

IU beat Penn State by three. The Nittany Lions are 0-6 in the Big Ten this year.

The next game saw the Hoosiers beat previously unbeaten and No. 3 ranked Wisconsin. IU looked more like the Indiana Pacers than the Indiana Hoosiers in that game.

Just four days later, IU lost to Northwestern. The Wildcats were 8-10 coming into the game.

Then yesterday, IU went toe-to-toe against No. 3 Michigan State in East Lansing.

Talk about inconsistency.

The starting lineup IU trotted out against the Spartans featured three freshmen and two sophomores.

As the old saying that I just made up goes, “The youth giveth, the youth taketh.”

IU’s young players get amped up to play against the nation’s best. They come out with a fierce intensity.

When the opponent is not a ‘good team’, the Hoosiers replace that intensity with lethargic play.

Against Michigan State last night, the Hoosiers were right in the game until the very end.

Sophomore assassin — I mean shooting guard — Gary Harris went off again against the Hoosiers.

The Fishers, Ind., native scored 24 points on just 13 shots. Harris was crazy efficient and lethal, and continued his personal vendetta against IU.

In four career games against IU, Harris has averaged 22.5 points per game.

If sophomore guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell wasn’t in his shooting slump, the Hoosiers might have pulled this one out.

Apart from the second half against Wisconsin where he donned a Superman cape instead of a cream uniform, Ferrell has struggled.

Minus that second half against Wisconsin, Ferrell is 12-for-49 from the field — 24 percent — during his last four games.

I expect Ferrell to break out of his slump soon, because that’s what great scorers do. And Ferrell is a great scorer.

As for the rest of the IU team, the intensity shown yesterday needs to be present for all games this season.

Not just when they play a top-five team or are featured on ESPN.

They need to come to play no matter the opponent, and play the brand of IU basketball they have shown brilliant flashes of this year — a slashing team with suffocating defense that has an unguardable center in freshman Noah Vonleh.

Until IU develops that consistency, they can’t be taken seriously as a potential NCAA tournament team.

Play to the level of the competition when the opponent is Michigan State or Wisconsin.

But don’t let the conference bottom feeders catch you sleeping.

The Big Ten is too good and will eat the Hoosiers alive.

—ehoopfer@indiana.edu

Follow columnist Evan Hoopfer on Twitter @EvanHoopfer.