Column: This team won’t go dancing

Well, that was discouraging.

Sure, IU (11-5, 1-2) got off the Big Ten schneid with a 79-76 victory against Penn State (9-8, 0-4) on Saturday.

But IU fans should not be in jubilation.

The narrow victory cemented that IU, in my opinion, will not make the NCAA tournament.

Coming into the season, the general belief was the Hoosiers would not win a national championship, but they would be competitive and a mid-tier Big Ten team.

Nope.

The Hoosiers have beaten only one top-100 team all season: a 102-84 victory over Washington in November.

The best game IU played could arguably be the three-point loss at Illinois on New Year’s Eve.

This team has incredible talent and an excess of breathtaking athleticism, which makes their lack of results frustrating.

Freshman forward Noah Vonleh has lived up to the hype. He’s shown flashes of becoming the third Hoosier in two years to be selected in the NBA lottery.

Sophomore guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell has been outstanding and is actually underrated.
Beyond Ferrell and Vonleh, this Hoosier squad is a giant heap of mediocrity and inconsistency.

IU will not go dancing in March because of a lack of shooting, no viable big man to spell Vonleh and a refusal to attack the basket.

Who is the Hoosiers’ third best player?

Sophomore forward Jeremy Hollowell has not developed in his sophomore season. The former starter sat the entirety of the Penn State game not because he was hurt, but because he “lacks focus,” IU Coach Tom Crean said.

Senior forward Will Sheehey has not flourished in his starting role.

No longer is he the spark plug off the bench used for instant offense. His role this year was supposed to an offensive cornerstone.

But even though he’s taken the second most shots on the team, Sheehey is averaging only 10.8 points a game.

Sheehey has lost his touch from three. The last two years he’s shot 38 and 35 percent from three-land. Not great, but respectable numbers.

This year he’s shooting a woeful 29.5 percent from behind the arc.

Freshmen Stan Robinson and Troy Williams have shown potential that makes fans drool. But they are freshmen. They lack consistency and they turn the ball over a little too much.

So after watching the Hoosiers defeat a team that will be one of the Big Ten’s worst by three points, their future was sold for me.

This team is a year away from being a top five Big Ten team. And that’s only the case if Vonleh forgoes the NBA and stays for his sophomore year at IU.

Programs go through ups and downs.

IU is in the middle of a lull.

Losing four of its five starters from that powerhouse last year is nearly impossible to
replace while maintaining the same success.

Still, this is IU.

The Bloomington faithful expect to be playing meaningful basketball in March every season.

That won’t happen this year.

­— ehoopfer@indiana.edu
Follow men’s basketball columnist Evan Hoopfer on Twitter @EvanHoopfer