Hoosiers' inexperience hurts in loss to MSU

With eight minutes and 25 seconds remaining in IU’s 73-56 loss to No. 5 Michigan State, the Hoosiers put together one of their best defensive possessions of the afternoon.

With IU trailing 41-50, Michigan State junior forward Branden Dawson’s dunk attempt was blocked by freshman forward Noah Vonleh. A brief scrum under the basket saw the ball bounce out to Spartans star Gary Harris, who had a flurry of Hoosier hands in his face as he missed a three-pointer.

Another battle for the rebound ended when Dawson missed a layup and the ball bounced out of bounds.

On the ensuing inbound pass, Harris cut to the corner and was fouled by freshman guard Stanford Robinson as his three-pointer ripped through the net.

Unhappy with the foul call, Robinson responded and was called for a technical foul, adding two free throws to Harris’ trip to the line.

Harris, the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, made only two of the three foul shots, but that had little impact.

On a defensive possession in which IU blocked a shot and forced two more misses, Michigan State came away with five points.

Before that possession, IU had cut the lead to nine with a 7-2 run. Senior forward Will Sheehey had sandwiched two Harris free throws with a slashing dunk and a three-pointer, igniting the crowd at Assembly Hall.

After that backbreaking defensive possession, Michigan State had a 14-point lead, and the Hoosiers’ momentum was gone.

The possession – first the successful defense of repeated attacks to the Hoosier basket, then the fouled three-point shooter, finishing with Robinson’s technical foul – embodied the mercurial Hoosiers’ inexperience.

IU Coach Tom Crean said that while he could overlook Robinson’s technical due to a “chippy” game environment, his team needs to mature quickly.

“It was a chippy game all the way across the board, so I’m not going to overreact to that … We need to see more from everybody after today,” Crean said. “Everybody’s got places they can grow in. Shooting the ball, passing the ball, you know, those types of things.”

The Hoosiers field the 12th-least experienced roster in the nation: only Sheehey and sophomore guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell have averaged more than 10 minutes per game in a season. That inexperience has led to issues with turnovers throughout the season – IU gives the ball away an average of 16.3 times per game, 3.3 more than last season.

The loss dropped IU to 0-2 in Big Ten play. Crean said the Hoosiers will have to overcome their youth in order to be competitive in the conference.

“We just need to play,” he said. “We need to understand time and score, not play just going up and down the court, but really understanding what the game is bringing.

"The more you do it, the better the understanding you have, and it’s not like we can all of a sudden put three months of Big Ten basketball into these guys’ bodies.”