Through more than 30 minutes of Wednesday’s game at Maryland, Blackmon — the Hoosiers’ leading scorer this season — had scored just two points. He was 1-of-12 from the field.
The freshman guard’s misses had come in a variety of ways: blocked layups, forced jump shots and a handful of 3-pointers that came heartbreakingly close to falling. He hadn’t gotten to the free throw line.
All Blackmon needed was to see himself make a shot.
With a faltering jumper, the only option was to force it through the rim himself. And he did just that.
With 9:28 left to play, a rebound fell to junior guard Yogi Ferrell, who found a cutting Blackmon on the left wing. Blackmon pulled in the pass, took two steps and rose, finishing a dunk through Maryland forward Evan Smotrycz. He made the ensuing free throw to give IU a 48-47 lead.
It was just what Blackmon needed to get himself going.
Unfortunately for IU, things didn’t work out that way. He didn’t score again, finishing with just five points — tied for a career low — in the Hoosiers’ 68-66 loss.
In IU’s 19-point win against Maryland on Jan. 22, it got 22 points from its star freshman, who shot 3-of-5 from the 3-point range.
The same Blackmon didn’t make the trip to College Park, Md. He shot just 2-of-14 from the field and missed all five of his 3-point attempts in the loss.
Blackmon’s biggest miss came in the game’s final minute. With 45 seconds to play, he squared up for three in the right corner. A make would’ve given IU a 1-point lead, a miss would have left it down two and scrambling in the final possessions.
He was wide open.
He missed.
It was Blackmon’s final shot attempt of another forgettable night on the road.
In 15 career games in Assembly Hall, Blackmon has averaged 18.1 points. Away from Bloomington, that average drops to 12.6 points in eight contests.
The other freshman guard in IU’s starting lineup didn’t find much offensive success, either. Robert Johnson scored eight points, but shot 3-of-13 from the field, including 2-of-7 from 3-point range, in the process.
Only twice this season have the two freshmen combined to score fewer points than on Wednesday — a combined eight points against Butler and 11 at Ohio State.
Despite that, the struggles probably won’t worry them. They’re shooters at heart, and Blackmon has said before that slumps don’t affect IU’s confidence.
“I don’t think our shots are something we’re going to be worried on,” he said after IU’s Jan. 22 win against Maryland. “We know we’re going to get it going.”
IU Coach Tom Crean said offense will come and go. What his shooters need to take control of is their effort and finding other ways to be productive, he said.
“You never can know if your offense is going to be with you on a given night, home or the road ... But you do know if you can control your effort, your resolve, the attitude of preparation that you bring and the toughness level, and I’m proud of the way they did that,” Crean said.
“We had some guys who didn’t shoot the ball very well, but at the end of the day, everybody played extremely hard and competitive in the game,” he said.
