In one of the sloppier games Assembly Hall has seen this year, the IU men’s basketball team fell to Iowa 77-63. The Hoosiers are slowing down exponentially.
The first half was particularly chaotic when both teams combined for 16 turnovers, shot 40.4 percent from the field and committed bad fouls all over the floor.
Even the scorer’s table found a way to mess up when the shot clock froze in the first half. It seemed like nobody in the building was on their game before intermission.
However, those plays came from both teams and IU managed to enter halftime down just four points. But, in the second half, one team got their act together and that team was not IU.
Iowa quickly pulled out to a nine-point lead and simply repelled every IU run after that. The lead waffled around that number for most of the rest of the game.
Iowa had a clear plan for how to beat IU, and they executed it. The Hawkeyes knew they could attack the paint and get buckets and fouls inside, and they did.
Iowa made 23-of-28 free throws (82.1 percent) compared to just 11 attempts for the Hoosiers.
On offense, IU shot just 37.1 percent on two-point field goals. Nobody could post up and the Hoosiers missed countless looks at the basket.
IU was stagnant. Several times, the Hoosiers stood around for the first 25 seconds of the possession, then, once the shot clock reached below 10, there was a sense of urgency to get a shot off.
Twice, the Hoosiers were called for a shot clock violation. And several times more, they hoisted up a prayer with little chance of success.
However, IU Coach Tom Crean said they aren’t simply standing around on those possessions.
“We’re running actions to get movement,” Crean said. “We’re trying to get the court spaced.
“When you play against big teams, you’ve got to play through the corners. There’s got to be movement. I’m sure there were a couple of those that looked that way today, but that’s not by design.
Regardless of what Crean says about how to beat big teams, IU needs to end the standing around if it wants to win. Perhaps Crean is right about playing through the corners, but his team didn’t do that, and that is how you lose basketball games.
The fact of the matter is IU is falling apart and it’s hard to tell why.
IU has lost its second game in a row, and the question must be asked: Is Collin Hartman this team’s X-factor?
After junior forward Hanner Mosquera-Perea went down, IU won three straight games with Hartman in the starting lineup. And since Hartman has been unavailable, IU has now lost to Northwestern on the road and Iowa at home.
Granted, that could simply be a matter of timing. Northwestern and Iowa came into their matchups as streaking teams, but still, Hartman’s presence obviously has a huge impact on this team’s success.
It’s not likely that Hartman’s presence would have won them this game, but his importance is apparent.
Mosquera-Perea should want Hartman to come back almost as much as anyone. Hartman acts as the first substitute big man off the bench and gives IU the closest thing to post-depth they have.
“He’s one of the most energetic guys on the team,” Mosquera-Perea said. “He’s always moving around on defense. We miss him a lot.”
And considering he was essentially ruled out of the game by Monday, Hartman’s return has to be questionable on Saturday as well.
That Michigan State game also just became that much more important. The Iowa loss puts the Hoosiers at 19-11 and 9-8 in Big Ten play. IU really needs to get to 20 wins to pad their resume.
After the Northwestern loss, I wrote that IU is officially on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.
Well, now, IU is in real trouble. It’s not impossible that they make the tournament if they lose against Michigan State and in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, but I sure wouldn’t say it’s likely.
