The Wildcats handed the Hoosiers the first of three consecutive losses to end the season. It was IU’s worst loss in terms of RPI to date, pushing it to the brink of the NCAA Tournament bubble and rekindling angst among the Hoosier fan base.
Today’s rematch in the Big Ten Tournament offers a chance to reset the season’s direction.
“I know that winning is going to take us to where we want to go,” sophomore forward Troy Williams said. “But I think every team feels that this time of year.”
The Hoosiers and Wildcats are no doubt familiar with each other. Today’s 6:30 p.m. matchup in the Big Ten Tournament’s second round will be the second in just more than two weeks.
The winner advances to play Maryland in the third round Friday. The loser goes home.
“We’ve got to do a better job all the way around (than in the first matchup),” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “But I do think because it is still fresh in our minds — from the mistakes that we made and the success that we had — that it should help us.”
The mistakes Crean alluded to included, but were not limited to, an inability to contain Tre Demps, giving up 40 first-half points and a scoreless stretch of more than 10 minutes in the second half.
A Hoosier rally in the closing minutes helped make the score seem closer, but IU was never much of a threat to tie the game.
With the Big Ten’s win-or-go-home format, the Hoosiers can’t afford to come out slow, junior guard Nick Zeisloft said.
“We cannot play tentative at all,” he said. “If we get a lead, we have to play harder. If we are behind, we have to come right at someone.”
The Wildcats have continued to play well since their win against IU, but it came too late, considering a 10-game losing streak all but crushed hopes of finishing in the upper half of the conference.
But the improved play has certainly caught Crean’s attention. Northwestern is 5-2 since Coach Chris Collins decided to hit the reset button and start using a 2-3 zone after a 22-point loss to ?Michigan State.
“His younger guys are playing with a lot of confidence, and they’re playing a zone, which is keeping them out of foul trouble,” Crean said. “We can attack the zone better. We attacked it pretty well at times, and there were other times we missed what was there.”
Collins apologized for showing up late to his postgame press conference in Evanston, Ill., after needing to change his suit. His players had doused him with water after beating IU. They explained it had become a bit of a tradition to throw water on their coach after Big Ten wins.
When it comes time for his postgame press conference in Chicago this time around, the Hoosiers will hope to keep Collins dry.
“Teams are at a point that their season can go either way,” sophomore forward Collin Hartman said. “We know winning is our key and we’re focused on that and only that.”
