CHICAGO — Two days. Two completely different games for freshman guard James Blackmon Jr.
He followed one of his best games of his career in a win against Northwestern with one of his worst in a 75-69 loss to Maryland to end IU’s Big Ten Tournament.
Blackmon wasn’t alone in struggles. His teammates on the perimeter had similar troubles against the Terrapins, but Blackmon’s six points off 2-for-12 shooting exemplified the Hoosiers’ offensive issues.
When the Hoosiers needed to start hitting shots, the ball stopped falling. Their offense went cold at the least optimal time, and Maryland took advantage.
Now all the Hoosiers can do is sit and wait for Selection Sunday to see where and when their season will continue.
“Sometimes, the ball doesn’t go in and it stopped going in at the wrong times,” Blackmon said. “Maryland sort of ran with it. There’s only so much of the little things that you can control. We couldn’t get into rhythm.”
Rhythm, or rather, a lack of rhythm, was the common culprit players pointed to in the locker room after being eliminated from Big Ten Tournament contention.
It was frustrating to the players partly because it’s so difficult for anyone to explain.
Sophomore guard Stanford Robinson said it’s a mental issue.
The ball was moving the way it need to move. The right players were getting the ball in the right spots. The offense was working exactly the way it was designed.
Until it wasn’t.
Despite time and time again being in position to retake the lead from Maryland, IU couldn’t do it. The Hoosiers shot just 18.8 percent from the field in the second half. They were 6-for-18 from beyond the arc for the game.
“It’s tough. Sometimes you just can’t do it, and that’s the hardest part,” sophomore forward Collin Hartman said. He started in place of junior forward Hanner Mosquera-Perea, who missed the game after injuring his knee Thursday.
“Some people say we live and die by the three, but I don’t think so. We emphasize our defense more than anything.”
The defense the team harped on in practice heading into the tournament did its part in limiting Maryland’s opportunities.
The Hoosiers took 13 more field goals than the Terrapins, who shot 44.9 percent from the field.
Maryland’s Dez Wells did the most damage with 22 points. He sealed the game at the line shooting 8-for-9 down the stretch while the Hoosier offense failed to find consistency.
“Opportunities were there,” freshman guard Robert Johnson said. “They just didn’t go.”
IU Coach Tom Crean walked off the United Center floor, matching sophomore forward Troy Williams stride for stride.
The two had an emotional exchange that they didn’t want to go into detail about. Crean said he was proud of the way Williams grew throughout the year and Williams said the two were having a “father-to-son conversation.”
And just like that, the 2014-15 season came to an end — for now.
“We were going toe-to-toe with them,” Crean said. “They made a couple more plays than we did.”
Now all that’s left to do is wait.
