Saturday’s game wasn’t supposed to be this important, with the Hoosiers’ NCAA Tournament chances on their last legs. But, to use one of IU Coach Tom Crean’s favorite phrases, the last month wasn’t by design.
IU has lost seven of its last 11 games and slid out of the Big Ten’s top four and its all-important double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament. The Hoosiers can now finish no better than seventh in the conference and are guaranteed to play in the second round of the conference tournament next Thursday.
But that’s not what’s truly at stake Saturday. IU — once a lock for the NCAA Tournament — now faces uncertainty come Selection Sunday. By consequence, Saturday afternoon’s game has taken on an unforeseen importance.
Unfortunately for IU (19-11, 9-8), its all-important regular-season closer comes against the team that forced the Hoosiers into their worst performance of the season.
In IU’s previous meeting with Michigan State, nothing went by design. The Hoosiers scored a season-low 50 points. They shot just 28 percent from the field and made just five 3-pointers. They were outrebounded 50-28 and fell behind by as many as 30 points. They led just once, less than two minutes into the game.
After that game, Crean said he was displeased with his team’s effort. He hadn’t seen less offensive purpose in his time at IU, he said.
But Crean isn’t focused on the past.
“We don’t stay locked into the numbers of the past,” he said. “We stay locked into what’s present. So I don’t want to put it into my head.”
What’s present is an IU team that has stuttered offensively in three of its last four games. Much like the Jan. 5 meeting with Michigan State, those games have seen IU forced into becoming a half-court team, where its lack of size is exposed.
For stretches, the offense has devolved into what it was in East Lansing, Mich., — one Hoosier dribbling while four stand and watch.
It’s an offensive problem that will right itself, sophomore forward Troy Williams said.
“Just got to see it through,” Williams said.
Both teams might be missing key pieces in the frontcourt. IU sophomore forward Collin Hartman has missed the Hoosiers’ last two games with a bone bruise in his knee, while Michigan State’s Branden Dawson left the Spartans’ last game after taking a blow to the head.
Dawson is the Big Ten’s leading rebounder. His status for Saturday has been listed as questionable.
Regardless of who takes the court at noon Saturday, the game might decide IU’s postseason future. Win, and the NCAA Tournament is all but assured. Lose, and it will likely take a run in the Big Ten Tournament to get in.
Crean isn’t worried about the past, but he said he’s not looking to the future either. He’s said it all season — one game at a time, no matter the stakes.
“We’re not going to look past Michigan State,” he said. “We’re all about getting ready for the next game, and that’s what the focus ?would be.”
