Like most times after an IU loss, there are a bevy of statistics to use to try to figure out the root of the issue.
Junior guards James Blackmon Jr. and Robert Johnson went scoreless in the first half and combined for 11 total points. IU shot less than 25 percent from 3-point range. Sophomore forward Thomas Bryant was kept to single-digit scoring.
When it comes down to it there’s only one statistic that matters, and it is turnovers. The turnover-prone Hoosiers coughed up the ball 15 times leading to 20 Wolverine points. For the second time this year, Michigan dismantled IU by executing off mistakes leading to the Wolverine’s first road win of the year, 75-63, at Assembly Hall. The loss dropped IU to 15-11 overall and 5-8 in conference.
“We’ve got to find ways to get easy baskets,” IU Coach Tom Crean said. “So the problem becomes we were working so hard to get the ball inside in the first half and they were backing off of our guys, right? All of a sudden we get it in, and now we stand like we’ve never played basketball before.”
The last time these two teams got together in late January, Michigan turned 16 IU turnovers into 28 points in a 30-point blowout. Sunday’s game saw much of the same. Although the defense had improved for the Hoosiers, holding the Wolverines to 47 percent from the field compared to 63 percent last game, the offense was stagnant.
IU found success when it got the ball down low and established a presence in the low post. The Hoosiers scored 66 percent of their points in the paint, although the majority of the time it took them until 10 seconds left on the shot clock to get the ball inside the 3-point arc.
Freshman forward De’Ron Davis finished with a team-high 13 points on four-of-five shooting from the field. When Davis wasn’t making his shots inside, he was executing at the free throw line, where he made five of six. He said Crean stresses getting the ball inside first so IU can work both aspects of its offense.
“We try to take inside-out 3s. Whether it’s feeding the post and getting a kick out, you know we have a bunch of bigs that like to pass the ball,” Davis said. “Or if you drive and kick you know the guards drive to the lane and kick out.”
The problem was IU didn’t do much driving and kicking. When the Hoosiers finally did get the ball inside, it was too late in the shot clock to make a play happen.
Crean said his team being static when getting into its offensive sets and the lack of leadership were two main reasons for the turnover problems Sunday.
“Thomas Bryant is playing his tail off to become a leader of the team, and he needs a little more help,” Crean said. “It is part of what our issue is with the turnovers, and he’s committing some turnovers and things like that as well, and again our ball screen coverages and things like that weren’t nearly as good, but at some point in time the window’s gotta crack, and we’re going to have a little bit real leadership during the game, and at some point in time we’re going to communicate.”
IU has now lost five of its last six games with the only win coming in triple overtime against Penn State. The turnover issues stem from a lack of communication and leadership. Sunday’s game was the 13th time IU turned the ball over 15 or more times in a game this season.
Players-only meetings have become a trend around the nation when a team struggles to a large degree to figure out how the group can overcome issues. Having the meeting might be the solution to the Hoosiers’ struggles, but according to Johnson, it hasn’t happened yet.
“I just think at the end of the day we just have to all come together in whatever it takes,” Johnson said. “If that’s what it takes, maybe that’s something we should think about, but at the end of the day we just all have to come together and decide that we’re going to get better once and for all.”
