The IU men's basketball team is pretty lucky.
That statement needs to be prefaced with that it in no way pertains to the disappointing 73-66 loss on the road at Northwestern Tuesday night. In fact, most of what transpired during that game was about as unlucky as it could get.
Northwestern junior Aaron Falzon coming out of the woodwork of Welsh-Ryan Arena to hit six of seven three-pointers and score 15 more points in one night than he has all season? That was downright inconceivable.
IU’s late comeback attempt that fell short as the Wildcats nearly bungled what was a commanding double-digit lead for most of the second half? It was truly a bummer.
The Hoosiers going just 4-21 from behind the three-point line and throwing up one obnoxiously-clanking dud of a shot after another? Well, with the way this season has been going lately, you may have been able to predict that one.
Nevertheless, what makes IU so lucky is they are still in one of the most parity-filled conferences in the country. While the Big Ten has been dominated by Michigan and Michigan State so far, the rest of the conference is beating each other up. IU should still conceivably be able to beat any of those teams in that lower tier, even if it is playing by far its worst basketball all season.
There’s no doubting the Hoosiers are in a dark place right now after the loss at Northwestern. Going into the contest, the Wildcats were probably one of the five worst teams in the conference and Tuesday’s game was more about IU falling into that group than Northwestern moving up.
There’s a lot for the Hoosiers to improve upon right now, but none of their shortcomings are too outlandish to shore up. There’s still talent left on this roster, even if it looks like there’s much less of it than what most people thought earlier in the season.
One of the few bright spots in this dark period has been the nimble-footed steamroller in the post that is senior forward Juwan Morgan.
Against the Wildcats, Morgan once again showed just how reliable he can be, leading IU with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Yet, other than Morgan, IU has found little success on the offensive end during this five-game stretch. Even freshman phenom Romeo Langford has looked lost in the last two games. There is also nobody on the team that is a reliable outside shooter.
That last problem isn’t really something that can be completely fixed. At this point, it’s just a vicious fact of life — this team can’t shoot.
That means something about this team’s offensive identity has to change.
That might mean simply running the ball through Morgan in the post basically every time down the floor.
An even better and more fun option might be utilizing Morgan’s ability to free himself up for open looks with his beautiful footwork and coupling that with Langford’s undeniable prowess attacking toward the basket in more pick-and-roll situations.
Sprinkle in some added second-tier scoring ability from the likes of freshman Robert Phinisee and sophomores Al Durham and Justin Smith around those two and maybe IU has a capable offense on its hands.
Something has to change, because what the Hoosiers are doing at this juncture simply isn’t working.
IU is toeing a dangerous line of mediocrity right now. One last hiccup might send them into full-on rebuilding mode, but that just seems cruel considering the high expectations this team had at the beginning of the season.
IU is in survival mode as it stands.
Luckily for the Hoosiers, each conference game is an opportunity to get that big win they desperately need.
Yet they have to prove they can earn that kid of win, and time is quickly running out.
