Justin Timberlake’s famous lyrics in his hit song "Mirrors" flooded radio stations in February 2013, but six years later those words represent the teams playing inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
"Cause it's like you're my mirror, my mirror staring back at me."
Midway through Big Ten play, the IU men’s and women’s basketball teams are similar in more ways than just the colors on the jerseys. The two groups of Hoosiers are becoming mirror images of each other.
Their respective seasons began with NCAA Tournament expectations. The men’s team brought in a highly ranked recruiting class, highlighted by five-star McDonald’s All-American Romeo Langford.
The most optimistic fans had dreams of a trip to the Final Four, while realists expected at least a win or two in March Madness.
“Our goal is to win a National Championship, but we're not focused on that, we're focused on getting better each and every day, building chemistry and just trying to be ready for the first game,” junior forward De’Ron Davis said before the season. “I feel like we're going to take one game at a time and shoot for small goals. I feel like the Big Ten championship, win the Big Ten Tournament, just work our way up, so just focusing on ourselves and getting better as a team.”
From the women’s side, expectations of a Final Four trip were not in the picture because of powerhouse programs such as the University of Connecticut or the University of Notre Dame, but NCAA Tournament hopes were certainly realistic.
After raising a WNIT Championship banner during September’s Hoosier Hysteria and transfer Ali Patberg and Brenna Wise filling the voids left by Tyra Buss and Amanda Cahill, Head Coach Teri Moren did not shy away from the team's untapped potential.
“Winning NIT championships, that’s not what we’re after,” Moren said. “Those are things that we can’t shy away from talking about. Those are the expectations for our program.”
The early part of the seasons only increased expectations. Miller’s crew started off 12-2, including wins against Marquette University and the University of Louisville. And maybe more importantly in terms of résumé time in March, the team had no bad losses.
From the women’s side, a 14-1 start had the team in the Associated Press top 25 for just the fifth and sixth times in program history.
On January 8, the official IU Athletics Twitter account sent a tweet celebrating IU being one of 10 colleges with men’s and women’s teams in the AP top 25.
And after a couple of weeks in the rankings, it quickly came crashing down.
The men’s team rattled together seven straight losses, plummeting down the Big Ten standings and even further in expert outlooks for March Madness.
On the women’s side, the drop was not as dramatic but still significant. After cracking the top 25, Moren’s squad went 2-5 and had its top scorer Patberg struggling to score at a consistent pace.
But surely with coaches such as Moren and Miller, coming up with a scheme to get back to winning should not be a struggle. That’s where the heart of the issue became evident.
Game plans and execution always play a part in losing, but what the Hoosiers lacked was confidence — something that both coaches addressed.
“We haven’t seen a confident Ali in the last four or five ballgames,” Moren said on Jan. 30 before the team’s loss the next day at Rutgers. “She needs to continue to keep all the noise out. I think she’s getting a lot of people from the outside that are trying to give her their doses.”
Miller mentioned the physical toll a season can take on players, but acknowledged mental issues as a key struggle as well.
“Sometimes teams change as the players change during the course of the season, whether that's lack of confidence or whatever it is, but right now we're an entire group that does not have the confidence,” Miller said after the team’s loss to Michigan on Jan. 25. “It's not one guy. It's our team. Our team doesn't have confidence right now.”
But the past weekend brought a glimmer of hope.
After surrendering a double digit second-half lead Sunday at Nebraska, the women’s team pulled through for a much needed win. The win included a 22 point performance from Patberg.
For the men’s team, the losing streak ended in the unlikeliest way: a road win Saturday against then-No. 6 Michigan State, the men's second true road win of the season.
One win doesn’t change an entire season, but one win could give teams the momentum they need.
But for that to happen, it goes back to Timberlake’s lyrics: "You just gotta be strong."
