After practice Monday, IU Coach Archie Miller said he saw something he hasn’t seen from his team in a while – a willingness to compete.
Losing 10 of the last 11 games had sucked the energy out of his team.
With a 13-12 overall record and No. 15 Purdue in Bloomington on Tuesday night, IU looked like the team Miller alluded to from practice.
Despite the Hoosiers falling 48-46 to the Boilermakers, it wasn’t due to a lack of effort this time.
“I know there’s more to this game than most,” Miller said. “But our team competed tonight at a great level and a lot of guys made a lot of hard plays.”
In his first game since Jan. 30 against Rutgers, senior guard Zach McRoberts played pivotal minutes and made the hustle plays he’s been known for.
Last week, Miller said McRoberts wasn’t at 100 percent, and wasn’t likely to play due to a foot injury. Though McRoberts would see the floor against Purdue, and while he only played 12 minutes, there wasn’t a moment that he looked like a liability on the court.
On his first offensive possession, McRoberts battled in the paint and grabbed an offensive rebound. It didn’t result in any IU points, but the injury didn’t seem to bother him.
Just 1:06 later, McRoberts made a steal at half court, but IU was still unable to turn it into points. In the game, he scored three points with two rebounds, and his burst of energy was felt.
“I thought his minutes obviously were good minutes for us,” Miller said. “Hopefully we can continue to see how he operates here afterwards but his toughness plays and some of the scrap plays that he makes, they go a long way.”
Freshman guard Romeo Langford didn’t have his best shooting night but provided one of his best defensive performances of the season.
Using his length and quickness, Langford helped limit Purdue guards junior Carsen Edwards and senior Ryan Cline to 8-of-34 shooting from the field, including a 3-of-18 mark on 3-point attempts.
In the first half, Langford seemed to be well on his way to a double-double. He led both teams with nine points and seven rebounds but didn’t start the second half after becoming ill on the sideline.
Langford checked back in with 13:36 remaining and didn’t attempt a shot in the second half. He wasn’t providing the offensive production IU is accustomed to, but he drew seven fouls and made nine of his 10 free throws.
“We just looked at the film from last time and tried to do the things we struggled with when it came to Carsen Edwards and Ryan Cline,” Langford said. “I think that was the reason that we were so disruptive this time on defense.”
Going forward Miller said his team has to stick with what they’ve talked about over the last 48 hours, and move on despite the sting of the loss still lingering.
“The disposition and the mentality has to stay with what we were at tonight,” Miller said.
