LAWRENCE, Kan. – Seven days after an embarrassing outing in Las Vegas, No. 14 Indiana men’s basketball headed across the Midwest, eager to bounce back against another quality opponent. A 14-point loss to then-No. 10 University of Arizona unwrapped many fundamental issues within the Hoosier squad, and it seemed as if the West Coast wake-up call would spark a better performance moving forward.
Saturday’s 84-62 loss against the No. 8 University of Kansas was somehow even worse.
The Hoosiers showed no signs of improvement against the Jayhawks and lost in the exact same way as they had one week prior. Kansas went on an insurmountable run at the beginning of the game, completely silenced senior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis on the offensive end and played with more heart and energy than Indiana.
[Related: No. 14 Indiana men’s basketball loses game of runs to No. 10 Arizona in turbulent matchup]
The Hoosiers’ downfall against the Wildcats last week proved to be the commanding 17-0 Arizona run they endured at the beginning of the game. Kansas produced that early-on dominance in the same way, and then some. The Jayhawks’ biggest lead in the first half shot up to 22, and they had a 15-point lead heading into halftime.
Indiana was without graduate point guard Xavier Johnson during both of those detrimental stretches, this time due to a severe foot injury he sustained after fighting for a loose ball. Johnson was scoreless in nine minutes before leaving the game for good at the 9:12 mark.
The Jayhawk defense limited Jackson-Davis' offensive production for nearly all of the first half. The All-American scored his first points after more than 18 minutes of surpassed clock time and finished the game with 13, along with three turnovers.
Johnson and Jackson-Davis have been deciding factors in Hoosier wins and losses all season long.
In Indiana’s lethargic loss to Rutgers Dec. 3, Jackson-Davis was held to 13 points, and Johnson committed six turnovers. During the high-intensity Arizona outing, Johnson’s 11-point, 11-assist double-double in limited minutes gave the Hoosiers their only spark and contributed to the 22-9 run that helped them cut down a large Wildcat lead. Jackson-Davis, on the other hand, had well-below his season averages with 11 points and five rebounds, remaining stagnant on both offense and defense.
The gravity of Indiana’s two primary catalysts was once again apparent in Saturday’s concerning outing.
With their strongest sequence of the game coming at the beginning of the second half, the Hoosiers were able to cut the Jayhawk lead to 10. The score read 38-48 at the 16:11 mark, Kansas head coach Bill Self called a timeout, and Indiana was one small stretch away from bringing the game back to within striking distance.
Just like against Arizona, though, Indiana crumbled under the pressure.
The Hoosiers got burned on defense, giving up multiple transition buckets and allowing the Jayhawks to run their half-court sets to near perfection. Jackson-Davis was no longer a factor in Indiana’s offense, partially due to frantic guard play that spearheaded unorganized play all game long.
Indiana had committed 23 turnovers by the end of the game – eight more than its previous season high – and allowed Kansas to respond with a 10-2 run that all-but sealed the game with over 12 minutes left in the second half.
Freshman guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, who finished with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, had five of those turnovers on the afternoon. Hood-Schifino still pieced together an encouraging performance after returning from a lower-back injury that sidelined him for three games prior to Saturday, but it was obvious that he hadn’t returned to his true floor-general form.
A week ago, Indiana let Arizona junior forward Azoulas Tubelis dominate the game with 21 points and seven rebounds. Entering the matchup, the Hoosiers knew they would have to contain another dominant athlete in Kansas freshman guard Gradey Dick, one of the most energizing players in college basketball.
To the chagrin of the Hoosiers and the surprise of almost no one, Dick went off for a game-high 20 points, six rebounds and five steals. He had four made 3-pointers on 67% shooting from the field, and Indiana, yet again, found itself at the mercy of a singular player’s polarizing performance.
Indiana’s nonconference schedule was built to be a mountain, but the Hoosiers’ losses this season have suggested that they aren’t worthy of conversation with the likes of top-10 teams. Quiet performances from Jackson-Davis, too many turnovers, an unknown offensive identity and lack of aggressiveness on defense have proven to be detrimental time and time again. And if the Hoosiers can’t find an answer for their obvious issues, the championship expectations of this team will quickly fade away.
