Indiana men’s basketball entered halftime Wednesday night with a 6-point lead over Northwestern in a highly competitive, road Quad 1 game.
Purely scoreboard watching, the scoreline was impressive — however, the performance was anything but. Considering Northwestern failed to record a basket for nearly 10 minutes, it was downright ugly.
But regardless, the Hoosiers entered with a 6-point lead — until just four minutes into the second half, when that advantage dissipated. Despite a couple pushes from Indiana, Northwestern ultimately secured the 79-70 victory inside Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois.
“Bottom line is we were playing well enough to win a game today and we just didn’t answer the bell the second half,” Indiana head coach Mike Woodson said postgame. “We got to figure that out now too going back home.”
A more complete performance may have put Northwestern away in the first half, given the Wildcats’ more than nine-minute scoring drought. Instead, Indiana shot 35.7% from the field, turned the ball over eight times and only averaged .969 points per possession.
And yet, the Hoosiers led at the half, a much better situation than the alternative.
Nick Martinelli’s return from first-half foul trouble provided a much-needed boost for Northwestern, as the junior forward averaged a Big Ten-best 20 points per game heading into the contest. In the Wildcats’ second half comeback, Martinelli scored 7 points in the first four minutes, draining the 3-pointer that gave them the 39-37 lead.
Eventually, that advantage stretched to 7 points, and Northwestern had the opportunity to cruise to its third Big Ten victory.
Then Luke Goode stepped up — the man Indiana has relied on most in the tumultuous Big Ten season. Whether it was to face the media following the 94-69 blowout to Illinois on Jan. 14 or drilling the game-winning triple in a 23-point career night in the 77-76 win over Ohio State on Jan. 17, the senior forward has been Indiana’s most dependable player.
Therefore, it was no surprise the Fort Wayne, Indiana, native started a 10-0 run to get Indiana back into the game.
Goode drained a 3 with just over 11 minutes to go in the game, trimming the deficit to 4, and on the resulting defensive possession, redshirt sophomore guard Myles Rice stole the ball and raced down the court for the layup.
Northwestern called timeout, and after a solid defensive possession, Goode drilled another triple, giving the lead back to Indiana. An alley-oop from fifth-year senior guard Trey Galloway to sixth-year senior center Oumar Ballo extended the lead to 3.
But that was it. Northwestern dominated the next nine minutes of game action, immediately launching a 13-0 run while Indiana failed to score a point for just over four minutes.
A small burst at the end of the game brought the score to within 4, but the Hoosiers had dug too big a hole to overcome, notching their third loss in the last four games.
Ultimately, the old problems reemerged for Indiana — defending the 3-point line, turning the ball over and struggling with bench production.
In the second half, Northwestern shot an astonishing 9 for 14 from 3-point range. Indiana’s response was meager in comparison, with simple 2-point baskets barely offsetting the Wildcats’ barrage from behind the arc.
“Our communication from a defensive standpoint was lost (in) the second half,” Woodson said. “We weren’t together on switches where we were connected the first half. They made us pay for it.”
Then came the Hoosiers’ self-inflicted wounds, with 17 turnovers committed to pair with 17 assists. Woodson only brought three players off the bench, with Galloway, sophomore guard Kanaan Carlyle and junior forward Malik Reneau — returning from injury — combining for 9 points.
Still, even after a fourth Big Ten loss, Woodson isn’t pushing the panic button on his squad.
“No, I mean you can never get worried,” Woodson said. “There’s too many games still left.”
But therein lies the issue — there’s too many games still left.
As the opportunities continue to pass Woodson and Indiana by, with losses to Iowa, Illinois and Northwestern in the last 12 days, the upcoming stretch is as tough as any in the nation. The Hoosiers face Maryland, No. 11 Purdue, No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 21 Michigan and No. 8 Michigan State — three of which are on the road.
So, while Woodson may not be worried, it’s becoming more and more reasonable for the Hoosier faithful to push the panic button on this Indiana squad, one which was touted as the best in recent memory.
And with the tough Quad 1 games now right in front of them, the Hoosiers have finally reached their breaking point. All that’s left for the squad is to prove whether it’s capable of making a run to the NCAA Tournament — or falling short of March Madness for a second straight season.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa) and columnist Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
