Almost instantly, the game was effectively over.
Indiana men’s basketball entered Tuesday’s contest with two close losses in its previous two contests. While traveling to the Kohl Center was no easy obstacle, it gave the Hoosiers another opportunity to overcome the hurdle of suffering a tight defeat.
Indiana did exactly that — only instead of a close loss, it was a blowout.
Less than four minutes in, the Hoosiers were down 16-2. Just over two minutes later, Indiana head coach Mike Woodson was forced to call a timeout with the scoreline at 24-4.
The Hoosiers never reached a single-digit deficit for the rest of the game, ultimately falling 76-64 to No. 21 Wisconsin on Tuesday night in Madison, Wisconsin.
Despite dropping its last two contests, Indiana’s tight finishes provided much needed experience for a squad that had largely been a part of only blowout defeats earlier in the season. Similarly, the Hoosiers displayed a level of competitiveness for nearly all 40 minutes that it hadn’t shown all season.
Against Wisconsin, that was all thrown out the window. Instead of performing like the Indiana squad from the Purdue or Maryland games, it reverted to the old Indiana — the one which suffered 25-point defeats to Iowa and Illinois.
“We’re just not a tough team right now,” Woodson said postgame. “Mentally, we’re not tough.”
Whether it’s a mental issue or not, Indiana’s inconsistency game-to-game has been one of its biggest flaws throughout the season. This time, those inconsistencies were more like consistency with the old Indiana.
First, and most glaring, was the Hoosiers’ inability to defend the Badgers’ 3-point shooting. Wisconsin nailed 12 triples, 75% of which came in the first half.
“You make nine at halftime, and that was well over of what we wanted to do coming into the game in guarding the 3-point line,” Woodson said. “I thought we were better in the second half in that regard. But the first half put us out of the game basically, because it was tough getting back after that.”
Indiana held Purdue to only two 3-pointers Jan. 31, a stark contrast to the 25 it allowed over the previous two games.
And unlike the perimeter shooting of most of their opponents, the Hoosiers have continued to struggle from behind the arc. Their 25.9% 3-point shooting clip Tuesday was lower than their already measly 32.6% season average, further emphasizing an issue through Woodson’s four seasons at the helm.
However, Woodson’s decisions don’t seem to be addressing this problem. For the third consecutive game, the head coach chose junior forward Malik Reneau over senior forward Luke Goode in the starting lineup, and for the second straight game, Goode played significantly more minutes than Reneau.
While getting Reneau more reps is clearly a key to unlocking the form he had before his knee injury, his inability to shoot from the perimeter harms Indiana. Goode’s 42% mark from deep coupled with his ability to draw defenders to the perimeter is exactly what the Hoosiers need moving forward, especially with the pronounced struggles they’ve had from deep this season. Only time will tell if Woodson makes the necessary adjustment.
But Indiana had far more problems than just its 3-point shooting.
The Hoosiers failed to reach double digit assists, totaling only nine. They turned the ball over 11 times, which was better than the 20 they committed against Purdue but still not good enough.
Most importantly, the Hoosiers once again folded in a Big Ten road game. Barring the win in Columbus against Ohio State on Jan. 17, the Hoosiers have not won a conference road game.
The contest against Purdue was competitive, but it was the only road game of that nature. Losses to Iowa, Nebraska and Northwestern have all been lopsided defeats in winnable games.
Wisconsin can now be added to the list.
Indiana’s 21-game winless streak at the Kohl Center will live for at least another year. The Hoosiers have dropped four games in a row. Ranked matchups against No. 24 Michigan and No. 9 Michigan State are up next.
But most pressing of all, regardless of the loss or the upcoming schedule, is Indiana looked defeated. Whether the Hoosiers recover from it determines if there is an NCAA Tournament appearance is in their future.
Otherwise, a terribly disappointing season may have run its course Tuesday night in Madison.
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.
