FINAL SCORE: Northwestern 73, Indiana 58 | Box Score

The ghost of Hoosier future.

Derek Elston (10 points, nine boards) and Christian Watford (nine points, six boards) playing close to the  double-double men they’re capable of being night in and night out. Verdell Jones and Jordan Hulls handling the perimeter. A strong start. Controlled, sensible decisions. Being in the driver’s seat for 32 minutes of this one. Using the same scheme — a zone that forced outside shots — against Northwestern twice in the same week, and it working. Respectable shooting from the field (43.5 percent) and (sort of) from three (33.3 percent).

The ghost of Hoosier past.

The scoring droughts. A few of ‘em, but none more costly than the 9:29 without a field goal late in the second half — a stretch of time that essentially lost this team the game.

The turnovers. When the wheels fell of midway through the second half, Northwestern’s 1-3-1 zone forced the Hoosiers into plenty of them, and of course, there were a number of the unforced variety as well. In total, IU had 19. (13 of which came in the second half.)

—

This one stings a bit, because IU had this game. The car was on cruise control. But they fell asleep at the wheel and veered off the road — never to recover.

It would have been nice to rack up an 11th win, nice to have a chance at a 12th win against Purdue in the next round of the tourney. But alas, what’s doomed the Hoosiers all season — their inability to take care of the ball and put the ball in the basket — doomed them again today.

Going to cut this one short instead of rambling on like usual. We’ll have plenty of end-of-the-year content starting next week for y’all, which should be fun.

Thanks for sticking with us this season, and don’t fret. Better days are ahead.

FINAL SCORE: Indiana 88, Northwestern 80, OT | Box Score

This win did not come easy. When it seemed like the Hoosiers had it locked up in regulation, when if felt like this 11-game losing streak was finally — finally! — going to be over, a couple costly turnovers by Verdell Jones let Northwestern stick around in regulation.

And in OT, there was still that “IU-has-the-lead-but-is-it-enough” feeling up until Tjian and Fink came in to close it out.

But yes: it was a win. An impressive win. A sign that the future — for as bleak as it’s looked the last several weeks — is bright.

Let us count the ways:

1) Great call by coach Tom Crean to start Derek Elston and insert Verdell Jones at the point to start this game. Time and time again Elston proved his worth. He had a terrific dunk to ignite the crowd and nice tip-in for two early, and finished the game with 17 points — a career-high — and eight boards. He just brings an element to the court IU hasn’t had all season; Elston is a high-energy player with a big body that can score in a variety of ways and finish around the hole.

This kid can be a double-double machine for years to come.

And without Jeremiah Rivers at the point to start this game, IU didn’t turn the ball over until the 10:25 mark of the first half. That turnover was committed by, of course, Rivers.

But because the Hoosiers started out so well this afternoon, it gave them the confidence to realize they were not only in the game, but that they could win it. The first ten minutes of bullet-proof play were of the utmost importance.

Now, when the Wildcats went into that half-court trap in the second half, IU did have some turnover problems — espeically down the stretch — which let the Wildcats hang around. But including the OT period, the Hoosiers had 17 turnovers. Clearly, that’s still not too good. But they’ve had more in only 40 minutes of play this season, not 45.

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FINAL SCORE: 74-55 | Box score

Kicking it old school tonight.

THE GOOD

1) Derek Elston. Not sure if Elston got more run tonight because he limited his defensive mistakes tonight, or because well, he just deserves it. (Because I think he does.) But he pumped in 13 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes before fouling out, on 5-of-10 shooting from the field. He offers a nice, controlled, smooth, inside, outside dynamic on offense, and for a team full of guys that turn the ball over time and again, Elston turned the ball over just twice tonight.

He needs to play this much every night. He’s a guy that, if he defects and transfers this offseason, it would be a shame. The freshman has a shot at developing into a solid player in the years to come.

2) Motion and creation. At times tonight, this IU squad looked like the competent version from earlier in the season against lesser foes: Jeremiah Rivers was penetrating and it opened up more opportunities on offense. When this team dribbles and holds, holds, holds the ball around the peremiter, they’re unimaginative. When Rivers and Verdell Jones drive and move the ball off the top of the key, there’s more there for IU, because defenses have to rotate and adjust.

One particular play that stands out in the first half: Rivers took the ball from the left wing, dribbled near the hole and passed it off to Bobby C. Bobby C. found Daniel Moore near the top of the key. Moore shot-faked, got his defender up in the air, and then had a nice open shot just in front of the three-point line. He missed. Bad.

Someday, this will be Maurice Creek getting such a shot.

IU also tried getting out on the break and transition at times tonight. It wasn’t always successful, but these were two dynamics this team had early on, and have the Tom Crean seal of approval all over them.

IU just simply doesn’t have the personnel or talent to execute in these schemes night in and night out yet.

3) Bawa played. And scored! Then Tijan poked him in the eye. Bad Tijan.

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FINAL SCORE: 73-57 | Box Score

It’s easy to chalk this one up as uninspired effort by the Hoosiers.

But this loss was somewhat different than what we’ve seen lately.

Let’s break it down:

SHOOTING

It may not have felt like it the way the Hoosiers started out against Iowa, but they hit 45.0 percent of their shots tonight. Only twice previous to this matchup during this now 10-game losing streak — at Wisconsin and the home loss to Purdue –  have the Hoosiers shot over 40 percent.

In fact, they actually hit 11-of-21 shots in the second half, good for 52.4 percent. Two reasons for this: 1) They went down low to Christian Watford early. It appeared as if this was a point of emphasis in the locker room at halftime. 2) IU’s guards took it to the hole for some higher-percentage shots around the rim.

Iowa also only had three blocks, which means IU beat out their 13.2 percent opponent block percentage and didn’t waste so many chances on the offensive end. (Yes, it’s risen to 13.2 percent. IU now ranks 340th out the the 347 Division I teams in this category. Oof.)

Verdell Jones, who hasn’t had a scoring outburst he’s capable of in a while, re-emerged tonight with 22.

I know it’s yet another loss, but outside of IU’s 1-of-8 mark from beyond the arc, this was actual a pretty solid offensive effort for the Hoosiers tonight. There was more ball movement, more passing and they got some better looks because of it.

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FINAL SCORE: 78-46

ALTERNATE TITLE: The night Tom Crean’s frustration finally got the best of him.

Tom Crean had enough.

The turnovers. The poor defensive rotations. The other team carving up his squad like a Thanksgiving turkey. His Hoosiers lacking the effort, fire and resolve he demands.

So after a questionable foul call on Bobby Capobianco midway through the second half, Crean launched into a verbal attack on the ref who called said foul. He took a swig of his drink. The profanities continued to fly out of his mouth. He kept going. And going.

Another T.

Eruption:

As Crean walked off the court to exit, he turned back around the free-throw line to bark some more, and assistant coach Tim Buckley had to restrain him. Just off the court and walking through the entranceway, Crean was maniacal, screaming and yanking his head from side to side. He popped into a room to the side of the corridor under the stands and kicked the door. And that same rage was still bouncing around his soul when the camera finally cut.

Who knows. They might have needed a straight jacket to contain him.

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FINAL SCORE: Minnesota 81, Indiana 58

Here’s an easy way to game plan against the Hoosiers: pound it inside all game long.

As the Spartans showed us Tuesday and the Gophers displayed this evening — it works. IU just doesn’t have the length, athleticism or the skill to guard the block, and guys like Ralph Sampson III took advantage.  Minnesota’s guards also beat IU off the dribble on several occasions, leading to some easy points right around the rim. The Gophers scored 38 of their 81 points in the paint this evening to IU’s 16.

And when they weren’t hitting down low, they were raining threes. Minnesota hit 7-of-11 in the first half and hit 9-of-20 for the game for 45 percent. IU only shot 32 percent from the floor. Ouch.

The Hoosiers simply aren’t defending as of late. This now marks the eighth straight game their opponent has shot better from the field, to coincide with their eighth straight loss. And during this eight-game losing streak, IU has also only managed to shoot better than 40 percent twice — against Wisconsin and Purdue.

When you fail to get points in the paint and your shot gets blocked at an alarming rate  — in total, the Hoosiers get 12.7 percent of their shots blocked, which ranks them 332 out of the 347 Division I teams in the country — it’s hard to shoot a high percentage or be efficient, especially when your jump shots aren’t falling. Add in all the turnovers and the scoring droughts — IU failed to hit a field goal for a stretch of 9:15 in the first half; they only made two shots the last 6:05 of the second half — and you can see why the Hoosiers’ offense has struggled so bad.

If nothing else, this team is still finding a way to get to the line: they shot 22 — though only made 14 — free throws on the night to the Gophers’ 14. Without that in recent games, it’d be more ugly than it is.

“Outgunned and outmanned,” is how Kendall Gill described this one for IU tonight. I have a feeling this won’t be the last time we’ll be able to describe such a loss for this team before season’s end.

FINAL SCORE: 72-58 | Box score

We feeling better out there, guys?

Sure, IU got murdered this evening. But all the worries about this team in recent days, that they were lacking effort and hustle and heart and resolve wasn’t the case tonight. They took some charges. When absolutely everything was going Michigan State’s way, they found a way to stay in the game with an almost perfect night at the free-throw line. They trapped and defended their tails off in the final minutes of the game when a win was far out of reach.

They looked more like the scrappy, hard-working underdogs tonight than the team that wasn’t even showing up.

That being said, this evening was a rough one.

IU’s lack of size was exploited time and again. The Spartans pumped in the points inside — 40 of their 72 points came in the paint — and stymied the Hoosiers around the basket on the offensive end — IU only had eight points in the paint this evening, and that was a large reason why they shot so poorly — 34.9 percent — tonight; unless you are hot, hot, hot from the outside, it’s tough to shoot a high-percentage if you’re not also getting some bunnies in the paint. IU did win the rebounding battle tonight, as they snatched 30 (17 offensive) to the Spartans’  24 (11 offensive). But the Hoosiers are a solid offensive rebounding team to begin with, and when you miss so many shots, those offensive-rebounding opportunities present themselves more often.

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Men and boys tonight, kids.

I know the Hoosiers haven’t played the Badgers or Spartans yet this season, but there’s been no other team that’s outclassed them like the Buckeyes this year.

OSU is just a well-oiled, highly-efficient machine. Tonight’s win was its eighth-straight conference victory; in their previous seven wins, the Buckeyes were shooting an insane 58 percent on 2’s. Their effective field-goal percentage is 56.7 percent — good for third in the nation.

Watching them tonight, it’s easy to see why their offense is so efficient: they take a ton of high-percentage shots around the rim, and just about everybody outside of Jon Diebler, Dallas Lauderdale and Kyle Madsen can penetrate to the bucket for an easy two. They scored 40 of their 69 points in the paint tonight. The Buckeyes just have so much length and athleticism; it’s difficult to matchup against them because of it.

And that size and athleticism also helps them create easy buckets: steal and blocks — they had a healthy nine swats tonight — lead to fast breaks, which leads to easy 2’s. It certainly helped their cause that IU turned the ball over 14 times, which lead to 18 points.

What’s a little maddening on IU’s end is that they executed the gameplan in the first half: the Buckeyes don’t go that deep, so Tom Crean wanted to get into their bench. And when Evan Turner and P.J. Hill left with foul trouble, Ohio State went deeper into its bench than usual. Problem was, that bench outclassed the Hoosiers, too. By the end of the night, the Buckeyes posted 15 bench points, to the Hoosiers’ paltry three. And Madsen, off the bench, ended up with a career-high 11 points.

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