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.

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There are plenty of things this young Hoosiers team has yet to master, yet to grasp, yet to learn. And so far this season — and especially as of late in losses to Illinois and Michigan — one of their Achilles Heels has been finishing out the close game and winning. But If IU can replicate the effort and performance we’ve now seen in three Big Ten home games the rest of the way, and take the next step as they did today by rallying back in the OT frame, maybe this afternoon’s game is one we can point to say this is where they figured it out.

I know there will be harder challenges at home for the Hoosier up ahead, as Wisconsin, Michigan State and Purdue loom in the coming weeks. But given the way IU has competed in their first three home conference games, IU fans should feel confident that the Hoosiers have a shot to win, that they’ll be in every single home game. This isn’t to say they’re going to run the table at Assembly Hall. Far from it. And it’s not to say they’re suddenly going to take what they’re doing on their home court and suddenly replicate it on the road. That would be foolish.  But it is to say that this group of players has discovered that aggressive play on both ends of the floor — a floor they now know well — with a raucous crowd behind them is a recipe for good things.

Let it be known, Big Ten: When you come into Assembly Hall this season, there are no free passes, no easy wins.

On to some particulars:

1) Rebounding, especially on the offensive end, was key for Indiana tonight. IU simply out-worked and out-hustled Minnesota in that department. In the first half, IU grabbed 21 boards (nine offensive) to the Golden Gophers’ nine, and it allowed the Hoosiers several second-chance opportunities. Couple that with the hot hand of Devan Dumes from downtown and IU shooting 70 percent from the charity stripe (14-of-20), and it’s a large reason the Hoosiers went into the the locker room with a lead at halftime. For the game, IU finished with 43 boards (a whooping 20 on the offensive end) to Minnesota’s 31. Big ups to Bobby Capobianco and Tom Pritchard for snagging a combined ten boards before they both fouled out — and to Bobby C. for nailing that three, as well as that jumper as time was expiring on the shot clock in the second half — and to Christian Watford who had 10 boards, none more important than the one he grabbed on Devoe Joseph’s miss with four seconds left in OT.

2) Without Maurice Creek the rest of the season, some have worried about IU finding a go-to scorer in crunch time the rest of the way. But that man may have emerged this afternoon in the form of Verdell Jones III. He’s been important this season at the right times before, but this was on another level. Simply put: The Hoosier do not win this game without VJ3. In the overtime frame, when Joseph was raining threes and IU was lacking assertion or a plan, Jones put the team on his shoulders and willed them to victory. Outside of Watford’s important two made free throws after he snagged that aforementioned board and a layup by Jeremiah Rivers, Jones had the remaining six points in OT and he hit the biggest shots at the biggest times.

With IU trailing by five with just over two minutes left in OT, Jones grabbed an offensive board on a Derek Elston miss, got fouled, and sank both free throws. On IU’s next possession, Jones hit a jumper in the lane to bring IU within a point. And with IU trailing by one and not much going on, Jones took it upon himself to step up, make a move and take that fall-away jumper and hit it. Huge game for him — 24-points, seven boards, 13-19 FTs) — and his ability to step up and execute in overtime was the reason IU won this game.

THE BAD: SCORING DROUGHTS.

Minnesota is a very good defensive team, and the Hoosiers deserve credit for doing a good job with the press. They also only had 14 turnovers, which is under their season average. And for a team that is scoring the second-lowest points per possession in the Big Ten, throwing up 70 in regulation on the Golden Gophers is commendable. But IU also was stuck on 59 points for almost five minutes in the second half, and it allowed Minnesota to crawl back from a 15-point deficit and cut it to seven. IU also had close to a six-minute scoring drought from the 6:38 mark to the :46 mark at the end of the second half, and with Joseph and Paul Carter hitting, the game become a nail-bitter with under a minute to go.

IU was able to respond in the middle of those two scoring droughts to pad their lead a bit again. But around 11 minutes of scoreless action — something we’ve seen from the Hoosiers before this season — usually isn’t going to cut it. This afternoon, though, the Hoosiers were able to escape with a victory.

THE UGLY: STORMING THE FLOOR.

I know this tradition jumped the shark a few years back, but come on: IU beat an unranked Minnesota at home. Did the IU students really have to do this?

As you can see by glancing at Pomeroy’s numbers, there are few areas in which the Hoosiers compare favorably to Minnesota. The Golden Gophers are defending exceptionally well — they’re third nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency, sixth in defensive turnover percentage and 28th in defensive effective field goal percentage.

The turnover percentage, in particular, should be of concern. While the Hoosiers do excel at forcing turnovers — 66th nationally in defensive turnover percentage — they’re giving quite of few possessions back with their 22.6 percent turnover percentage — 263rd nationally. Minnesota, on the other hand, does a solid job taking care of the ball — 62nd nationally in turnover percentage.

The team that effectively controls tempo will likely win this game. Indiana will look to score in transition and attempt to take better care of the ball. And Minnesota will look to continue carrying out its winning formula: slow it down, take care of the ball and take high percentage looks.

Pomeroy has it going down like this: Minnesota 77, Indiana 65. What say you?

Player Pick to Click Wins, Season to-date:

+ Maurice Creek: 5

+ Verdell Jones: 5

+ Christian Watford: 4

+ Jeremiah Rivers: 2

If not, you’ll now know him as the kid who pleaded guilty to shoplifting at Mall of America, reportedly stole a laptop and in perhaps the most bizarre development of this young college basketball season, announced he was leaving Minnesota via YouTube:

I’m pretty sure this isn’t what Tubby Smith envisioned when he signed the No. 19 recruit in the country, but White clearly has problems beyond basketball that need to be addressed. So, what’s next for White? Most likely a program willing to give him a second chance (where have you gone, Jerry Tarkanian?) or if he tries to go pro, presumably the NBDL.

THE BAD AND UGLY:

The first half. Whoa boy: it was tough to watch, even by this year’s standards. Turnover after turnover after turnover. And then a few more turnovers. When the fist half was said and done, IU racked up 15 of ‘em. Minnesota snatched nine steals on the Hoosiers during the first half, cutting into the passing lanes for easy deuces. For the game, IU had 26 turnovers.

Breaking the press. When Minnesota decided to go full-court press on IU midway through the second half, they went on an 11-0 run.

THE GOOD:

IU kept it close on the road against a team that has been ranked for part of the season. This is all coming from a team that started four freshman and Kyle Taber, and were without their leading scorer in Devan Dumes. IU also played great defense, as Minnesota struggled to get anything going on the offensive end.

Like I’ve written about before, tonight was another night where IU’s opponent played down to the Hoosiers’ level. The Golden Gophers had 18 turnovers on the night; they’re averaging 14.

After a Matt Roth three with a little under 13 minutes to go, IU actually had the lead, 34-33. But a win was not to be.

Lastly, props to Malik Story. When IU couldn’t get a darn thing going on the offensive end in the first half, Story tallied 11 of the Hoosiers’ 20 points.

So yeah, the past few weeks — the Michigan game, then the Illinois debacle, and so on — have been pretty depressing. It’s enough to challenge one’s sanity. Why am I watching this team? What’s the point? Do I really not care about Indiana basketball?

Of course I do, and the Hoosiers’ game against Minnesota proved why: They’re getting there. It might not happen on the road, and it might not happen soon, but IU will win a Big Ten game, and it will be awesome.

Until then there’s not a lot to analyze, really. The Hoosiers are just as bad as they look. They’re inefficient offensively because they turn the ball over like crazy. They allow far too many open looks, they don’t have the size to match up, they’re inexperienced, and so forth. There are only so many ways to write that brilliant batch of analysis you just read without getting sick of writing it, let alone reading it. But at one point, I now feel confident in saying, the stars will align, the opposing team won’t knock down those shots, the game will come down to the last few plays, and the Hoosiers won’t turn the ball over, or miss a free throw, or do something utterly erratic that boggles the mind and makes one throw a pillow at the opposite couch. They’ll complete that pass; they’ll make that shot; they’ll avoid weirdness. And they’ll win.

It will be short-lived and it might only be one game. But like I said: It will be awesome.

BRIEF, UNIMPORTANT MISCELLANY:

Without this turning into one of those gawd-awful notes columns some writers still do (Unfortunately Mike Downey retired from the Chicago Tribune; I so miss his wacky observations about American Idol and kids these days!), some random periphery stuff:

– The Indy Star’s always-interesting, always-verbose (really, though, who am I to talk?) Terry Hutchens is asking today why Devan Dumes wasn’t in the game down the stretch, even with his foul issues, which was hard not to notice during the game. It was made more obvious by Dumes taking that last three, which appeared to be a play set up for Matt Roth on a double screen. Roth was too slow getting around, Minnesota defended it well, and it was left to Dumes to take one of his wild-but-somehow-still-occasionally-goes-in 3-pointers. So, where was Dumes? And to a larger point, as a commenter noted under Alex’s wrap yesterday, are Tom Crean’s substitution patterns a teensy bit unreliable?

I don’t really have an answer, not only because it’s not something I’ve really noticed but I’m sort of hesitant to question how Crean could better maximize this team’s limited human capital. There’s not a lot of wiggle room there; they’re just bad, and he knows it. Tinkering too much with the Hoosiers’ lineup is a little like a fly adjusting its above-highway flight by a few inches. Recalibrate all you want, but that truck’s windshield is still coming.

– People actually showed up! To the game! And wore the right color shirt! And got to keep that shirt! And the shirt had a Winston Churchill quote on it! This is a win-win for everyone; as long as tickets remain $5 and t-shirts remain plentiful, maybe the Hoosiers can keep that attendance ticking in this, our year of recession (both athletic and economic).

Lowering cost, matching price to demand — sounds like a smart business strategy to me. But then my only business course was in sixth grade, when I played Lemonade Stand on my Apple IIE at study hall.