Indiana had scored eight straight points. Matt Painter called for a timeout.

But what happened after that point will be incredibly tough for this Indiana team to swallow.

Indiana missed the front end of three one-and-ones. And the No. 8 Boilermakers, led by Robbie Hummel, played like a veteran team coming together at the right time in a 78-75 win, their fifth straight.

Verdell Jones scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Hoosiers (9-12, 3-6 Big Ten) and Tom Pritchard added 13 points and five rebounds.

For now, I’m headed to the media room to listen to Matt Painter and Tom Crean address the media. Ryan will chime in with The Minute After soon and I’ll have some postgame audio and video later.

+ Box score

No seriously, remember when he was the next prototype Indiana big man—not big or nimble enough to just dominate, but automatic to the point of getting his numbers every single night. Or at least that’s what he was going to be. Yea, that train has sort of sailed.

In a year that’s been up-and-down for Indiana basketball, Pritchard is like the kid in the last car on the roller coaster, getting the worst of every turn and the least out of every barrel roll.

Bad similes aside, it really has been a forgettable year for the big man from Westlake, Ohio. Pritchard wasn’t jaw-dropping last year, but he was consistent, and he had the distinct advantage of being a productive post player on a team almost completely void of them.

But now he has to share the frontcourt. There are other big bodies that Tom Crean can throw out on the floor, and suddenly Pritchard looks less like the next great hope and more like Sean Kline with two good knees. Minutes are down, fouls are up, points are down, fan displeasure is way, way up, and young Pritchard has too often looked like any combination of lost, timid, weak and confused. I’ll bet it won’t take 10 comments to find those words and more like it used to describe Pritchard following this post.

But is it fair? I mean, is it entirely his fault? Has Pritchard really fallen that far? Short answer: Probably not. Long answer: Glad you asked.

First, let’s be honest. No, Pritchard has not looked good through most of this year.

I got the chance to join the good folks over at the H-T (well, Dustin moreso than Korman [implied]) for their post-at Michigan ScoopTalk episode, and the first question Chris posed to me asked what Pritchard has been missing this year. The first and most obvious answer is confidence, Pritchard just hasn’t looked as assertive or as sure of himself as he did last year. Yes, his production tailed off as 2009 wound down, but that had far more to do with depth and his simply being worn down than with confidence.

And yes, it’s entirely fair to expect Pritchard to improve from one season to the next. That’s the evolution of basketball—of all sports—and Pritchard seems to be defying that process. Where we might run into problems is in the assumption that having extra big men on roster who could hold their own would help Pritchard, when it’s probably hurt him just as much.

I’ll admit, I’m as guilty as anyone. I figured Pritchard would be a mainstay in the IU offense this season. He had a year to get his fitness up, and yes, he was going to have some help down low. All of that = more points, rebounds and minutes from Tom Pritchard.

But in all honesty, I wonder if the sudden competition down low hasn’t hurt Pritchard more than it’s helped. I mean, consider what he’s now working with.

Christian Watford is easily the best of the bunch, although obviously he’s not a died-in-the-wool big. Watford is a comfortable ‘tweener, and the best overall player by some distance, which makes him the most adaptable and prolific in this offense. Then comes Bobby “The Situation” Capobianco, (I don’t understand) who’s probably cut Pritchard’s minutes as much as anybody, and Derek Elston, who has made enough impressive bench cameos to have some fans screaming for more him and less Pritchard.

Well, duh, you say, of course sharing court time with other talented post players will decline Pritchard’s production, and it surely has. But let’s also remember that Pritchard was a three-star prospect whose other offers came from Penn State and Miami (Ohio). He was a Kelvin Sampson project, a down-the-line starter who would have the time and protection-by-depth-chart to stay out of the glare until he was ready for it.

I understand many of you are getting tired of that sort of excuse, and I understand. But that doesn’t change the fact that Pritchard, like his team, is young and still in the midst of growth under most trying circumstances. It’s been a tough year for the big man—and I’m through trying to predict how this team will turn out, it leads me to dark places—but I think Pritchard deserves at least 12 more months to prove his mettle.

If there was anything Indiana needed to key on in this game, anything Tom Crean likely would be pleased to see, it was a good start by the Hoosiers. I know this is Bryant College, a team that’s only entering its third season as a D-I school, a team that’s now 0-13, but the Hoosiers’ good start — well, save for those six turnovers in the first 10:30 — was so crucial to this team’s overall makeup after their atrocious first half against Loyola (Md.) last week.

Heading into Big Ten play Thursday against Michigan, this young team needed a bit of a confidence boost, and going into the locker room with a 45-17 lead did just that. Jordan Hulls was solid in his start — I know Jordy has been playing well off the bench, but anyone else thinking Jeremiah Rivers’ rough game last time out had anything to do with him riding the pine to start? — and Tom Pritchard continued to return to form by bruising down low, getting fouled and getting to the line. He only hit 3-of-9 from the charity stripe, but it’s encouraging to see he got there that many times. He finished the game with 11 points and eight boards, and if he can keep up that kind of production, that starting spot should remain his. I love Derek Elston, but his energy is perfect in a sixth-man role.

IU also shot well from three-point land making 9-of-22 for 40.9 percent. And it was a team effort on the offensive end: four other guys scored in double figures besides Pritchard, as Christian Watford led the way with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Verdell Jones also had 15, Devan Dumes added 12 and Hulls had 12 as well.

Other than that, it’s sort of hard to glean much out of this one. No offense to Bryant, but they were such an inferior opponent and it was so out of hand in the second half — IU did win by 48 points tonight, after all — what we saw might not be all that telling of how the Hoosiers are set up heading into Big Ten play.

THE BAD AND UGLY: MAURICE CREEK’S INJURY.

There are injuries you know are bad out the gate. A guy lands wrong, goes down instantly, he clutches the limb in question, and he lays there, writing and writhing and writhing in pain.

That wasn’t the case with Creek tonight. It was slow moving. As he came down on his legs after he was fouled on the layup, Creek barreled a little, fell, then did a bit of a somersault into the row of photographers. But as he tumbled back over and righted himself on the court, he clutched his left knee and began the writhing.

Yet, he remained mostly calm as the training staff attended to him.

But when Tom Crean came out onto the court, you knew it wasn’t good. And when subsequent replays seemed to indicate his knee had popped out of place, you knew it might be worse. And when the stretcher made it’s way on the court, you knew it was really bad.

Initial indications were that Creek had a dislocated knee. But now it’s been reported that Creek has a fractured knee, he’ll have surgery and is out for the season.

I don’t need to tell you this, but this is a huge blow for the Hoosiers. Creek was the team’s leading scorer, the third-leading scorer in the Big Ten and the leading freshman scorer in the nation at 17.6 ppg entering tonight’s game.

Best of luck on the surgery, Mo.

Some other observations:

+ Anyone else have to do a double-take on Bryant’s black and gold unis? IU could have been playing Purdue for all I knew.

+ Bawa Muniru got in somewhat early in the first half, and you wonder if he’s starting to show a little bit of improvement in practice to warrant that. During the second half, he had a nice block, something we’ve looked for, but haven’t seen much of yet.

+ Rivers got a haircut. Lookin’ good:

I started this game a bit late, so I had to play catchup on DVR. Because I always need to have my laptop open — always, always — I caught one of Alex’s Twitter updates that said IU had cut the lead to 11 with just under 12 minutes to go. At the time, I had just started the second half, and as the half wore on I became increasingly shocked by this fact: after all, IU showed no signs of really putting a dent into Loyola’s lead. They still trailed by 20 with 14:10 to go, and though they were taking care of the ball better — there was only one turnover in the first seven minutes of the second half — Loyola was hitting their shots, and IU wasn’t able to inch any closer.

But then the barrage hit. Maurice Creek knocked down two threes, Verdell Jones hit another, Creek hit a layup, got fouled and hit the free throw, Jones hit two free throws off a Creek steal, and suddenly the Hoosiers were only down six with 10:18 to go.

Another big part of IU’s comeback? Tom Pritchard. In the second half, he really reminded me of the Pritch of old: he was gobbling up rebounds, had a real knack for the ball and was a productive scorer. He had six offensive boards and eight total, and chipped in seven points. It wasn’t an amazing effort by any stretch, but he kept a lot of plays alive during the Hoosiers’ comeback run, and it was an integral part of why they were able to make this a game.  IU, with their thin frontline, could use this kind of effort out of Pritch every night.

Yes, of course, there was plenty to gripe about in this game. (Just what until you get to The Bad.) But IU could have laid down and died in this one. Instead, they turned up the defensive pressure in both the full and half court, were aggressive and got to the line, and hit some big shots to bring them right back into this game.

This is what good teams do when they find themselves at a crossroads: They will themselves back into the game with good play on both sides of the ball. But good teams also find a way to win these games against an inferior opponent at home. And well, we all know that didn’t happen tonight.

THE BAD: OH, THERE WAS PLENTY.

I’ve seen some bad basketball in my day. I’ve played some bad basketball in my day. I know last year’s team turned the ball over at a freakishly high rate. But man, this has to rank up there as some of the most terrible basketball I’ve seen in recent history. It was a like a middle school game between two unskilled, uncoordinated teams. The game was basically a reversed course. Where Loyola feasted off IU’s turnovers for 20 points thanks to its full-court press in the first half,  IU got back into this game on the strength of its three-quarters court trap in the second half. Both teams finished the night with 23 turnovers. Early in the first half, when IU actually was able to break the press (which was rare), every possession just seemed to be guys trying to drive — be it Maurice Creek, Christian Watford, Devan Dumes — and falling over themselves.

There was also a ridiculous 58 free throws shot in this game — 32 for IU; 26 for Loyola — which seemed to be to IU’s advantage. They hit a nice 10-of-12 in the first half, and were hitting early in the second.

But it killed them down the stretch:  Jones missed two with 8:21 to go, Jeremiah Rivers missed four straight in the last 2:03, none more important than the two he missed with IU down 69-67 with 37 seconds to play, which essentially sealed the game for Loyola. In the second half, IU only shot 12-of-20 from the line, good for 60 percent. In a game that’s so close, one that you were once down 24 in, you have to do better than that.

And if you’re wondering why, when the shot clock and game clock were nearly identical after those last two missed free throws, the Hoosiers waited 20 seconds to foul, it’s because Brett Harvey happens to be the best returning free-throw shooter in the country from last season. When he didn’t give up the ball, IU had to eventually foul. And all it did was give them less time to mount a comeback. Down four with 17 seconds to go is a lot harder than down four with 35-36 seconds to go.

And ugh, the four-point play with just under two minutes to go in which Rivers fouled Harvey on a 3-point attempt that he made? A four-point lead with just under two minutes to go quickly became a two-point deficit. In a game like this, you can’t let that happen. You just can’t. And it was the second time it happened; the first play of the second half was a four-point play from Harvey, in which Rivers fouled him on a 3-pointer.

The worst play of the night? With 11 minutes to go in the first half, Watford looked to inbound the ball under Loyola’s basket. Hulls and Rivers were covered in the backcourt very near to him on the baseline. Dumes, the next closest Hoosier, was near the 3-point line down on IU’s side of the court. So what does Watford do? He throws it right to — literally it hit him chest high — Robert Olsen of Loyola, a guy that was standing pretty much at center court.

That play pretty much epitomizes how this game went.

THE UGLY: WHEN THE TIE COMES OFF, YOU KNOW TOM CREAN IS ANGRY.

Tale of two halves this evening in Bloomington. After a lack of defensive presence coupled with some lackadaisical play in the first half, IU came storming out of the gate in the second half, and never looked back. Blame the first half on finals, or a week off, or whatever you want, but Tom Crean must have lit a fire under his team in the locker room, because they took it to another level after the intermission. NC Central shot 40 percent in the first half, and only 28.1 percent in the second half.

IU was able to get points in transition, nail some threes (though, they were only 6-of-18 in the second half), push the pace and dictate the game  — something they should do against an opponent like this.  IU’s point guards combined for 16 assists — Jeremiah Rivers had eight (seven in the first half) and Jordan Hulls had eight — and what else can you say about Maurice Creek? He went off for 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting (5-of-10 from three) and even chipped in seven rebounds. The kid just has a knack for putting the basketball into the hoop. I think early on this season, Hoosier fans thought Christian Watford was going to be IU’s go-to scorer and super freshman, but at this point, it’s all Creek all the time.

Tom Pritchard also deserves some recognition here. After many of you thought Elston should get the start in front of him — and rightfully so — Crean did just that, as the freshman started this evening. Pritchard has struggled with foul trouble in several games this year, and has looked sluggish. But he was able to play 21 minutes tonight, hit 4-of-5 from the floor for eight points, and snatch six rebounds.  An amazing line? No. But the non-start seems to have lit a bit of a fire under him, and he was in the conversation tonight — something that’s important to this squad heading into Big Ten season.

THE BAD AND UGLY: CONSISTENCY.

Even though IU shot 56 percent in the first half, their defense — a mix of man and zone — just wasn’t there, and they let a team they eventually beat by 23 hang around. Against a better team, the Hoosiers might have found themselves in a hole at half instead of up three. Sixteen turnovers is a little concerning, though it could have been worse. IU shot 14-of-21 from the line for 66.7 percent, which isn’t going to cut it.

But bottom line: IU brought it in the second half, won big, got the scrubs in — Kory Barnett, anyone? — are .500 on the year at 5-5 and a win away from matching last year’s win total.

He may have fouled out this afternoon, but Tom Pritchard looked alive on both ends of the floor during a stretch in the second half. He drew a charge, went strong to the hole on a couple occasions, and was active on the glass. In short, at times he looked like Mr. Reliable we remember from last season. Hopefully it’s a sign that if he stays out of foul trouble, he can start producing at last year’s level again. IU needs it up front badly.

Tijan Jobe scored on an athletic move around the rim. And he hit a layup earlier in the game for another two points. And he had two blocks. How ’bout that?

Derek Elston continues to be Mr. Energy off the bench. He made a heady decision to slow down after a steal and get the offense going. And speaking of steals, he had four on the afternoon, along with 12 points and six boards in 18 minutes. Not a bad afternoon in Assembly Hall for the freshman.

Free throws continue to get better. IU hit 34-of-44 tonight, good for 76.2 percent. If you’re wondering why this game dragged on for so long, it’s because IU shot 44 times from the line and Northwestern St. attempted 29 foul shots. Lots of fouls.

It was nice to see IU in control of this one, as it’s much needed confidence-wise heading into the Maryland game Tuesday night.

OK, that’s about all I got. For those who watched this whole thing, feel free to fill in the blanks in the comments.

Yes, Indiana lost, and ended up 0-3 in Puerto Rico. But the Hoosiers looked much better against George Mason this morning than they did against Ole Miss and Boston University.

Guys like Bobby Capobianco — seven points, 10 boards (five offensive) and Jordan Hulls — eight points — played the best games of their young careers. Bobby C. might not have a ton of polish, but he did the dirty work on the boards and finished around the rim. It’s exactly the kind of play Tom Crean is looking for from him off the bench. Hulls played with poise, and I think did a better job of orchestrating the offense today than Rivers had done in the previous two games in this tourney. Crean recognized that, and when both Hulls and Rivers were in the ball game, it was Hulls bringing the ball up.The box score only reads 13 minutes for Hulls, but he played so well when he was in there, it seemed like much more.

Hulls lacks athleticism and when you couple that with his size, it can create some matchup problems. But he’s solid, doesn’t make many mistakes and has great basketball IQ. And he flashed some range today with two threes. If the Hoosiers would have gotten a chance to get a three off to tie the game instead of Mason fouling so they had no chance to pop, Hulls was the guy I wanted shooting the ball.

IU seemed more under control, and their 15 turnovers came less off trying to do too much or getting out of control on the break, and more off some passing problems. On the offensive end, they looked more mature, looked more confident. But they just weren’t knocking down shots (20-of-57 for 35 percent shooting), and missed a lot of bunnies around the rim. It proved quite costly.

Perhaps most important in this loss was the way IU closed out the game. It wasn’t an implosion like we saw against Boston University. They didn’t wilt. They scored when they needed to. And with the game tied and Mason looking for a go-ahead bucket, IU played terrific defense and forced Cam Long into a desperation three with the shot clock winding down and a few Hoosier hands in his face. He just happened to hit that desperation three. On a bank shot. A bank he most certainly didn’t call. Tough way to lose, especially for a young team looking for confidence.

The Hoosiers also hit 21-of-28 from the line, good for 75 percent. Lets hope those early free-throw woes are a thing of the past.

THE BAD AND UGLY: DEFENSE.

For as improved as the Hoosiers looked with the ball in their hands this morning, their defense was atrocious. It seemed no matter what they tried — man or zone — Mason just dunked all over them. They were able to get behind Indiana’s zone for high-percentage shots, and they got a lot of alley-oops off penetration. There’s a reason Mike Morrison shot 64 percent from the field this morning: all he did was dunk.

George Mason scored 42 of their 69 points in the paint.

Tom Pritchard got into foul trouble early. And in 14 minutes, he had two rebounds, an assist and no points. This sort of production is starting to become a trend for him. You wonder if someone else steps up — perhaps Bobby C. with his play today, or Tijan or Bawa — they might be inserted into the starting lineup. That’s a bit of a scary prospect, but Crean might have no other choice soon.

Christian Watford also had a rough go of it in Puerto Rico. He looked like he’d be the runaway Pick to Click winner every game after Howard and USC Upstate, but this morning he was only 3-of-13 from the field, and he shot  25.8 percent on 8-of-31 shooting in Puerto Rico. He seemed a bit overwhelmed by the athleticism of Ole Miss, and his lack of strength is sometimes an issue.

But he’s a freshman. You’d expect the shot to come back at some point soon here.

This is what this Hoosiers team can be. Running the break efficiently, not letting teams get set up on D, pushing the pace, getting controlled buckets in transition with Jeremiah Rivers and Verdell Jones leading the charge. It actually looked slow to me at points, because IU wasn’t trying to do too much — just simply taking what they were offered.

Rivers had a nice play during this stretch, as he grabbed an air ball and went coast to coast. But then Ole Miss turned up the pressure, started dominating inside, starting hitting shots, blocking IU’s shots, and IU began turning the ball over at an alarming rate. What was once a 20-11 lead quickly became a double-digit deficit.

Ole Miss just had too much to throw at the Hoosiers. They blocked a ridiculous 12 shots on both lines (starters DeAundre Cranston and Eniel Polynice had two each; Terrico White had one, while the bench picked up the remaining seven), and scored at will in stretches. They overpowered IU. The Hoosiers were able to make mini-runs here and there — something last year’s team would not have done — and had it to 69-61 with a bit over 5:00 to go. But after yet another turnover on a fast break (an errant Devan Dumes pass), that was basically it for their chances at a comeback.

THE BAD: TURNOVERS AND FREE THROWS.

So far this season, what killed IU last year is killing them this year. Sure, there’s more talent at pretty much every position. And a turnover from Rivers this early evening might not look as bad as a Daniel Moore one from last year. But the fact remains: this team is having an awful time taking care of the ball. They had 14 turnovers at half, and 21 for the game. Rivers led the way with six (though some of his drives to the rim were pretty, no?), while Maurice Creek had five. And free-throw shooting was bad again as well: the Hoosiers only hit 12 of their 27 attempts for 44 percent.

It’s tough to win a game, no matter how well you play otherwise, when you’re shooting under 50 percent from the free-throw line and turning the ball over more than 20 times in a contest.

I have faith the Hoosiers can correct the sloppiness as they begin to adjust to Crean’s up-tempo style. But sometimes with free-throw shooting you either have it or you don’t.

THE UGLY:

Tom Pritchard’s air-balled free throw. Back-to-back-to-back missed threes from nearly the same spot late in the second half: the first two from Dumes, the last one from Maurice Creek. The near empty gym:

Tom Crean

Tom Pritchard

Christian Watford

Maurice Creek

Postgame video, courtesy of IU Athletics on YouTube

+ Andy Katz talks to Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke coach says that Indiana should “celebrate” Bob Knight before he returns to Bloomington. {ESPN.com}

+ Dana O’Neil profiles the freshman class and gets a must-read quote from Bobby Capobianco. {ESPN.com}

+ Herald-Times sports editor Chris Korman and beat reporter Dustin Dopirak discuss Tom Crean’s focus on “Scoop Talk.” {The Hoosier Scoop}

+ Korman writes that Indiana players have decided they’ll need to become “nasty, scrappy dogs” to compete in the Big Ten. {The Hoosier Scoop}

+ LaMond Pope looks at the progression of Tom Pritchard, who Crean says has become more efficient offensively. {Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette}

+ Verdell Jones tells DaAntae Prince that IU practices are “like a war field.” {Indiana Daily Student}