The Minute After: Northwestern

Photos from IU basketball’s 72-68 loss to Northwestern at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

Thoughts on a 72-68 loss to the Wildcats:

Entering tonight’s contest, Indiana was still projected to make the NCAA tournament—barely.

But this loss to Northwestern, one of a quad 3 variety, might now have the Hoosiers on the outside looking in.

This was a game the Hoosiers couldn’t afford to lose. But they did. It happened.

All seemed well in the first half. Indiana looked like it had against lesser teams so often this season. They moved the ball. Made 3s. Had little problem running their stuff. This smaller, less experienced Northwestern squad was discombobulated on defense. The Hoosiers assisted on 14 of their 15 made baskets in the first half. They hit 8-of-16 (50 percent) from 3-point range. Lamar Wilkerson scored 14 points (5-of-8). Sam Alexis shot 4-of-4 (eight points). Nick Dorn finally got some daylight, going 2-of-5 from deep.

The Hoosiers were comfortable, breezing to 1.44 points per possession. And yet, despite IU’s offensive success, Northwestern found itself in striking distance, down nine (42-33) at half.

And strike in the second half, the Wildcats did.

After an Alexis score to start the half put Indiana up 11, Northwestern ripped off an 8-0 run to cut it to three. The Wildcats were also more locked in on defense, and Indiana was no longer able to get whatever it wanted. Yes, the Hoosiers hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back up to nine early. And even with 10:04 to go, a Tucker DeVries jumper gave Indiana an eight-point lead.

But then the bottom absolutely fell out.

The Hoosiers didn’t make another field goal until a Conerway bucket at the rim with 31 seconds to play, a stretch of 9:33 without a basket. This was all against a Northwestern squad that came into tonight’s contest 15th in Big Ten play in points allowed per possession. One that also didn’t have a distinct size or athletic advantage against Indiana, which has doomed IU at other times this season.

As the Hoosiers continued to miss shots, possessions stalled and confidence seemed to evaporate. Worse yet, Indiana didn’t do itself any favors on the offensive boards, getting easy putbacks or extending possessions. The Hoosiers snagged just three offensive rebounds on 18 missed baskets in the second half and rebounded only 18 percent of their missed shots for the contest. An Alexis free throw with 16 seconds to play was Indiana’s only second-chance point all game. Northwestern, on the other hand, rebounded 38 percent of its misses and scored 12 second-chance points.

Indiana’s defense just hasn’t been good enough down the stretch in Big Ten play. It’s been a growing problem the last couple of weeks and has particularly stood out in the last two games. After Purdue roasted them in Mackey Arena over the weekend, Northwestern posted 1.3 points per possession in the second half. The Hoosiers had no answer for Nick Martinelli, who scored 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting over the final 20 minutes. He led all scorers with 28 points.

Did DeVries get fouled on a late 3-point attempt with three seconds to play, one where he would have gone to the line with the Hoosiers down three and a chance to tie the game? Yes.

But Indiana didn’t get the call. And really, it shouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place.

This was IU’s worst loss of the season. It comes at a horrible time. And this program once again finds itself in a familiar place, a tournament berth slipping away as Select Sunday approaches.

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