Hoosiers fall, but remain a dangerous team
By TYLER SMITH
ISL Editor
(Photo by Jamie Owens)
INDIANAPOLIS — There’s no other way to put it- The Indiana Hoosiers have flat out stunk in the Big Ten Tournament over the years (11-19 all-time record). Fans were hoping this year would be different. Instead, the Hoosiers were a one-and-done, losing to the hungry Michigan Wolverines on a last-second shot, 72-69 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
This is the time of year when anything can happen. The Wolverines are fighting for their tournament lives, while the Hoosiers are already destined for a high seed in the big dance. Often times, the team that has more to play for will prevail. That was the case on Friday afternoon. Michigan’s Kameron Chatman hit a 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds on the clock to win the game. It was only his eighth 3-pointer of the entire season. Again, anything can happen in March.
The feeling inside the Indiana locker room after the game was one of frustration, but the team wasn’t in overreaction mode.
“We’ve been able to bounce back all year,” said senior Nick Zeisloft. “That’s what got us here. That’s what got us a Big Ten Championship.”
Freshman teammate OG Anunoby added: “We’re disappointed we lost, but there’s still more games to play. We’ll keep our head up.”
All season long, Tom Crean has said this Indiana team has been able to “stay in the moment” and “focus on the day” more than any team he has ever coached. If they can continue doing that, they should be able to put this loss behind them heading into the NCAA tournament.
Hoosier star Yogi Ferrell took the loss pretty hard, but knows there are bigger goals ahead: “I’m always disappointed in a loss, but we can still take some positives from it. Now we got to fight. It’s win or go home. And I definitely don’t want this feeling again.”
Freshman big man Thomas Bryant added: “Any team can come out and play a great game. It’s March Madness. We have to execute for 40 minutes.”
On the positive side for Indiana, this loss could serve as a wake-up call. History shows that a conference tournament loss doesn’t always mean much for the Big Dance. The loss to Michigan snapped a five-game winning streak. If the Hoosiers wanted to win the conference tournament, AND the NCAA tournament, they would have had to end the season on a 14-game win streak. Winning six straight is a lot more realistic than 14. Not only that, but starting guard Robert Johnson should be ready to go by the end of next week. His contributions on both sides of the court cannot be overlooked. The Hoosiers will also get more time to rest and prepare for what’s next.
Coach Tom Crean remains confident in his team: “We had a great week of preparation, and a great week of preparing to make ourselves better,” Crean said. “Unfortunately, it just didn’t culminate in a win today. But we will get ourselves better and we look forward to Sunday night and will get ready to go again.”
Indiana will most likely be selected as a three or four seed this Sunday night. They should be huge favorites to win their opening game. Their second game, however, will be a different story. No matter how good you are, there’s just a ton of parity in college basketball. If the Hoosiers aren’t hitting from behind the arc like Friday, they are beatable in the second round. But you also have to consider the other factors: The Big Ten Tournament isn’t the NCAA tournament. The Hoosiers season wasn’t on the line against Michigan. Yogi Ferrell’s career wasn’t on the line against Michigan either.
This team bounced back after Maui. They bounced back after the Penn State loss. They’ve exceeded expectations time and time again this season. And with Yogi Ferrell leading the way, the Hoosiers remain dangerous for the Big Dance.
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