Hoosiers fall to Louisville
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — After a disappointing loss to Nebraska to open conference play, the Hoosiers had a big opportunity to get back on track against #6 Louisville in Indianapolis. Instead, their shooting went ice cold and they were no match for the Cardinals, losing by a final score of 77-62 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Indiana (10-4) only trailed 23-20 late in the first half, and were fortunate to be that close because of poor shooting and turnovers.
“Our turnovers at the beginning of the game were ridiculous,” Coach Tom Crean said. “They were unforced. I have no problem with an aggressive drive that leads to a turnover, but it’s the unforced turnovers that will kill you.”
Indiana’s fortune would soon run out after that, as Louisville went on a 16-7 run to end the first half, to take a 39-27 lead into halftime.
Credit the Hoosiers for fighting back, as they cut the lead down to 48-42 at one point. But after a timeout, the Cardinals went on another run that put the game away.
For the game, Indiana shot just 32.2% from the field, and were 4-of-21 from behind the arc. Louisville has a lot of length, and are a great defensive team, but the Hoosiers had a lot of good looks that just didn’t fall. Robert Johnson went 1-for-13 for the game, and 0-of-8 from three.
“We had so many open shots that we missed,” Crean said. “That’s tough for us. I’ve got great belief that we will recover from that. We didn’t have a good day offensively at all.”
Indiana finished with 14 turnovers, and only had just eight assists. They tried a number of different options at point guard, and nothing really worked with any lineup.
The one positive in this game was rebounding. Indiana controlled the boards by a margin of 39-28, including 19 offensive rebounds. For much of the game, more than half of Indiana’s points were of the second-chance variety.
Freshman De’Ron Davis played well, with eight points and eight rebounds. OG Anunoby led Indiana with 14 points, while James Blackmon Jr. recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
“We’ve just got to come together as a team,” said Blackmon. “We’ve been here before, and we’ve just got to tighten up on the things we can control.”
Early season victories over Kansas and North Carolina gave Hoosier fans a lot of hope for this season. But as the calendar turns to 2017, the Hoosiers will probably be out of the Top-25, and will have a long road ahead if they want to become one of the nation’s elite teams.
Tom Crean is remaining optimistic: “I can’t wait to get back to work tomorrow with this group,” he said. “We’ve got a great group of guys. We’ll keep working and improving every day.”
Next up: The Hoosiers will continue Big Ten play with a home game against Wisconsin on Tuesday night.
