Hoosiers drop third straight
By CALEB LYNN
ISL Contributor
BLOOMINGTON — After starting the conference season at 3-0, the Indiana Hoosiers have dropped three straight games.
The University of Nebraska Cornhuskers came into Bloomington and controlled the game from the tip. They put together an early nine-point lead and they never looked back. The Huskers defeated Indiana Monday night with the final score of 66-51.
The loss for Indiana Head Coach Archie Miller seemed disheartening for him in the post-game conference.
“It was one of the most disappointing games we played this season,” Miller said, “We did not have enough energy out on the floor.”
He also can tell that the film will speak for himself as Miller believes this team did not play to their identity and he believes Indiana will have to figure that out whether at home or away.
Senior forward Juwan Morgan gave all that he could with 17 points on 8-15 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds for the Hoosiers. However, his stats did not mean much to him personally, as he felt his leadership was not where it needed to be.
“There is no excuse for this loss,” Morgan said, “We were not tough enough for some stretches in this game.”
Romeo Langford showed some confidence in trying to go off the dribble and that’s a key to go at a 1-3-1 zone. He had 18 points and six rebounds in this match-up but like Morgan, wants to improve from this loss.
“We were not attacking the basket and trying to get in the paint enough,” Langford said, “And we need to have better spacing in order to make that happen.”
Coach Miller made it an emphasis in the press conference that this team needed to move on, and they needed to find a mindset to figure this out.
“It is a process and a grind,” Miller said, “We were very emotionless, and it was mental fatigue as much as physical fatigue for some guys.”
Coach Miller continued that thought by saying he was not pressing the right buttons. His plan will be to correct that on Saturday at West Lafayette when they take on the Purdue Boilermakers.
“It’s all about Purdue right now,” Miller said, “That win means a lot and we have to be much more dialed in than where we were today.”
With four of the next five games on the road, the Hoosiers will need to figure things out quickly. There are no breaks in the conference schedule, and a promising season could be derailed if they don’t right the ship in the near future.
@TylerSmith_ISL contributed to this story
