Archie Miller calls his team soft as Hoosiers drop sixth straight
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
BLOOMINGTON — In good seasons or bad, you could always count on one thing from the Indiana Hoosiers: They’ll be ready to play against ranked teams on their home floor. On Friday night against the Michigan Wolverines, it just wasn’t the case.
Michigan thoroughly outplayed Indiana from the tip, defeating the Hoosiers 69-46 in front a stunned crowd at Assembly Hall.
The Indiana Hoosiers have dropped six straight games for the first time since the 2010-2011 season. After a promising 3-0 start in conference play, they’ve fallen to 3-6 in a complete turn of events.
“Our team right now is soft,” said Head Coach Archie Miller. “And to be honest, we’re scared. There’s nothing that we are doing well. I take full responsibility for the performance, in front of our crowd. It’s embarrassing to be honest with you.”
Senior Juwan Morgan agreed: “Everybody is embarrassed. I’m angry about it (the losing streak). I know every guy is. I know how to read that room.”
Indiana played a decent game defensively for the final 30 minutes. Unfortunately, they spotted the Wolverines a 17-0 start to the game. The Hoosiers didn’t even score until seven minutes had passed, and they didn’t hit their first field-goal until Al Durham scored with 10:15 left in the first half.
Romeo Langford committed three early fouls and didn’t make his first shot until early in the second half. Juwan Morgan was the only Hoosier to score in double-figures with 16.
Coach Miller had said pregame that his team had a great practice the day before, but it just hasn’t been translating to the games. “It’s good that our team is still engaged practice-wise, but the game disappointment is a product of our toughness level,” Miller said. “We’re feeling sorry for ourselves a little bit, and you can’t do that. We’re a shell of where we were a month ago. One win would really help a lot of things. We’ve got to keep working and prepare for Rutgers on Wednesday.”
During this six-game losing streak, Indiana has shot under 44% five times. They’re banged up with injuries. They’ve lost confidence. And things just don’t get any easier in this conference.
“We’ve got to put our big boy pants on and start showing up,” said Miller. “Right now, we’re an entire team that doesn’t have confidence. The only way to get that back is by working your butt off.”
It’s a classic chicken and egg example- Does knocking down a few shots bring the confidence, or do you need the confidence to start knocking down some shots? Either way, these nights of shooting 3-of-20 from 3-point range and 11-of-20 from the line just aren’t going to cut it.
With several Quad-1 wins in their bank, the Hoosiers are (probably) a current NCAA tournament team, despite the 3-6 conference record. But if they want to keep it that way, they need to turn things around, and fast.
“Like I said at the beginning of the season, we’re looking for postseason this year,” said Juwan Morgan. “We’re not selling ourselves short. There’s a lot of talent in the room. I’m not giving up on any of these guys, and I know they’re not giving up on me either.”
Talented or not, this team needs to start seeing results. A tough road battle with Rutgers is up next.
