EVANSTON, Ill. — Indiana basketball can produce joy and heartbreak for its fans in equal measure, all in the span of 40 minutes.
That Jekyll and Hyde character was on full display at Welsh-Ryan Arena during a 79-70 loss to Northwestern on Wednesday night.
The Hoosiers held the Wildcats to 25 points in the first half – the Wildcats went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal – in what Mike Woodson described as a “nice” display of giving up nine 3-pointers in the second period when the players were in difficulty. to execute even the most basic defensive missions.
It was the fourth time this season IU gave up more than 50 points in a single half.
More: Indiana at Northwestern player ratings: Malik Reneau returns but Hoosiers collapse
This has been the pattern of an IU team that has taken a step back (or two) after each success, sometimes within the same game.
What’s stopping the Hoosiers from playing consistently for a full 40 minutes? After the game, Woodson made it clear he wasn’t entirely sure.
“I wish I knew,” Woodson said. “I’m still trying to figure it out. I know we got Malik (Reneau) back, and we knew he wasn’t going to play a lot of minutes tonight. We had a hell of a defensive half and then we came out and gave We went up 54 points and piled up the turnovers, it’s just a bad combination. We just didn’t play well in the second half.
Woodson said the biggest problem in the second half Wednesday was his team’s lack of communication on defense. Northwestern shot 62.5% from the field and 9 of 14 from 3-point range while running the same plays it used in the first half when it shot 30.8% and entered mid -time after missing 10 in a row.
When the game tightened midway through the second half, Woodson said his team “just didn’t answer the bell.”
“We didn’t guard well,” Woodson said. “They made us pay, especially from the 3-point zone. They made 3-pointers all over the court and we never answered.”
The problem is not new to Hoosiers.
Indiana players made many of their issues clear after a stunning, lopsided loss to Illinois earlier this month. Anthony Leal, who has since rejoined the starting lineup, called out the team’s lack of “tenacity, unity and effort,” while Luke Goode said the Hoosiers should take more pride on the defensive end.
They failed in all of these areas in the Northwestern rally.
The performance stood in stark contrast to how the Wildcats responded to the message coach Chris Collins delivered at the break that the second half was a “season-defining moment” for the program.
“We couldn’t have played worse at the end of the (first) half, I just didn’t really like our fight, our spirit, our physicality,” Collins said. “All of a sudden it’s 18-2 and they had all kinds of momentum. I really challenged our guys, it’s not a moment of panic, it’s a sense of urgency extreme.”
It’s more than that time for the Hoosiers if they want to salvage this season.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana reporter for the Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on @michaelniziolek and read all of its coverage by clicking here.
This article was originally published in the Herald-Times: Indiana basketball ‘didn’t answer the bell’ in latest loss to Northwestern
