L
We were going to get here eventually.
Mike Woodson’s teams have a bad tendency of being blown out in losses. This team has a bad habit of losing winnable games, largely due to Woodson’s late-game management. The fact that the last two losses in this losing streak were close games felt like a miracle.
Tuesday night’s loss in Madison was the loss Indiana fans had been fearing would come. A superior opponent came out and asserted itself before the desperate Hoosiers had any chance in the game. The Badgers had eight points before Indiana scored.
The final result was a score that doesn’t reflect how lopsided and out of reach this game was from the opening tip.
Here are three things we learned:
Slow Start
One thing that stood out about how Indiana played in its prior three losses was that the team avoided the slow starts that plagued them throughout the non-conference schedule. Indiana led at half in two of the last three games and at no point trailed by more than 10 points in the first 20 minutes.
With 12:38 remaining in the first half Tuesday, Indiana trailed 26-4. It was over before it started.
This is a team with fewer things to play for every time it takes the court amidst this spiral, so the energy the group comes out with might be indicative of the final score. If it’s ugly early, it probably won’t be better late.
Paint Problems
A big reason that Indiana has been able to stick around the past couple of games has been the dominance of Malik Reneau and/or Oumar Ballo. Most teams simply don’t have the size or talent to match up.
While Reneau is still not fully healthy, Wisconsin appeared ready for Indiana’s paint-oriented offense, challenging Reneau and Ballo throughout. The pair played 54 minutes but combined for just 10 points, lower than either of their season averages.
Indiana is not going to be competitive without at least one of those two playing well. The guard play has been too inconsistent and the offensive schemes depend on the ball being worked through the inside, so the Hoosiers can’t afford more games like this.
Duh
That Indiana hadn’t been blown out in its past three losses was probably more anomalous than tonight’s final score. We’ve seen the team come out flat too many times in the Woodson era, with some of the biggest Big Ten and non-conference games effectively decided by halftime.
Considering the amount of outside noise surrounding the program, including home boos at the last two games, it’s surprising that this group hadn’t thrown in the towel earlier. As the season continues to get away from Indiana, I would not be surprised to see them come out flat and get run out of the gym a few more times.
After putting up a good fight in each of the previous three games, but not being put in a position to succeed, who’s to blame the players for coming out slow?