The Indiana Hoosiers (14-6, 5-4 Big Ten) once again found themselves on the wrong side of a second-half comeback Wednesday night, giving up 54 points after halftime against the Northwestern Wildcats (12-7, 3-5 Big Ten) en route to a 79-70 loss.
After taking a 31-25 lead into halftime, the Hoosiers had an excruciating defensive collapse after the break. Northwestern, after being held to only 25 points on 30.8% shooting in the first half, lit up Indiana in the second half to the tune of 54 points on 62.5% shooting from the floor and 64.3% shooting from beyond the three-point arc. Wildcats guard Brooks Barnhizer terrorized the Hoosiers, scoring 21 points on 57.1% shooting and recording 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 steals.
Despite the loss, Hoosier guard Mackenzie Mgbako broke through his recent poor shooting streak. After missing 15 consecutive three-point attempts across Indiana’s last four games, Mgbako finally found his shooting stroke, scoring 20 points on 8/14 shooting and going 3/7 from beyond the arc.
Mike Woodson Is Still Looking For Answers
Now losers of three of their last four games, the Indiana Hoosiers are stuck in a bit of a tail-spin. After a 13-3 start to their season, Indiana now sits at 5-4 in Big Ten conference play and, per ESPN’s latest Bracketology prediction, are slated to barely sneak into the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers are in desperate need of a shot in the arm to help reignite their season, and head coach Mike Woodson is desperately trying to find it.
Speaking to the media after Wednesday’s loss, Woodson was up front with reporters about what he will do to fix Indiana’s repeated woes:
“I wish I knew. I’m still trying to figure it out. I know we got Malik [Reneau] back, and we knew we weren’t going to play him very many minutes tonight. But we had a hell of a defensive half, and then we come out and give up 54 points and we pile on the turnovers. I mean, it was just a bad combination.”
Forward Malik Reneau saw his first game action since a knee injury sidelined him in the opening moments of Indiana’s 84-74 win over Rutgers on January 2. Indiana went 3-2 in his absence, including two 25 point blowout losses at the hands of Iowa and Illinois. Reneau struggled in his return to action, scoring only 2 points in 11 minutes of game time. Coach Woodson spoke on Reneau’s struggles and how the team will handle his injury moving forward:
“It’s gonna take a little while, man. The guy hadn’t played in a number of games, and he only played about 10 minutes tonight and it showed. He’s not there yet. He hadn’t had a chance to really practice, so I knew I wasn’t going to play him very many minutes tonight. But that was just a part of it, we just gotta keep working”
Indiana Hoosiers Continued Defensive Struggles
Indiana once again found itself searching for answers on the defensive end of the floor. Northwestern connected on 48.1% of their three-point attempts in Wednesday’s contest. On the season, the Hoosiers are allowing their opponents to connect on 32.3% of their threes and allowing 72.9 points per game, the third-worst tally in the Big Ten.
Speaking on his team’s continued defensive struggles, Mike Woodson said that a lack of defensive communication is letting their opponents get hot from the field:
“Our communication from a defensive standpoint was lost the second half. Our switches, we weren’t together on switches, where we were connected the first half and they made us pay for it.”
However, despite the defensive lapses, Woodson stressed that he won’t allow his team to get wrapped up in talk about their struggles, saying that it’s a long season and they have time to course-correct:
“You can never get worried. There’s too many games still left.”
The Indiana Hoosiers’ next chance to right their rapidly sinking ship will come on January 26 in a home game against the Maryland Terrapins (14-5, 4-4 Big Ten). The Terrapins, led by freshman center Derik Queen, are currently projected to receive a 9-seed in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN’s Bracketology.
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