I had a great first day in Las Vegas but it was finally time for Indiana basketball, ultimately my reason for making the trip.
The Hoosiers got beat by Northern Iowa 67-61 in a tough loss for Tom Crean’s squad. This is the same Panthers team that scored only 39 points in a loss to Iowa who was picked to finish last in the Big Ten. But this isn’t the same UNI team that advanced to the Sweet 16 last year.
Indiana just looked off. With the exception of Derek Elston who scored a career-high 19 points, everybody looked off beat. Even Christian Watford struggled despite finishing with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Northern Iowa’s defense was outstanding in the game. Rarely was IU left open for a clean shot or back cut. The Panthers thrived off a strong defense on the way to victory.
"We just didn’t play well enough defensively in the first half," said Coach Tom Crean. "We got away from our mindset. We got away from what works for us, which is having a defensive disposition all the way across the court when it comes to pressuring shots, when it comes to pressuring the ball.”
IU was held to 30% from the field in the second half and 42% overall. UNI guarded the perimeter extremely well not allowing an open three.
Jordan Hulls had one of his worst performances for the cream and crimson. His shot was off, he turned the ball over and made careless errors. Maurice Creek also has yet to impress this season. After a couple strong games last year before a season-ending knee injury, he has done nothing.
Hulls, Creek and Verdell Jones were a combined 2-for-18 from the field.
In fact, the Hoosiers shot just 2-of-13 from 3-point range. In fact, Hulls, Creek, Jones and Roth were a combined 0-for-9 from downtown. Free throws were piss poor as IU missed 10 for the game.
Indiana is not going to with those kind of numbers.
Many speculated on Jeremiah Rivers’ status for the tournament but I had no doubt he would play. Rivers over-exaggerated an injury to his left ankle and is fine. It is just a minor sprain though Rivers is a slow healer from injuries. Crean elected to bring Jeremiah off the bench first against UNI.
The Hoosiers need to get it done tomorrow against Colorado at 7:30 PM EST. They can’t leave Vegas without a win—especially against such weak competition.
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I represented Indiana well at halftime when I was selected to participate in the halftime show. The challenge was to see who could hit a layup, free throw and three-point shot first, myself going against a Northern Iowa fan. I hit the layup and free throw on my first attempt and swished the three for the easy victory. My opponent didn’t even make it past the free throw line.
For the victory, I won a 2XL polo (just my size right!) along with a Flip Video HD camera which I was very happy about. I hadn’t lost my shooting touch and proved Indiana fans dominate basketball.
After the game, I grabbed dinner in the Orleans Hotel and then elected to return to the hotel for some more gambling. It was certainly an ugly game for the Hoosiers so I think we were all in a bad mood. Really, Northern Iowa. Ouch.
On to the next.