Indiana Hoosiers Basketball Weekly Preview

Jan 4, 2014; Bloomington, IN, USA; Indiana Hoosiers guard Yogi Ferrell (11) drives to the basket with Michigan State Spartans guard Gary Harris (14) defending during the first half at Assembly Hall. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

The Big Ten hasn’t been very forgiving to the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team this season. IU is just 1-2 and won’t be making up ground anytime soon. The Hoosiers have a 11-5 overall record and are still searching for a big win.

Indiana dropped their first two conference games, at Illinois in overtime and at home against No. 5 Michigan State, before beating Penn State on the road. The Hoosiers offense has continued to struggle and coach Tom Crean continues to make some baffling decisions.

Against Penn State, the Hoosiers had to rally from a 15-point deficit. It was an impressive effort from a team that has buckled under pressure this season.

The big question from this game: why was Jeff Howard in the game over Noah Vonleh down the stretch? It looked like Crean was favoring his defense, but is there really a situation where Howard is the better option on the court?

Howard played hard, but Penn State had more than a few offensive rebounds late in that game. Vonleh is always going to be more dynamic on the glass.

Giving Austin Etherington minutes late in the game was a gamble that paid off. He hit a huge three pointer to give IU a lead with just over a minute to go. At this point, Crean is throwing players on the court and hoping something good happens.

Benching Jeremy Hollowell was a big step in making IU a better team. Sources indicate that Hollowell hasn’t been focused on basketball or improving his game. Crean grappled with the decision, and decided that if he has to sit for a few games it will ultimately be good for his development.

Hollowell has been the biggest disappointment of the 2012 Class, dubbed “The Movement.” He was outstanding in high school, but his skills haven’t translated to college. Hollowell was able to get away with his style of play in high school because he was bigger, more athletic, and more talented than his opponents. That’s not the case anymore.

In two Big Ten games, Hollowell had just four points off 1-for-11 shooting. He also had six turnovers. Hollowell is an immensely talented player who seems to be coasting on his athletic prowess alone. Hopefully this will be a wake up call for him to get it together and start playing with effort.

IU has a lot to fix right now. The offense still goes through periods of stagnation and the defense is broken down too easily at times. Turnovers are still a problem as IU is coughing up the ball on 22-percent of its possessions.

Pomeroy ratings have IU at 60 in the nation. Their offense is 115th and defense 49th.

Up Next

No. 3 Wisconsin at Indiana

Jan. 14th – 7:00PM ESPN

The Badgers come to Bloomington with a perfect 16-0 record. The Hoosiers haven’t beaten Wisconsin on the hardwood since a 2007 meeting at IU when the Badgers were ranked second in the NCAA.

Wisconsin does everything very well. They still play typical Bo Ryan basketball: hold the ball, keep it moving, wait for the best possible shot. They are extremely efficient but the Badgers play at one of the slowest paces in the country. Defensively, they are solid across the board but don’t come away with many turnovers or blocks.

With IU’s struggles on offense, I don’t see how they are going to be able to outscore their opponents. Inferior Wisconsin teams have beaten much better IU teams than this one in recent years. Indiana has the talent to pull off an upset, but it would require everyone to be firing on all cylinders.

This game is going to end much like the Michigan State outing, with a bad loss.

Northwestern at Indiana

Jan. 18th – 2:30PM BTN

The Wildcats are 8-9 and host Michigan State before heading to Bloomington. To put it bluntly, this team is very bad. They average under 64 points per game and only shoot 40-percent from the field.

They have a solid defense, but their offense is painful. They’re worse than IU from the three-point line and have a tendency to get blocked or have the ball stolen. The Wildcats best path to winning lies in low scoring, ugly games. They recently beat Illinois 49-43.

Northwestern also has a tendency to lose badly. Only two of their losses were by fewer than 10 points. They are 2-3 in games decided by 10 or less.

This is a game that IU must win, and in convincing fashion. They’ve beaten teams more talented than Northwestern this season by double digits. This one should be no exception, regardless of it being a Big Ten opponent.

The Hoosiers rebound from Tuesday’s loss with an impressive win.

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