Eastern Washington Stuns Indiana At Home 88-86
By Evan Massey
The Indiana Hoosiers fell at home to the Eastern Washington Eagles by a final score of 88-86.
Bloomington, IN – Tom Crean and the Indiana Hoosiers entered a game tonight against the Eastern Washington Eagles that they were expected to win very easily, but that didn’t end up being the case. The Hoosiers ended up falling to the Eagles by a final score of 88-86, and it was a game that they led nearly the entire game. It’s a very disappointing loss, and the Hoosiers are now 4-1, while the Eagles improved to 4-1.
There is no question that the fans are angry down in Bloomington, and rightfully so. This was a game that Indiana should have dominated, and they did almost everything but dominate their opponent.
Yogi Ferrell led the way in scoring for the Hoosiers on the night, putting up 27 points to go along with seven assists and four rebounds. Despite the loss, his play was a major bright spot and he did everything that his team needed him to do. Unfortunately, he couldn’t win the game by himself and the team wasn’t able to get behind him and play up to the standards that he set with his individual performance.
Indiana also received a nice performance from Troy Williams, who scored 19 points to go along with nine rebounds. James Blackmon Jr. was the only other double digit scorer for the Hoosiers with 10 on the night.
Drew Brandon came through with a huge game for the Eagles, scoring 27 points on the night and grabbing eight rebounds while also dishing out four assists. He was too much for IU’s defense to handle all game long. Tyler Harvey also came through with 25 points on the night, while Venky Jois scored 20 points himself.
Needless to say, this was a bad loss for the Hoosiers and it exposed quite a few of their flaws. They were beginning to get some looks from the national media, but this loss is going to end that in a hurry. Crean has got to figure out how to get his team playing good basketball on a consistent basis, or else Indiana might just begin considering a coaching change.
Now Indiana will be looking ahead to their next game on Friday night against the UNC Greensboro Spartans as a chance to take out this loss on an opponent and get back to winning basketball games.