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Indiana's season is over after a dominant showing by Saint Mary's resulted in an 82-53 victory.

A slow-paced, grind-it-out game was expected in this matchup, but the reality could not have been further from expectations. Indiana struck first by moving the ball well and generating open looks. They got out to a hot start, scoring 18 points on 66.6% shooting before the under-12 media timeout.

However, the Hoosier offense ground to a halt at that point and never recovered. Stout defense from Saint Mary's made it tough to find open looks, and they began exploiting cracks in Indiana's defense on the other end. The Gaels went on a 23-7 run over the final 8:21 of the first half and stole all momentum.

Xavier Johnson and Trayce Jackson-Davis combined for 17 of the team's 28 first-half points but had almost no help on the perimeter. Parker Stewart was the only other starter to score in the first 20 minutes, and he had just three points.

Saint Mary's, meanwhile, had no trouble scoring as Indiana offered up very little opposition defensively. Alex Ducas knocked down three threes in the first half, and Logan Johnson got to the rim at will. Both players had 11 at the halftime break, and the Gaels led 40-28.

The scoring trend continued for Saint Mary's in the second half as the Hoosiers consistently allowed open looks. Xavier Johnson recorded three turnovers in the first five minutes of the half en route to a 10-2 Gael run.

The stellar start to the half for Saint Mary's spelled doom for Indiana. Uncharacteristically, the Hoosiers played poor defense by allowing open shots almost every time down the court. Their legs seemed tired, and their body language indicated an immense feeling of defeat with plenty of time left in the game.

The Hoosiers shot 1-10 in the first ten minutes of the second half and turned it over five times. Saint Mary's outscored Indiana 25-5 in the first ten minutes of the second half and took a massive 67-33 lead. Indiana was several steps slow on every defensive rotation and kept running into brick walls on offense.

Saint Mary's shot well over 60% from the field and 50% from three until they emptied the bench with just a few minutes to go. It was the definition of an offensive clinic in every way.

The rest of the game was more of the same domination, and Saint Mary's ultimately walked away with an 82-53 victory. Logan Johnson finished with a team-high 20, while Tommy Khuse added 19. They will advance to play the winner of UCLA and Akron in the round of 32.

It was truly a night to forget to the Hoosiers with little to no bright spots. The two leading scorers were Jackson-Davis with 12 and Johnson with 11, but neither played a good game overall. The Hoosiers played perhaps their worst defense of the season and managed just a 34% field goal percentage.

Blame fatigue after a battle against Wyoming, a red-eye flight, poor execution, poor strategy, bad coaching, or a combination of all six, but this loss was a grand disappointment. The 29-point loss was the largest tournament loss in program history, and it was sheer domination for the last 75% of the game.

The silver lining for Indiana is in the 10,000-foot view. Indiana played in their first NCAA Tournament since 2016 and now has success to build on as the Mike Woodson era progresses. Young players on the team now have tournament experience, which is a valuable asset moving forward.

Next year will be an exciting season for the Hoosiers with five-star Jalen Hood-Schifino coming to the team, but fans, coaches, and players alike will all have a sour taste in their mouth for a while after tonight's crushing defeat.

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