Indiana has still managed to be one of the nation's 10 most efficient offensive teams and shooting teams - inside the arc, at least - despite the myriad of injuries that have chipped away at its depth.
But Monday night's 66-51 loss to Nebraska showed IU at its worst in its current circumstances: A lack of self assurance from several players not named Juwan Morgan or Romeo Langford.
"To be honest with you, we have some guys that have lost some confidence, whether it's been in and out of lineups, in and out of practices, in and out of this," IU head coach Archie Miller said. "We're sort of really starting to move into that role, not real sure what we are getting out of certain rotations and certain things."
Collectively, Morgan and Langford accounted for 35 of Indiana's 51 points. It was an otherwise abysmal showing from the remaining eight Hoosiers who saw the floor against the Huskers.
With those eight shooting a combined 5 for 23 from the floor, Indiana not only registered its lowest total scoring output of the season but also its least efficient game offensively at .80 points per possession.
Just as IU saw one player getting closer to full strength with freshman point guard Rob Phinisee playing 27 minutes, it saw another - sophomore guard Al Durham Jr. - go down after suffering an impact injury in the back of his leg, managing to play only six minutes.
Now Indiana has four of its next six on the road, starting with Saturday's game against Purdue in West Lafayette. With five days between games, recovering and getting healthy are the priorities.
Above all else, though, Miller wants to re-instill the toughness, resiliency and fight that Indiana showed before this skid. And perhaps that will coincide with the confidence some of its players currently lack.
"The big thing is confidence," Miller said. "The big thing is, like I said before, recharging our batteries here. Let's not lose our minds because obviously this group has done some really good things, and we've got a lot of ball to be played. We've got to keep hanging tough."
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