Sloppiness on offense
Indiana got off to a quick start on offense, matching its total first half points versus Maryland by the 13-minute mark. Suddenly, Indiana got sloppy with the ball in ways unseen in even its latest offensive struggles. By halftime, the Hoosiers had 11 turnovers.
Justin Smith accounted for five of those turnovers, while Rob Phinisee had three, and unless defense was feeding offense or the Hoosiers were finding transition opportunities, most offensive possessions were ugly.
Northwestern is one of the best teams in the country at slowing down the pace on defense, and it did it again Wednesday. There was even a possession where Indiana didn't get a shot off – an Armaan Franklin pass sailed out of bounds while the shot clock buzzer rang.
The Hoosiers were lost on offense, particularly after Northwestern implemented a zone that forced Indiana to choose between taking open looks outside or find a way to penetrate. Indiana couldn't do either in that stretch.
The Hoosiers would eventually find offensive success as its defense became more productive following foul trouble on Northwestern's end of the floor.
More scoring droughts
Scoring droughts have defined Indiana's last two games and creeped their way into the game Wednesday night as well.
In the first half, Indiana led by as many as 10 points before going on a five-minute scoring drought and eventually surrendering that lead by halftime, 34-31.
Like the scoring droughts against Arkansas and Maryland, Indiana was stunned in multiple facets of the game. Sloppiness quickly crept into the Hoosiers' offense after jumping to 20 points – their first-half total at Maryland – in less than seven minutes.
Suddenly, passes were missing their marks by a wide margin and Indiana's execution out of sets fell apart completely. After a Jerome Hunter banked three following a broken Indiana possession, Indiana scored eight points in 10 minutes.
That wouldn't be Indiana's last scoring drought, though. Five and a half minutes passed between Indiana field goals and extended Northwestern's lead as wide as 10 points by the midway point of the second half.
Frontcourt defense struggles
While Indiana's frontcourt defense has been known to break down from time to time, particularly near the end of games, its frontcourt defense struggled fairly consistently throughout Wednesday's game.
Northwestern rated just inside the top-250 in terms of post offense entering Wednesday's game, averaging just 42 percent from the inside, but the Wildcats lived in the post against Indiana. By the 10-minute mark, Northwestern had attempted 30 of its field goals from inside the three-point line and made 17 of them.
Fouls build on Northwestern
Northwestern was already down two of its most significant contributors, including freshman point guard Boo Buie, so only eight Wildcats were available Wednesday. Then they got into foul trouble.
While much of its offensive success came from inside, Northwestern's two primary post contributors, Pete Nance and Robbie Beran, hit four personal fouls by the time eight minutes were left in the game.
Fouls greatly influenced Northwestern's approach. Suddenly, it wasn't able to get inside with ease, and it needed to roll down the shot clock and take shots from further outside. That played into Indiana's hands, as the Hoosiers were able to force some turnovers and create transition opportunities.
Once Northwestern couldn't get inside, it began to turn the ball over and miss long shots, leaving the door open for the Hoosiers to take a commanding lead.
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