EVANSTON, Ill. — Indiana got off to a strong start but couldn't expand its lead, losing its fifth straight game, 73-66, at Northwestern Tuesday night.
Scroll below for instant reaction as the game unfolded.
7:37 p.m. ET -- Devonte Green has been suspended indefinitely and will miss tonight's game. De'Ron Davis did not dress and also missed tonight's game. Indiana starts Rob Phinisee, Zach McRoberts, Romeo Langford, Justin Smith and Juwan Morgan.
14:05 1H: Indiana 10, Northwestern 4 -- A good start for IU despite a turnover on its first possession. Morgan is making a concerted effort to get his teammates involved, while Northwestern is trying to establish center Dererk Pardon - to be expected after he logged a 24-point, 10-rebound double-double in the first meeting between these teams - as part of an inside-out approach. A bit surprising to see six of IU's first 10 shot attempts come from 3-point range considering how much Northwestern struggles to defend inside the arc, but so far it hasn't mattered with Northwestern missing their first four 3-point tries as well.
11:55 1H: Indiana 14, Northwestern 6 -- Pardon has four of Northwestern's six, but he's had to work for them thanks to Morgan's defense. Neither team is shooting the ball very well from 3-point range. Every starter but McRoberts has scored so far for IU, so a balanced effort on the offensive end.
7:09 1H: Indiana 20, Northwestern 13 -- Indiana gets some hot and cold minutes from its bench as Langford and Morgan rest. Clifton Moore came up with a nice block, and Evan Fitzner scored his first basket since Dec. 22 but also a noticeable difference in performance without Langford and Morgan on the floor. Still, it was a crucial stretch in that it gave those two a nice breather.
3:49 1H: Northwestern 21, Indiana 20 -- An ugly stretch between timeouts for the Hoosiers. Northwestern takes advantage of a 5:12 scoreless streak by IU with a pair of three pointers from Aaron Falzon and an acrobatic layup from AJ Turner. This inability to expand a lead is what came back to haunt the Hoosiers against Maryland earlier this month.
Halftime: Northwestern 28, Indiana 24 -- IU closed out the first half scoring four points in the final nine minutes after Al Durham Jr.'s layup at the 9:01 mark. Pardon was involved often, but it was Falzon - who had scored just six points all season entering this game - who burned IU the most. Morgan, meanwhile, had a strong first half despite a couple uncharacteristic misses at the rim, sitting two points and two rebounds shy of a double-double.
14:37 2H: Northwestern 43, Indiana 36 -- The Hoosiers got within three before back to back threes by Falzon and Vic Law. Falzon also got fouled on a 3-point try on the possession just before the timeout. Northwestern's inside-out strategy appears to be paying off at the moment, between Pardon's 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the floor and the Wildcats hit all three of their attempts from beyond the arc early. With 13 of its 29 overall field goal attempts in the first half coming from distance, Northwestern has seemed intent on burying Indiana from behind the 3-point line and it's working.
11:45 2H: Northwestern 55, Indiana 40 -- Between timeouts, Morgan picks up his third foul. Langford has 7 points on 3 of 6 shooting from the floor but has largely been held in check by Northwestern's defense. At this point, this deficit seems insurmountable for the Hoosiers.
8:42 2H: Northwestern 55, Indiana 45 -- Indiana is trying to make a late rally, helped by Northwestern scoreless streak of 3:36 with the Wildcats missing their last six shots from the floor. Northwestern head coach Chris Collins calls a 30 second timeout to try to stall IU's momentum.
7:44 2H: Northwestern 55, Indiana 47 -- Morgan's big bucket has IU on a 7-0 run and within single digits, but just before the timeout Smith picks up his third foul on what appeared to be a clean block on a Pardon dunk attempt. Either way, the Hoosiers are starting to show some fight.
2:56 2H: Northwestern 64, Indiana 58 -- Langford is playing more aggressively, but Indiana still is having trouble getting over the hump.
0:26 2H: Northwestern 70, Indiana 66 -- Indiana's had several missed opportunities, including Justin Smith missed dunk, Langford missed long jumper, Phinisee missed transition layup, trying get closer. Still, it's within striking distance after a pair of missed free throws by Law.
Ultimately, though, Indiana will fall short and suffer its fifth-straight loss.
FINAL: Northwestern 73, Indiana 66.
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