BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – These types of marquee non-conference matchups in 2023, at least with regard to the win-loss column, have all gone the same.
Location of the contest hasn’t mattered. Indiana's had bites at the apple in New York, Atlanta and its own stomping grounds. Versus defending champion UConn, Auburn and now Kansas, IU's chance at statement wins prior to the conference slate opening has gone fruitless.
This loss didn't arrive in the same fashion. The Huskies overpowered the Hoosiers in Madison Square Garden, and the Tigers ran IU off the floor to ruin the faux homecoming weekend in Atlanta just seven days prior. But Indiana came with fire and energy absent from the prior contests of this magnitude, valiantly fighting to change the narrative of the Hoosiers' non-conference slate.
IU held a lead over the country's No. 2 team for more than 35 minutes on Saturday. Assembly Hall, dressed in all the glitz and glamor a non-conference game in mid-December could carry, sensed upset.
Then, Hunter Dickinson, in helping to eliminate what was once a double-digit second half lead, converted on a turnaround hook to give the Jayhawks their first lead of the afternoon. The comeback was gradual, but by the point in the half in which it occurred, the bucket seemed inevitable. Kansas would score 13 of the final 23 points in a back-and-forth affair as the seconds whisked away.
At the sound of the final buzzer, so too had the Hoosiers' chance of the emphatic, load-bearing win this year’s campaign still lacks. The second-ranked Jayhawks escaped, and just, by a tally of four points.
“I don’t think our defensive intensity was there the second half like we started the game and finished the first half,” head coach Mike Woodson said afterwards. “They picked their defense up. It was obvious.”
"Down the stretch, we have to do a better job of taking care of the ball," senior guard Trey Galloway said postgame, fresh off of having a career 28-point day go by the wayside. "A team like that, who's that talented and skilled, just poised, you can't let them hang around.
"We’ve got to put them away when we have a chance."
In part, the Hoosiers weren’t able to close after the Jayhawks made defensive adjustments down the stretch. IU’s offense operated nearly exclusively out of Galloway-led pick-and-rolls, excelling in the two-man game with its bigs. Moving with pace, there was clear emphasis and execution in getting Galloway to the basket with authority. But as Galloway began to face hedges off ball screens and Kansas ramped up pressure, swarmed with doubles to the post and more, the scoring slowed to a halt.
An opportunistic Jayhawk ballclub circled Indiana like a shark out for blood. IU was cut.
Indiana, who shot 54% from the field on 26 shot attempts over the first 20 minutes, was taken out of its offense down the stretch and shot just 33% in the second half.
“You could tell they were more urgent in their defense,” Galloway said. “They were more focused… doing more things to disrupt us, maybe trapping the handoffs, doing certain things to take us out of our rhythm.”
While Indiana wasn’t scoring, Kansas was. Kansas trailed 50-37 with 15:07 to go. In closing, the Jayhawks scored on 13 of their final 20 shot attempts from the field. In that same span, IU was just 8-of-25.
This is what Bill Self-led teams do. They find themselves in contention year in and year out because, in the end, they find ways back into contests. There is rarely a sound beating of the Jayhawks, and for as excellent as IU’s first half was, the Hoosiers’ mettle would always be tested down the stretch. Impressively, the Hoosiers rose to the occasion and supplied the toughness the game demanded for much of the afternoon.
But the final minutes of Indiana’s contest tell the broader story. Kansas adjusted, Indiana struggled to handle it and the Hoosiers ultimately fell short. Whether fatigued or otherwise, IU swung at a giant and missed.
“I think the biggest thing for us, those kind of games, down the stretch you got to be the more poised team and make winning plays,” Galloway said. “They did that.
“I think we just got to find ways to keep flowing in the second half and keep playing our game. We can't let them affect what we do if they change up certain stuff.”
Moral victories have never, and will never exist as a worthy supplement. Indiana's seven wins came ugly, but the overall result was positive. The same holds true for any of the three losses the Hoosiers have now suffered.
When March comes around, it’s a game like this Indiana will want back. Not often is a team among the nation’s best on the ropes on your home floor. Now, in a particularly down year by the looks of it in the Big Ten, the Hoosiers will have to be that much better throughout the course of league play to have a chance to visit the postseason.
Because three chances came at an impactful stamping victory over a fellow powerful opponent. Three times, the Hoosiers walked away empty-handed.
The resume still lacks a signature.
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