The Indiana Hoosiers are a flawed basketball team. They will struggle at times this season, especially on the road. This season likely won't go the way fans wanted. This team can still win lots of games and keep things interesting. All of these things can be true.
Nebraska ran the Hoosiers off the court on Wednesday night, defeating Indiana 86-70. Surprisingly, the Hoosiers out-shot Nebraska on the evening, both in FG percentage (47-46) and 3-point percentage (50-38). The difference was turnovers and guard play. Indiana turned the ball over 19 times, and got outscored 27-6 in points off turnovers. This team just isn't good enough to make up for mistakes of that magnitude. And it's one thing to lose a road game in the conference. To get embarrassed is another.
The frustration level for fans continues to escalate with each passing performance like Wednesday night. When this team gets punched, it often fails to punch back. The lack of heart, energy, and attention to detail is concerning. And unfortunately, Hoosier nation might be in for several more of those performances in road games this season.
However.
The Hoosiers still have Assembly Hall.
Let's not pretend like this team will ever play that poorly in Bloomington. Let's not forget how many times we've watched this before. Playing a terrible game on the road just doesn't carry over to the next game at home very often for this program.
I've always loved KenPom and have found it to be very helpful over the years. The KenPom projections have Indiana going 1-6 in their next seven games. I don't buy it. In those seven games, Indiana will host Ohio State, Minnesota, and Iowa. I see two or three wins just in those three games. The Hoosiers will also host Purdue in this stretch, which will clearly be a challenge, but not impossible. And the Hoosiers will play tough road games at Rutgers, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Do I expect a 5-2 stretch in these games? Not at all. I'm thinking a 3-4 stretch is more realistic, though 2-5 is possible.
Should fans be content with that if Indiana can hold their own at home but struggle to be .500 in the conference? That's not what I'm implying. I'm simply saying: This team is not guaranteed to go on a huge losing streak just because they had a terrible night on the road in Nebraska. It usually doesn't work that way. Ohio State presents a unique challenge for Indiana on Saturday night, and I won't be surprised one bit if Indiana bounces back with a victory.
"When you go out on the road, you've got to play differently than you do at home," said Head Coach Mike Woodson. "You've got to defend, you've got to rebound, and you can't turn it over. You're not going to beat anybody on the road when you turn it over 19 times. It's different on the road. You've got to do a lot of things right to win basketball games."
While the road woes will be tough to overcome for this team, the Hoosiers get to play in Bloomington for three of their next four games. They'll need to protect home court throughout conference play if they want any chance to dance this March. You may not have much optimism for this season as a whole. But I'll say it again: The Hoosiers still have Assembly Hall.
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