By: Steven Cavanaugh

With the regular season winding down and the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments in the near future, Indiana men’s basketball has a slim one game hold on 5th place in the Big Ten. Thankfully for the Hoosiers, three of the last four regular season games are at Assembly Hall, where 16 of IU’s 20 wins have come, so far. By contrast, Indiana is 4-6 in road games this year, with two of those wins coming from out of conference play. The Hoosiers’ most recent road loss, Sunday at Iowa, showed a few flaws as well as some hidden positives in Indiana’s play that need to be addressed in order for IU to hit a stride before tournament time.

#1- Bad Perimeter Defense. The Iowa Hawkeyes hit 9 three-pointers against Indiana, with 7 of them coming from Senior Matt Gatens, who finished with a career-high 30 points. Uncharacteristically poor defensive play by both Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey did little to slow Gatens, as both defenders over-helped down low to free up the Iowa senior. Poor perimeter defense has hurt the Hoosiers in more than one game this season, including giving up 6 three-pointers in the first half alone of a 68-56 loss.

#2- Get Matt Roth and Derek Elston More Playing Time. In the Iowa loss, Elston tallied 18 minutes while Roth played only 15. The pair were the only Hoosiers to hit from behind the arc, with Elston going 2 for 3 from behind the arc with 13 total points and Roth 4 of 4 from three point land with 12 points. In a night where Jordan Hulls, Christian Watford, and Verdell Jones III combined for just three points, Indiana needed a scoring threat from someone other than the main contributors. Elston and Roth answered that call, joining Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller as the only Hoosiers to have double digit points in that game.

#3- Find Cody Zeller Early and Often. Another positive to take away from the Iowa loss was the strong play, especially early, from Cody Zeller. The 6’ 11” freshman recorded his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds, including 5 points in the first 40 seconds of play. The Hoosiers found an open Zeller frequently throughout the game, giving Cody many good looks down low.  Zeller even had a rare off-game offensively, missing many close shots and going 5-12 from the field, going to show that on a normal night the freshman would have been even more productive.

#4- Limit the Turnovers. Indiana committed 14 turnovers in the loss to Iowa, compared to only 13 assists. In IU’s 7 losses this season, six of which coming on the road, the Hoosier’s have turned the ball over a whopping 96 times, an average of 13.7 turnovers per loss. Road games in the Big Ten are hard enough with the massive, crazed student sections so turning the ball over 14 times a game doesn’t help the Hoosiers one bit.

#5- Keep Jordan Hulls Out of Foul Trouble. In Sunday’s loss at Iowa, junior guard Jordan Hulls picked up two cheap fouls in the first 1:30 and had to sit for much of the first half. Jordan now has a combined 2 points and 4 fouls over the last two games, largely due to sitting on the bench with foul trouble. It’s no secret that Indiana is at its best when Hulls is on the floor, not only because of his threat as a streaky scorer, but also for his leadership and ability to facilitate his teammates play.

Indiana has four games remaining this regular season, with the first game coming Wednesday night against North Carolina Central University. NCCU, who is 8-5 in the Mid Eastern Atlantic Conference and 12-14 overall, has yet to play a ranked opponent. The game should be a nice tune-up game for Indiana, who will head to Minnesota for their last regular season road game on Sunday, February 26th. After looking to exact revenge on the Golden Gophers, who handed the Hoosiers their only home loss this season, IU will have to turn around and play Michigan State at home two days later on February 28th.  Indiana will then finish out their regular season on March 4th, when they play at home against Purdue.

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