IU 60 Iowa 65

A pretty darn good effort. In fact, a very respectable effort for this young team to experience its first Big Ten game and to do so on the road. Unfortunately, I think there will be two common themes for this conference season -- one will be getting blown out of the gym and the other will be respectable efforts that come up short. The end result will be a lot of losses. But keeping with the goal of finding the positives this year, there actually were a lot of positives in this game. The Hoosiers started 4 freshman and a JuCo transfer and came out pretty strong. The game was tied at 15 midway through the first half. But then Iowa went on a 12-2 run to quickly build a double-digit lead and I figured this game was over. IU gave up 3 traditional 3-point plays in that stretch by committing dumb fouls and also missed two front-ends at their end. It looked like they were coming un-glued and getting to the point where Crean has nowhere to turn. However, our Hoosiers had a lot of fight in this game and came back strong in each half after looking like they had just been hit with the knock-out punch. After going down by 10 or 12 points with about 5 minutes to go in the first half, they made a run to get the lead down to 3 points with less than a minute to go in the half. Unfortunately, Iowa nailed a 3 at the buzzer and then came out in the second half with a traditional 3-point play. And in just 20 seconds of game-time across the two halves, Iowa turned that 3-point lead into a solid 9-point lead. Early in the second half, it again looked like Iowa was going to run away with this one. IU missed its first two FTs of the second half including another front-end and also missed two layups. I believe Iowa built a 13-point lead, but then IU started hitting some FTs and playing tough defense. Story hit his second 3-pointer of the game to get the lead back down to 7 points with 10 minutes to play and it was a ballgame again. Unfortunately, over the next several minutes, IU struggled to hit the big shots. Roth had a 3 in the air to cut the lead to 4 and Dumes had a 3 in the air to cut the lead to 5, but both missed. IU was making enough plays to hang around, but not the big ones to get over the hump. After the lead went back up to 10 points with 4 minutes to go, Nick Williams hit nice back-to-back buckets to cut it to 6 with 3 minutes to go. Then a nice pass from Jones to Pritchard for a layup cut it to 4 with 2 minutes to go. After a score by Iowa, Nick Williams answered again to get it back to 4 with a minute to go. Then, Williams got a steal and a timeout to give IU the ball back with 32 seconds. Roth got fouled and calmly went to the line and sank them both to cut the lead down to just 2 points with 22 seconds to go. Here is where IU needed a break. Jones played some tough full-court defense and forced the dribbler to sideline where he ran out of room right in front of the IU bench. In a bang-bang play, there was contact between Verdell and the dribbler and the ball went flying out of bounds. The call could have been a charge for the dribbler lowering his shoulder (which Dumes had just been called for on a questionable call only a minute earlier) or it could have been a foul on Verdell or it could have been called out of bounds to either team (it really was hard to tell). The officials ended up saying it went out on IU and gave the ball to Iowa. After watching the slo-mo on my Tivo, it did look like it went off of Verdell's foot. Unfortunately, that call was the last real chance for IU to steal this one and come out with a win. Iowa ended up with a clean inbounds, IU had to foul, Iowa sank them both to get the lead back to 4 with very little time left. Then Moore turned it over and the game was over. I watched most of this game never really thinking IU had a chance to win. The ebb and flow of the game was Iowa always in the lead somewhere between 3-13 points and you just sensed that IU would never be able to get over the hump. However, our Hoosiers made this one very interesting in the final 4 minutes when they cut the 10-point lead down to 2 points. And I am telling you that the call with 22 seconds could have gone either way. Man, that would have been fun to see them get that possession down by 2 points with a chance to tie or win the game. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. As Lee Corso says.....Indiana, not today. And as I always say after that.....shut the f*@# up Corso! Overall Team Performance: B Solid effort. They made it interesting. Won the rebound battle and only had 11 turnovers. Unfortunately, Tate absolutely ate up Pritchard and Taber and that was probably the biggest factor of this game. But you also have to give credit to Tate -- yes, IU made it fairly easy for him -- but this guy was 6-6 from the field and 10-11 from the line to finish with 22 points and 11 rebounds. IU's FT shooting was driving me a little crazy, but they started hitting them in the second half to go 17-22 (77%). However, I know for sure that they missed 3 front-ends so that is at least down to 17-25 (68%). I was impressed with Roth knocking down the pair of freebies to cut it to 2 points with 22 seconds to go. Tom Pritchard: C- He had his moments, but overall, he got his ass handed to him by Tate. Matt Roth: B- I mentioned the late FTs already - that was great. As for the rest of Roth's game, it's kind of tough for me. On the one hand, I like when he is out there because I feel like he is a pretty smart player who won't make the bonehead turnovers and is a threat to knock down the deep ball. On the other hand, he doesn't have much else to offer on the boards, defensive end, or making things happen. I still really like his shooting stroke. He was 1-4 from the arc tonight, but if IU is going to pull off a win or two in the Big Ten, it might be on a night where Roth pulls off a 6-7 night from downtown. Verdell Jones: B Sometimes he looks so incredibly weak when he goes into the lane. But on other times, he is able to make something happen. A lot of upside if he can develop. Nick Williams: A Williams really had some huge buckets today. And these were not cheap put-backs. These were 16-foot jumpers with a guy in his face. And he was the main fuel for the late run -- he had 3 field goals in the closing minutes. On a couple possessions, they went to him as the go-to guy and he delivered. He showed me enough today that I definitely think he needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end. Today he finished with 14 points on 7-11 FG shooting and 5 boards. Devan Dumes: B I feel like Dumes is so close to making the big plays to get this team to another level, but he just can't seem to get there. He'll hit a big 3 and then shoot another one on the next possession that would really propel the team, but then he misses. He will get a big steal, make a great move to get to the basket, but then miss the layup. He'll get the ball on a key possession and drive a little out of control and get called for a charge. But again, I just feel like he is on the verge of putting it all together. If he does, that could be a key factor in IU winning a couple of games. Daniel Moore: C At times, I think he makes more things happen at the point than Verdell does. But then there were times where Peterson would just take it right at him, overpower him, and get an easy bucket. I think I like Moore and Story coming off the bench together -- it really seems to give the team an energy boost and that is what you need from the bench. Malik Story: B I really, really like Story. But he must struggle to do things within the system or on the defensive end because it seems Crean has a fast trigger with sending him to the bench. Story continues to come in and hit big 3's. It seems I always remember the 3's that he hits because they always trigger an IU run or fuel an existing run. Kyle Taber: C+ Had 2 nice offensive rebounds and put-backs, but also got eaten up by Tate. Brett Finkelmeier: A- Crean put him in for a minute at the end of the 1st half for defense and he forced a double-dribble. Crean put him in for a few seconds at the end of the game to foul and he fouled. That's doing what you are asked to do. Nice job, ball-boy. Broderick Lewis: B Saw some action due to Pritchard, Taber, and Williams in foul trouble. Oh, and also due to the fact that Tijan Jobe can't fight his way out of a paper bag. Lewis didn't make the stat sheet other than 3 minutes played. Next Up: Home against Michigan on Wednesday at 5:30pm CT. Go Hoosiers!