EVANSTON, Ill. — Indiana basketball can produce joy and heartbreak for its fans in equal measure all in the span of 40 minutes.
That Jekyll and Hyde persona was on full display at Welsh-Ryan Arena in a 79-70 loss to Northwestern on Wednesday night.
The Hoosiers held the Wildcats to 25 points in the first half — the Wildcats went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal — in what Mike Woodson described as a “beautiful” display to giving up nine 3-pointers in the second half with the players struggling to execute even the most basic of defensive assignments.
It was the fourth time this season that IU gave up more than 50 points in a half.
More: Indiana player ratings at Northwestern: Malik Reneau returns but Hoosiers collapse
That’s been the pattern for an IU team that’s taken a step (or two) back after every success, sometimes within the span of the same game.
What’s preventing the Hoosiers from playing cohesively for a full 40 minutes? After the game, Woodson made it clear that he’s not entirely sure.
“I wish I knew,” Woodson said. “I’m still trying to figure it out. I know we got Malik (Reneau) back, and we knew he wasn’t going to play very many minutes tonight. We had a hell of a defensive half then we came out and give up 54 points and pile on the turnovers, it’s just a bad combination. We just didn’t play well the second half.”
Woodson said the biggest issue in the second half on Wednesday was his team’s lack of communication on defense. Northwestern shot 62.5% and 9 of 14 from 3-point range while running the same plays it utilized in the first half when it shot 30.8% and went into halftime having missed 10 straight.
When the game tightened up midway through the second half, Woodson said his team simply “didn’t answer the bell.”
“We didn’t guard well,” Woodson said. “They made us pay for it, especially from the 3-point area. They made 3-point shots all over the floor and we never responded.”
The problem is nothing new for the Hoosiers.
Indiana players plainly stated many of their problems after a stunning lopsided loss to Illinois earlier this month. Anthony Leal, who has since entered the starting lineup, called out the team’s lack of “toughness, togetherness and effort” while Luke Goode said the Hoosiers needed to have more pride on the defensive end.
They fell short in all those areas during Northwestern’s rally.
The performance was in stark contrast to the way the Wildcats responded to the message their coach Chris Collins delivered at the break about the second half being a “season-defining moment” for the program.
“We couldn’t have played any more poorly at the end of the (first) half, I just didn’t really like our fight, our spirit, our physicality,” Collins said. “All of a sudden it’s an 18-2 run and they had all kinds of momentum. I really challenged our guys, it’s not panic time, it’s extreme sense of urgency time.”
It’s far past that time for the Hoosiers if they want to salvage this season.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana basketball: No answers vs Northwestern in second-half collapse
