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Indiana suffered a lot of grief during his five consecutive defeats.
Four of the five defeats were close games that resulted in a big hit (or several big shots) for the opponent at the end of the game. Between the retreat of Jordan Bohannon 3 in Bloomington, the deep 3 of CJ Jackson with Rob Phinisee in the face, Andre Wesson deceiving Justin Smith during a slip game, the info of Matt Haarms on Juwan Morgan against a Carsen Edwards' missing rider and Bohannon's heroics in Iowa City, IU have been continually at the wrong end of the match drama.
It looked as if the Hoosiers were on a very familiar track on Tuesday against No. 19 Wisconsin.
Moments after Romeo Langford managed to give IU a 68-65 lead while only 20 seconds remained in overtime, D'Mitrik Trice dribbled around Ethan Happ's screen and ginned. a 3 sang-froid to equal the meeting.
The crowd of the assembly hall Simon Skjodt moaned. Thoughts of "Let's Go Again" must have crossed their minds. Aside from the red jersey with "Wisconsin" on the chest, the shot could have been identical to the one that preceded it.
But this time it was different. Indiana has grown from the agony of the recent past.
"We have had some difficult times, and we have learned lessons on some things we can and can not do," said Archie Miller. "We went there so many times. We went. I think when you get there, you have to find a way to break through. "
And break through, IU did.
When the match began in double overtime, the Hoosiers of the recent past would have panicked, let Trice's shot steal their speed and composure, then return to the locker room to heal their wounds.
They almost lived this destiny. After Khalil Iverson missed a shot late at 27 seconds, Indiana escaped the Wisconsin trap clinically at random. De'Ron Davis made a mistake – the fifth of Happ – on a layup that put IU up 73-70, but he missed the free kick. Seconds later, Trice caused Devonte Green's 3-point attempt and tied the free-throw line equal.
Indiana was 9.6 seconds from this game becoming marmot day. But Langford refused to accept new anxieties. As time went on and Iverson watched him, the freshman went to the rack and sank the winning lay-up with only 0.8 seconds to play.
The arms swelled with joy as the crowd let out an equal roar of relief and joie de vivre. As Miller said, Langford has learned from past opportunities.
"I know the last two times, I had it in my hands at the end of the game, it did not go as planned," Langford said. "I simply learned from the mistakes of the past two years as I prepared for a deep shot, and felt that they could not stop me from reaching the rim. That's exactly what I did and I shot it. "
Given the evolution of things during the series of defeats, the tearing seems an inevitable result. It does not matter how much the Hoosiers played, the quality minutes of a guy like Race Thompson, the harshness with which Juwan Morgan played to capture the 15 rebounds of his career, efficiency and the defense of Justin Smith. In Wisconsin, they were shooting in three points, they would drop it one way or another.
But not this time. While Indiana played overtime in Iowa, he remained patient throughout the game on Tuesday. When things happened in Wisconsin, IU never faltered.
When all seemed lost in a season that worsened in the blink of an eye, the Hoosier had a glimpse of what they could have done had they maintained their performance in matches without conference in the top ten list.
"They use their energy and effort to give them confidence, which we had at one point in the season," said Miller. "We were not always perfect in attack and we did not shoot the ball well, but we had a certainty: we had confidence in our ability to compete, play hard and defend, and we" do it again again.
Classified in: Wisconsin Badgers
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