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Thoughts on a 66-44 loss to the Longhorns:
With the quality of the competition increased for the third time in as many games, Indiana looked like a different team against the Longhorns on Tuesday afternoon. His attack appeared fluid and topped the likes of Tennessee Tech and Providence. But it all came back to a familiar place today. Long droughts. Turnover. Empty possessions. A feeling of helplessness.
Shaka Smart’s pressure defense, length and activity, proved a formidable foe for the Hoosiers in this Maui Invitational semi-final. The numbers for the first half were atrocious. IU has only scored five field goals (5 of 23), including 0 of 4 from distance. The Hoosiers only scored once in the 8:40 first-half final. Their 19 points in the first 20 minutes of the contest were the second in a half under Archie Miller. Worse yet, the Hoosiers didn’t take care of the ball either, as they returned it to 27 percent of their possessions, which means nine turnovers against just two assists. Indiana, which relied so heavily on transition buckets in its first two contents, only had one bucket moving during the first half.
And yet the Hoosiers were only trailing 11 at the break because their defense is pretty good too. They held the Longhorns to less than a point per possession at the break (.93) and handed them over 24 percent of their possessions.
But as the second half wore on, despite some quick successes in transition, the Indiana attack never turned things around in a substantial enough way to make it a game. It was all of Texas for the rest of the time, with the Longhorns cruising to a 22-point victory and the Hoosiers suddenly looking weak, all worries of a fragile offense rising to the surface.
Indiana’s three guard starting lineup, consisting of Rob Phinisee, Al Durham and Armaan Franklin, shot a total of 4 of 18. Indiana hit only 2 of 10 deep. Indiana’s effective field goal percentage was a paltry 26. And to top it off, Indiana’s endpoint total per possession (0.65) was the lowest in the Miller era. (Al Durham’s injury is also of concern at the moment.)
Indiana continued to defend well enough in the second half, holding Texas to less than one point per possession (.98) for the game. But if you want to put on a terrible offensive performance like the Hoosiers did today, even an elite defense will struggle to do enough to win the game for you.
There are a lot of early season COVID warnings here. No exhibition games. Not much in terms of cupcake games to try out tricks and find your footing a bit before going against a ranked team like Texas. Indiana has a whole season ahead of them and plenty of time to overtake that performance.
But its familiarity with the worst games of the Miller era leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. We have been here before and the hope was this was the year that it changed. Three games later, there is no clear sign that this team’s offensive shots and troubles are a thing of the past.
Filed at: 2020 Maui Invitational, Texas Longhorns
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