LEXINGTON, KY — A second-half offensive outage undercut Indiana’s upset attempt, in the Hoosiers’ first game at Rupp Arena in 15 years Saturday night, a 72-60 Kentucky win.
Here’s what I liked and disliked, and what the Hoosiers’ loss means.
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What I liked from IU basketball’s loss vs. Kentucky
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Hanging in. Once again, Indiana’s prodigious shooting would not travel, to the tune of just 3 of 14 from behind the arc in the first half, and finishing 4 for 24. And foul trouble limited paint contributors like Sam Alexis, Reed Bailey and (especially cutting off the ball) Lamar Wilkerson. Yet the Hoosiers (8-3) held firm. They defended through their foul issues, rotations and help on point. And once those fouls balanced out, they took advantage, making 18 first-half free throws on the way to a seven-point halftime lead over the Wildcats (7-4).
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Another solid effort from Wilkerson. On a night when so much else came the hard way for Indiana offensively, he looked once again like a player worth building around. He finished 15 points, his scoring depressed by foul trouble. Coach Darian DeVries and Indiana’s bench had fair complaints about some of Wilkerson’s whistles specifically. They ultimately helped undercut what hope the Hoosiers had for an upset Saturday night, such was the importance of Wilkerson’s impact on an otherwise frustrating offensive performance.
What I disliked from Indiana’s loss vs. Kentucky
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Fouls. Indiana fans might have had fair complaint on two or three first-half calls. But the Hoosiers’ 13 fouls before halftime were hardly a new phenomenon. This team struggles to stay in front of athletic opponents and keep the ball out of the lane against the dribble. That leads to reach fouls and puts bigs in difficult spots. On Saturday night, no one was immune. IU finished the first half with five players with at least two fouls, and two of those five with three.
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Side-to-side offense. Once again, Indiana struggled to break an over-playing defense down off the dribble. Too often, catches offensively came on the move, not spotted up, or too far from the basket for clean looks. And when the ball did touch the paint, it was turned over as often as it resulted in something helpful. DeVries has to find the best solution he can to this problem. It’s not going away.
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Turnovers. That led to 18 turnovers, far too many for the way this team wants to play. At one point in the second half alone, the Hoosiers had given the ball away eight times, and attempted just nine field goals. That just won’t work for a team that needs to win with offense.
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Offense. That ultimately became, once again, the story of the evening. This team is built to win in some very specific (maybe too specific) ways. When it cannot achieve those basics, it struggles to find second and third solutions to the same problems. The Hoosiers need to make more tough 3s. They have to solve the over-playing problem. They just can’t afford nights like these — and we’ve seen a few of them now — where the offense goes so passive and so quiet. Because this Indiana was not built to win another way.
Last time out: Lamar Wilkerson’s records epitomizes IU ‘keeping it hot’ in much-needed win
What Indiana basketball’s loss vs. Kentucky means
Indiana doesn’t need to endure some dark night of the soul over what happened Saturday. The Hoosiers faced a Kentucky team back in friendly confines and badly needing a win.
But Saturday also tells us what we already knew: This IU team is limited in ways it might not be able to meaningfully overcome this season. At least not without making a lot more shots than what the Hoosiers managed, once again, away from home. There’s work to do before Big Ten play resumes.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana basketball score today vs U of K, game stats, Tucker DeVries
