As we described in the Report Card, Wednesday’s game against Seton Hall had a different feel to it. For a while anyway, the Hoosiers looked more confident and they played with more of a fighting spirit. Ultimately it wasn’t enough, as they lost to the Pirates 84-68. So what flipped the script, from a game that Indiana led briefly in the second half to a game that the Hoosiers would at one point fall behind by 20? We take a look.
The First Half Rally and an Early 2nd Half Lead.
After trailing 27-18 at the 6:54 mark, Indiana clawed back in large part from two Devonte Green 3-pointers. In addition to the Green buckets, Indiana forced 3 turnovers and took its first lead of the game at 30-29 after two Juwan Morgan free throws. For the rest of the first half and the opening minute of the second half the teams would stay within a few points. Indiana had its last lead of the game, 34-33 with 19:33 to go in the 2nd half after a De’Ron Davis layup.
The Turning Point
From that Davis layup to a Myles Powell 3-pointer at 13:55, Indiana would see its 1 point lead turned into a 14 point deficit. Indiana would never seriously threaten the Pirates for the remainder of the 2nd half. So what happened in just over 5 minutes of action to so significantly alter the game?
- Turnovers: The Seton Hall run started with bad passes by Indiana. On consecutive plays, with IU only down by one, Robert Johnson and Devonte Green threw passes out of bounds. Later, Johnson would lose his dribble when the Hoosiers had numbers on a fast break. Johnson then made another bad pass which directly led to a Seton Hall fast break layup and the lead ballooned to 11. Immediately thereafter, IU was called for a 5 second violation on their attempt to inbound after the layup. Collectively that was 5 turnovers in less than 5 minutes, including 3 by their Senior guard Johnson.
- Fouls: Indiana committed 4 fouls during this stretch which was enough to put the Pirates in the bonus at the 14:45 mark. These fouls would not only give Seton Hall some free points during this run, but also keep them in the bonus for the remainder of the game, helping to reduce the likelihood of a Hoosier rally.
- The 3-point Monster: Indiana’s nemesis thus far this season has been its opponent’s 3-point shooting. In 3 games Indiana has given up an amazing 39 3-pointers, or 13 a game. It should then come as no surprise that 3-point shooting by Seton Hall was the final dagger in this game. First, a 3-pointer by Khadeen Carrington stretched the lead back to 9 and forced an Indiana timeout. Indiana would pull back within 6 or 7 points before it was time for the Myles Powell show. Powell would connect to stretch the lead back to 9, and then hit a 3-pointer at the 13:55 mark to make it 53-39. Game. Set. Match.
(Photo: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)
