The rivalry is back, and so are the questions about Indiana’s ability to compete at the top of college basketball.
The Hoosiers led 39-32 in a rock fight first half that featured 40 free throws. But IU imploded in the second, outscored by Kentucky 40-21. Indiana still led 49-42 with 14:18 left in the game, but a 17-2 Kentucky run from there completely flipped the script, and IU never recovered.
Let’s take a deeper look at how Indiana lost 72-60 with our latest edition of The Report Card.
The Hoosiers (8-3) will return to action Saturday when they host Chicago State.
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OFFENSE (D-)
It’s hard to point to much of anything that Indiana did particularly well on a consistent basis. And that’s hard to process following a 113-point outburst earlier in the week.
Indiana shot a season-low 34.1% for the game, including just 27.3% in the second half. They had a season-high 18 turnovers, including 12 after the break. IU made a season low 16.7% from three.
In the advanced metrics, the Hoosiers scored a season-low .897 points per possession with a season-low 38.6 effective field goal percentage. Their turnover percentage was a season-high 26.9. Several times Indiana ballhandlers left their feet on drives and ended up with nowhere to go with the ball.
The lone bright spot was a 26 of 29 night shooting free throws, and a season-high 65.9% free throw rate (FTA/FGA). That latter stat highlights what teams are doing to Indiana, and as Saturday night showed, what the Hoosiers must figure out — physical pressure on the ball and on the perimeter that forces Indiana away from the basket and out of what they are trying to do. Kentucky appeared to be willing to sacrifice fouls and free throws to stick to that approach. It worked.
“Everything from an execution standpoint and movement standpoint has to be done with more force,” IU coach Darian DeVries said after the game. “You can’t continue to get pushed out and everybody stands. You have to find ways to give yourself up with a back cut, give yourself up with a screen, set up those screens with more force, and get some movement. It’s something we have to get better at, there’s no question.”
DEFENSE (C+)
Was Indiana’s first half defense good, or was Kentucky just bad? The Wildcats went 1 of 9 from three before the break and missed eight free throws. That definitely contributed to IU’s first half lead.
But the Hoosiers allowed UK to stay close in the first half with a flurry of fouls that gave the Wildcats 21 attempts at the stripe before the break, and put key IU contributors on the bench with foul trouble. Excessive fouling has been an issue for IU going back to their summer Puerto Rico trip, and something that must be solved given their relatively thin rotation. The Hoosiers ended up allowing a season-high 65.5% free throw rate, and were fortunate UK missed 13 attempts at the line.
One eye-opening stat — Indiana only forced four Kentucky turnovers for the entire game, and only one by a Wildcat guard. To be sure, a lot of those fouls called on Indiana were the 50/50 calls that could have resulted in turnovers going the other way. IU was called for a lot of reach-in fouls where the ball ended up being loose. But a lot of those reaches were a result of the Hoosiers being a step slow on the ball. IU forced a season-low 6.0% turnover rate.
Kentucky offensive rebounds were also a major problem in the second half. They had seven during the 17-2 run that flipped the game. It was one of two primary ways UK scored when IU wasn’t in their set halfcourt defense. The Wildcats scored 18 second chance points, and 23 points off Indiana turnovers. That’s 41 of their 72 points, and pretty much your ballgame.
MORE GAME COVERAGE
- Litmus test losses to Louisville and Kentucky show IU men’s basketball has work to do
- Watch: Darian and Tucker DeVries discuss IU basketball loss at Kentucky
- IU basketball: Indiana 60 Kentucky 72 — Three keys, highlights, final stats
THE PLAYERS (*starters)
*Tucker DeVries (C-) Rough shooting night, too many turnovers, too many fouls. DeVries played hard but struggled to get clean looks against UK’s length and athleticism. He rebounded better in this one for most of the game, but his matchup with Mouha Dioubate resulted in seven offensive rebounds for UK.
*Lamar Wilkerson (C+) For much of the game Wilkerson was Indiana’s lone offensive bright spot. But for much of the game he was on the bench with fouls. Wilkerson only played 22 minutes, and IU simply can’t afford that. He’ll have to get detailed with the fundamentals when it comes to guarding without fouling.
*Sam Alexis (D+) Indiana fans were just glad to see Alexis return to the game after what looked like a bad injury on the first possession. He played 30 minutes and had just five rebounds. He made some shots from the dunker spot. And he had three turnovers. Alexis was icing his knee after the game.
*Conor Enright (D) Enright wasn’t able to facilitate the offense like he has most of the season. He didn’t make open looks, and even passed up an open shot as the shot clock was about to expire, leading to a turnover. He wasn’t able to impact the defensive end as much as we’ve seen in other games either.
*Tayton Conerway (D-) All of Conerway’s four turnovers came in the second half, on multiple occasions a result of him leaving his feet with nowhere to go with the ball (see photo above). In so many ways Conerway is the x-factor on this team. He can’t have one assist, four turnover, no steal games.
Reed Bailey (D) Bailey was a non-factor, surprisingly only playing eight minutes in large part due to three fouls in that brief time. He still seems to be adjusting to high major speed, length and athleticism, and it’s kind of deep in the season for that.
Trent Sisley (C+) With his teammates in foul trouble, Sisley saw heavy minutes and he produced with rebounds and cuts to the basket that delivered free throws. It was a pretty good night beyond just not making his limited attempts from the field.
Nick Dorn (C+) Dorn was solid when it came to earning opportunities at the stripe and making those shots. And he rebounded well. Like most of his teammates, he just needed a shot or two to go down from the field.
Jasai Miles and Aleksa Ristic also played in the game briefly.
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Andrej Acimovic did not play — coaches decision.
Jason Drake and Josh Harris were out with injuries.
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